People who use drugs don’t deserve to die. Opiates don’t give second chances, so the old adage of letting them reach rock bottom doesn’t apply – it means sudden, irreversible death. Last year, 716 Mainers slipped away from us without their second chances. They didn’t have time to work on the underlying reasons they used […]

For years, the mentally ill were institutionalized. They weren’t in encampments, they weren’t on street corners begging, so as a society we didn’t have to confront the wreckage that untreated serious mental illness inflicts on both the individual and the community. But things changed, and for a short time in the 1960s and early 1970s, […]

As a bedside nurse at Maine Medical Center, I endorse mandated staffing ratios as an excellent way to bolster patient safety and nurse retention. It is obvious. If you are busier, you have less time with each patient, and you are more likely to make a mistake. As a bedside nurse, that is on my […]

What a great Maine Voices column by Mike Richards last Sunday (“Introduce strict liability insurance for each gun in America,” May 7). Finally an idea that could potentially slow down the gun violence in this country without taking away most people’s right to own a gun. It sounds like a good place to begin. Beth Anne […]

The National Popular Vote interstate compact will go into effect when enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes — that is, enough to elect a president (270 of 538). At that time, every voter in the country will acquire a direct vote for a group of at least 270 presidential electors supporting […]

Jim Fossel’s May 7 column, characterizing Maine’s current budget as a surplus (“Legislature should set aside differences to help local government”), was inaccurate. A surplus is not extra money when there exists many and variable unmet needs, such as crumbling bridges and roads, low reimbursement for MaineCare, too few child care facilities, budget constraints in […]

One of the main reasons why I buy the hard copy of the Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram every day is for the comics and crossword puzzles. You made a unilateral decision to replace “Dilbert” with “Herb & Jamaal.” In the past, you’ve allowed readers to vote for a replacement comic strip, but not […]