Columnist Jim Fossel (“Biden’s budget just more tax and spend,” April 10) would like us to believe his criticisms about President Biden’s proposed budget, but they don’t hold water. If Democrats are such poor stewards of the economy, why has a New York Times analysis found that, since 1933, the average annual rate of growth […]

Do people know that they are literally flushing forests down the toilet? Tossing trees into the trash? That’s just what they are doing with their Charmin toilet paper, Bounty paper towels and Puffs facial tissues. Procter & Gamble, which supplies these disposables, is a leading driver in destroying the largest intact forest left on earth, […]

As a Maine native with family roots in Alabama, and a current nursing student, I wish to respond to the April 11 Associated Press news story “Transgender treatment ban challenged by lawsuit in Alabama.” By banning gender-affirming care, lawmakers are missing an opportunity to protect youth. Maine has many precious transgender youths, and it is […]

Re: “Portland neighbors concerned about religious center’s plans for gatherings” (April 12): I served an Episcopal church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, for two decades, and I was fortunate enough to have a rabbi colleague who began a home synagogue in a residential neighborhood. His whole street welcomed him and his growing community with open arms. […]

Thanks to the Legislature for considering fully funding direct care workers – who support people with disabilities – to earn at least 125 percent of the minimum wage, and thank you to the governor for accelerating direct care worker cost-of-living adjustments. But these efforts are manifestly inadequate to compete in the labor market against Walmart […]

I have devoted my career to caring for people with mental illness, a disease we don’t want to talk about. I live with this same disease. I feel the stigma rise as I name this. It’s not cool to have mental illness. Also, it’s not a choice. Of the roughly 300,000 Maine adults who live […]

I recently became active with local politics to help shape the future I hope to see in Maine, which would be less divided than it is now, and more civil, as it was when I was raising my kids. Of the many people I’ve met, I was drawn to commit my time to the campaign […]

Diane Loranger (“Letter to the editor: The state owes overtaxed Mainers a refund,” April 7) is incorrect about the reason for the state budget surplus. According to The Wall Street Journal, state surpluses are due to “… fat times fueled by booming markets, growing incomes and federal aid …” related to the pandemic. The American […]