I concur with Dr. Sarah Alvarez regarding the superior care one receives from a direct primary care practice (“More Mainers should consider direct primary care,” Dec. 30). For a time, I was a direct primary care patient and insured through Taro. I enjoyed the easy access and relationship with my doctor. However, I turned 65 […]

An old woman who lives in the West End Sees neighborhood walks as a godsend. But when ice isn’t cleared With bad falls to be feared, She cusses neighbors to no end. Neighbors, let’s please do our civic duty and keep us all safe. Happy New Year. Kate Reilly Portland

The juxtaposition of two local guest columnists (Stephen Heinz of Cumberland Foreside and Laura Fralich of New Gloucester) in the Dec. 29 Opinion section couldn’t have been better. The Heinz piece first: “Are we just talking to ourselves in these pages?,” followed by Fralich’s “Do not give up on your neighbors,” gave well-written responses for […]

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Donald Trump roundly criticized China for all of its real or apparent misdeeds, and his outrageous campaign statement was to impose tariffs on China. His alter ego, Elon Musk, must not have been listening to the president-elect spouting his wrath toward China. Musk, […]

A recent letter expressed anger about the Christmas/holiday “problem” (“Happy holidays? Bah humbug!” Dec. 19). In 1964, in my segregated Virginia high school, I wrote a paper about American holidays, using mostly one small library book. I learned that early Christians chose Dec. 25 since there was already a pagan (meaning non-Christian) holiday called Saturnalia […]

As a resident of Limerick, I’m no stranger to traveling long distances to find affordable care. With rising inflation and a shrinking network of services, it is more important than ever to have organizations like Planned Parenthood that offer family planning services, cancer screenings and wellness exams to all Mainers regardless of their ability to […]

What we have witnessed in Washington in recent weeks, with Congress fighting over the spending bill to keep the government open, should be an eye-opener for everyone. A billionaire private citizen almost shut the government down — with the blessing of Donald Trump. By using his X platform, Elon Musk bullied Republican members of the […]