I was pleased to read Sen. Rick Bennett’s column (“Parents cannot work without quality child care, and that is an economic problem for all of us,” March 27) pledging bipartisan legislative support for the pending $12 million for child care workers in Maine. Having visited high-quality early learning programs like Promise Early Education Center, I […]

I write in response to William LaRochelle’s rebuttal (“Thomas doesn’t speak for everyone,” March 9) against Cal Thomas’ column (“Beckel and me: An odd couple,” March 3). His expressions of opinion against Thomas, Jesus Christ and the Christian faith only draws the same conclusion about himself, that neither does LaRochelle speak for everyone. Billions of […]

I became the planning director for the city of Lewiston in 1988. A few years later, my daughter and I had lunch downtown and decided to take a stroll through Kennedy Park. We saw many homeless persons, with bedding and carts nearby. We were upset by what we saw, by how in a “land of […]

The process behind a recent Lewiston Planning Board appointment has highlighted the need for further transparency in municipal government. The procedural move during the March 15 meeting to suspend the rules and add a nomination to the Planning Board was a premeditated effort to subvert the mayor and his power of appointment, installing a self-selected […]

Maine has a lot of momentum going into the fight against climate change, which is very heartening to see as a new transplant from Michigan. I work in the renewable energy industry as a grassroots mobilizer to help supporters of solar and wind push projects across the finish line when resistance bubbles up. One argument […]

As a member of the Maine House of Representatives, I understand all the hard work that goes into crafting and passing smart, bipartisan policy that benefits the communities I represent and the voters who put me in office. That’s why I’m all the more grateful to Sen. Susan Collins and appreciative of her efforts to […]

Auburn and Lewiston are the Twin Cities. The Lewiston City Council (in disregard of citizens’ wishes) has approved a moratorium on creating homeless shelters. Must Auburn be an identical twin? By turning a blind eye to the homeless/needy people? Aren’t they God’s children, too? The safety of our water supply would surely be jeopardized by […]

Areas of exceptional natural beauty add to the quality of life for residents, especially when those areas are preserved and accessible to everyone. Since Lake Auburn is one of those places and replicating it in a new location is not feasible, its primary value to the community as a place of recreation and renewal must […]

As a lifelong resident of Auburn, development worries me. I decided to attend meetings. At the February Planning Board meeting the city presented, the board asked questions, the public spoke, the mayor-appointed board voted unanimously to rezone Gracelawn Road from Agriculture and Resource Protection to Commercial Development, plus move the watershed boundary. At the Feb. […]

I appreciate the AP science writer’s article about allergy seasons getting longer due to the warming climate (“Climate change to make allergy season nastier,” March 16). It is disturbing to know that even with moderate cuts in our greenhouse gas emissions (less car exhaust, fewer coal power plants, more heat pumps perhaps) we will still […]