ANSWER: If you know the L.D. number (Legislative Document which is a legislative measure in its official printed form), then you can access all sorts of information using this search engine on the State of Maine Legislature website: http://legislature.maine.gov/. If you don’t know the L.D. number, you can still do a search using text from the proposed bills. Other resources on that website include statutes, bill status, public testimony, session laws, bill text search, hearings and work sessions, constitution, rulemaking notices and freedom of access information. Good luck in your search. Please write back to Sun Spots if you need further help.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I am interested in learning more about hosting inner-city kids during the summer. What is the name of the organization that takes care of all the details? Thank you. — No Name in Maine.

ANSWER: The name of the organization is Fresh Air. According to the organization, thousands of volunteer host families in rural, suburban, and small town communities across 13 states and Canada open their hearts and homes to New York City children from low-income communities through The Fresh Air Fund’s Volunteer Host Family Program. For more information, contact Katrina Cash-Staley at 207-583-7609 or visit www.freshair.org/.

DEAR READERS: Sun Spots has received two letters from readers who wrote to the Direct Marketing Association to be placed on the mail preference list to stop junk mail from being sent to their address. They both used the P.O. Box number provided by Sun Spots. Both had their mail returned to them.

The address provided by Sun Spots in an earlier column was listed on the Maine government’s website here: http://www.maine.gov/ag/consumer/identity_theft/do_not_call.shtml. Apparently there is a transposition of numbers and the correct post office box number is 9014.

Another website, the U.S. government’s Consumer, Federal Trade Commission, has information for DMA but there is a $1 fee per form: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0262-stopping-unsolicited-mail-phone-calls-and-email/.

The Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service lets you opt out of receiving unsolicited commercial mail from many national companies for five years. When you register with this service, your name will be put on a “delete” file and made available to direct-mail marketers and organizations. This will reduce most of your unsolicited mail. However, your registration will not stop mailings from organizations that do not use the DMA’s Mail Preference Service. To register with DMA’s Mail Preference Service, go to www.dmachoice.org, or mail your request with a $1 processing fee to: DMAchoice, Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512.

Use the QR code to go to Sun Spots online for additional information and links. This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can be emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com, tweeted @SJ_SunSpots or posted on the Sun Spots facebook page at facebook.com/SunJournalSunSpots. This column can also be read online at sunjournal.com/sunspots. We’ve joined Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/sj_sunspots.

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