Maine’s 15 YMCA serve thousands of children in our early childhood education programs, before/afterschool programs, and summer camp. These programs provide children with safe, nurturing and enriching care, and are a critical component of our state’s infrastructure to support working parents and our economy. Unfortunately, the child care system is under incredible strain. The Ys, […]

We recently moved from Nashville to Bowdoinham, and we faced a practical dilemma: On our one-acre lot, do we plant our own large garden or do we buy our vegetables from the six local organic farmers nearby? Sounds like a small problem, but it has more impact than one might imagine when solved on a […]

In her letter published May 11, Sheila Richardson repeats the familiar mantra that “more gun laws would only limit law-abiding people,” not those who don’t obey the rules (“More mental health support needed, not more gun laws“). To an extent that is true, but even though no one “gun law” will solve the problem of […]

I’m a retired physician and a therapist, and I’m writing in support of LD 178, the effort to reestablish parole in Maine. Although Maine’s incarceration rate is half that of the U.S., it is greater than that of most advanced democracies. This fact is shocking and shameful, and it’s so much more than just a […]

I have two relatives who went to a dentist office (it’ll go unnamed) who were charged, in my opinion, a ridiculous price for work done. First one had a cavity that would have cost him over $300 but, because of his great dental insurance, only cost him $185. The second one had a tooth extraction […]

Mark Gongloff’s Bloomberg opinion piece (“Natural disasters are the new normal,” May 15) painted a powerful picture of the growing costs to our entire society from weather-related disasters that are accelerating with planetary warming, which continues unabated due to continued burning of fossil fuels. The true costs of burning fossil fuels have not been reflected […]

LD 1619, An Act to Improve Maine’s Reproductive Privacy Laws, “… removes the criminal penalties for performing an abortion …” and is bad public policy that ought not to pass. When society doesn’t value life from conception, it also doesn’t value life once it’s born. After all, what’s the difference between a baby living in […]

I’ve remained silent about the ongoing budget dispute between the Lisbon Educational Association and the Lisbon School Committee and superintendent. However, the recent termination of Rick Beaulé, who was not only a teacher, but also the LEA president, compelled me to write this letter. While the facts of Rick’s dismissal are being kept under wraps, […]

Maine needs compassionate drug policies. We have allowed unjust and discriminatory drug policies to harm people for generations. We must remove criminal penalties for low-level drug use and possession and adopt a public health approach to substance use disorder. This in turn would help people who use drugs — and their families — obtain and […]

I am really concerned that there isn’t enough housing available. More and more people are being left homeless. The lists for housing are way too long, and people come to believe that it won’t ever be their turn to have affordable housing. One reason I am worried is that I have a friend who has […]