A major part of the 11th-hour budget deal is the addition of work requirements to Food Stamp programs. Although Republicans brought us to a near catastrophe claiming all kinds of concerns about the budget, they showed their real interests at the final bargaining table. Right from the start, the real budget issues — defense, Medicare […]

There are almost 200,000 Mainers caring for family members at home — over $2 billion of benefit to their communities. Of those who are lower wage workers, two thirds get no paid leave to do this, while almost 100% of those with higher wages receive some paid leave. Mainers with newborns, with parents whose health […]

Go anywhere around Lewiston: The chamber breakfast, business opening, L-A Arts, school function … Mayor Carl Sheline will be there. This is a good thing, because it shows he is in touch with the people of Lewiston — in touch with what they want, and what they are concerned about. If there is a bill […]

The Legislature has the opportunity to take another bold step to incentivize people to enter the direct care workforce. L.D. 1718 creates the Essential Support Worker Tuition Grant Program to provide up to four education vouchers, equal to a year’s tuition up to $4,000, at the University of Maine System, Maine Community College System or […]

“First, do no harm” is the basic premise and underlying principle of health care. This was spoken over 2,000 years ago by Hippocrates and should hold true to this day. Unfortunately, we’ve transgressed as a society if we’ve moved from “First, do no harm” to L.D. 1619. The latter of which does as much harm […]

The Sun Journal on June 6 published the Associated Press article “Amount of warming triggering CO2 in air hits new peak, growing at rapid rate.” I believe the increasing global warming that scientists are warning the human race about is true, as I believed the high blood pressure that my science-educated physician warned me about […]

I want to highlight my support of the library bond article (Article 24) for voting on Tuesday, June 13, in Poland. Last year we supported a $850,000 bond blessing as a town. As we get into design and rising costs it is likely to cost $1.4 million. So $550,000 is the change. This is our […]

Like many of my fellow Mainers, I have experienced times when I’ve needed to take an extended amount of time off from work. In my case it was due to injuries, but it could also be because of an illness, welcoming a new child, or taking care of a sick relative. In these difficult circumstances […]

As a Maine resident, I write in opposition to the late-term abortion bill, L.D. 1619. The bill would allow abortion at any time in pregnancy, even until birth (even though Maine’s current law already allows abortion past the age of viability), with a qualified medical professional’s approval. It would also decriminalize abortions done by someone […]

I don’t think guns should be in school, especially on teachers, an issue under consideration before the Maine Legislature. It’s unsafe and unneeded. Why bring the problem into school? Arming teachers is like putting a Band-Aid on a bullet hole. It’s just treating the symptoms and not the sickness. Most shootings are with guns that […]