This is a story of goodwill.

Last Sunday, while shopping with my husband and two children, I started to feel sick, so I took my son back to the car with me to lie down to wait for my husband to finish.

As my son was hopping around in the car, a man came by to check on him, to make sure he was not alone.

My family and I offer our thanks to that man. He went out of his way to protect a child who appeared to be alone.

This is in response to the stories about John Stevens, the Auburn panhandler, printed Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.

I should preface this by mentioning that though this letter may sound somewhat liberal, I'm hardly a liberal; I grew up in a family of mill workers, police officers and servicemen, which instilled, if anything, a conservative bent in my personality.

Politics is about winning, not losing. The people have spoken loud and clear with their veto of same-sex marriage in Maine.

As an individual, they are correct — I have no right to decide how a person lives their life. But as a democratic country, people have the right to vote, and that is one of the greatest rights American citizens have.

Dennis Willette, Wales

The Catholic Church is facing a dark time, with abandonment of the church or the faith by untold millions, ranking of celibate male patriarchy over availability of the Eucharist and pastoral services to hundreds of millions, and the loss of many millions to evangelical sects.

Maine church officials' empty, deceitful, abusive and bullying campaign against the Marriage Equality Act has made this the darkest hour for the Church in Maine — worse than the 1851 tarring and feathering of Fr. John Bapst on order of the Ellsworth Town Council.

I am writing with concern about the front page article, "Felon keeps hand out," (Oct. 29) about the homeless man who comes to Auburn to panhandle.

In light of the attacks on the homeless and on convicted sexual offenders — sometimes deadly — the Sun Journal's treatment of the story seems questionable. Is the story of sufficient value to warrant marking this man as such an easy target? The coverage seems to reinforce the idea that homeless people are fair game.

The health care debate rages on, even though the most conservative members of Congress acknowledge that the nation's health care system is broken and must be changed. Nevertheless, their intransigence continues as they only look to defeat President Barack Obama and ignore the sufferings of their constituents.

A public option, similar to Medicare and stringent regulation of the insurance industry, an entity that is only beholden to profit and its shareholders, is critical to any meaningful reform.

Without being disrespectful, because I know that there are many very dedicated priests, I feel it necessary to express my opinion.

The last Masses at St. Joseph's and St. Patrick's churches were heart-wrenching and saddened me beyond words. Parishioners were told that diminished attendance and finance were the reasons for closure. Truth and accountability were not mentioned.

Over the past five years, I have had the challenge of looking for health insurance. While working full-time for a company, the health care provider canceled the policy because there were too few participants over too large a geographical area, rendering the plan unprofitable. I enrolled in a private plan while I changed employers. After three months, I joined that company's health plan.

Due to all the ballyhoo about wind turbines, I decided to see some firsthand.

Two weeks ago, we drove to Danforth. It was a beautiful day and the foliage was almost at its peak.

The turbines are on the south side of Route 169, about 5 miles west of Danforth. Suddenly, there was a huge round tower with large 100-foot blades turning slowly in a western breeze, a magnificent spine-tingling edifice made via the mind of man!

Sen. Harry Reid stated in an almost euphoric manner that the proposed U.S. health care plan would cost the nation $1.8 trillion. He acts as though a trillion dollars is simply a few million lumped together.

Allow me to put some scale on one trillion.

As we all know there are 60 seconds in one minute. A million seconds equates 11.5 days. A billion seconds equates to 31.7 years; and a trillion seconds is 31,700 years.

This is in response to Tommy Child who wrote a letter (Oct. 16) that responded to an earlier letter from me (Oct. 7) pertaining to bias at Fox News.

I do respect his opinion; however, I disagree and think he might have misunderstood some of the things I wrote about. He suggested that I was an Obama supporter because I came out and said that the people on Fox News, such as Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, just bash President Barack Obama. That's all they do.

Even more annoying is that those people can't say how their group of fools are any better.

In reading "Beyond the trauma" (Sun Journal, Oct. 25), an uneasy feeling stirred deep inside. Years ago, we just "sucked it up" and lived with it. That seemed right for me at the time. I was the officer on the front page of this paper staring at the body of Angela Palmer, 25 years ago. No other person who responded to that scene was there longer than I. The funny thing is, I hadn't even been to the police academy yet.

As everyone knows, Social Security is in trouble. I don't believe that anything can help, the final outcome — going broke — can only be delayed.

All religion is cultural mythology, believed by its followers to be historical fact, codified into laws to create a conformist, orderly society and ritualized into practices to give it power and authenticity.

Like it or not, our country was founded as a secular republic. Practice your mythology in private and let others be who they are, in freedom and equality.

It is discomforting that people's rights and freedoms are under attack by state and local regulations and restrictions on small, private businesses and private clubs.

The out-of-control state and local governments passed a law banning smoking in bars and private businesses. When the government tells a person how to run his or her life, that is a violation of human rights. America is looking more like Russia by the minute.

Americans need to wake up or freedom and human rights will be lost.

Congressional Democrats have performed disgracefully. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is reported to have failed to disclose millions in income, failed the requirement to disclose all of his assets, and failed to pay his taxes. He is the chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

Regardless of how the votes may end up regarding TABOR and excise taxes, is it time to take another look and create a budget committee to really scrutinize the Lewiston City Budget?

Many will recall that I opposed creating this committee and may question why I now favor it. In fact, I have always been in favor of such a committee, but there were two stipulations which needed to be included that Mayor Larry Gilbert would not agree to; thus, I voted against it.

In my opinion as an accountant, two vital cogs must be in place.

I was surprised and disappointed to read the editorial, "Collins should speak clearer on health care," not only because Sen. Susan Collins' position has been consistent, clear and well-publicized both in Maine and nationally, but also because she presented her position and answered every question posed by the Sun Journal's editorial board during a 45-minute meeting in August.

"Teachers value us." My daughter made this comment as we were discussing Spirit Week at Edward Little High School a few weeks ago. I had asked her why her teachers were continuing to work extra hours without a contract.

Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, Reps. Michael Michaud and Chellie Pingree, need to be reminded that, as federal employees, they enjoy a federal health-care option similar to the one which is being proposed for the rest of us in the health care reform package.

I'd like to set the record straight regarding issues raised in a recent letter to the editor, which said I called the acquisition of the Androscoggin Bank Colisée a "no-brainer" and alleges I attempted to stand in the way of its sale. Both statements are lies.

It is true that I voted in favor of acquiring the Colisée back when the issue was raised of the ownership's inability to follow through on their contract with the Lewiston Maineiacs. Had we not acquired it, we would have risked losing one of the visible bright spots in our community.

This is in response to Ruth Oakley (Oct. 28) and others who use "natural law" as an argument against same-sex marriage.

Let's not forget that natural law is the same argument that was used to condone slavery and prohibit interracial marriage. It is the same argument that pushes an unhealthy "separate but equal" stance. In the nation's not-so-distant past, separate but equal ideology produced separate water fountains for whites and for blacks.

Well, now they want to slap windmills on Streaked Mountain; from there they will spread like Eurasian milfoil over every ridge and hill in western Maine.

Greedy privateers, crazed by the lure of fast money from ill-conceived government subsidies are lining up to do just that. Then they will disappear and area residents will be left to stare up at those hideous monsters and endure their banshee-like wail whenever the wind blows.

Whatever electricity the towers produce will be sent off to Massachusetts.

We must stop them now.

I thank Joyce White for her letter (Oct. 24) "No good entertainment."

Why is it that adults will use any animals, both large and small, with such a lack of caring about what those poor creatures have to go through to entertain other people? I can see the terror and hurt in those poor creatures.

Animals are No. 1 in my life and will remain there.

I thank White for caring.

Katharine Draper, Greene

People should take a ride on Route 9 between downtown Lisbon Falls and the Sabattus interchange so they can see for themselves the federal stimulus money at work. The massive tree-cutting project now underway shows how good intentions can have disastrous results. Every last tree in a 100-foot right-of-way is being cut, leaving in its wake a changed landscape.