Wabanaki resolution
While the integration of county jails with state prisons dominates recent public discussion concerning Maine’s corrections system, progressive changes to fulfill the legal rights of Wabanaki inmates to practice their religion have received little media attention. Department of Corrections Commissioner Martin Magnusson and Associate Commissioner Denise Lord deserve credit for effecting important policy and procedural changes. The catalyst for these positive changes has been the Sipayik Criminal Justice Commission, a Passamaquoddy group acting on behalf of all the Wabanaki.
Imagine a Christian unable to receive Communion while incarcerated. Yet until last year Wabanaki inmates could not participate in sweat lodge ceremonies, an important spiritual practice among Native Americans. Thanks to corrections leadership and the diligent efforts of the Sipayik Criminal Justice Commission three sweat lodge ceremonies have been held at the Bolduc and Downeast Correctional Facilities and Maine State Prison.
In addition to allowing sweat lodge ceremonies to take place at state prisons, Commissioner Magnusson has proposed important changes to corrections rules designed to institutionalize changes intended to accommodate the religious rights of all inmates. Interested individuals can offer comments on the new rules at a public hearing scheduled for Jan. 7 at 10 a.m. at the Tyson Building, Augusta. People wanting more information should contact Esther Riley at esther.riley@maine.gov.
Commissioner Magnusson’s willingness to act on concerns raised by the Wabanaki and to address them should serve as a model for the rest of state government to begin solving other problems hindering tribal-state relations dealing with jurisdiction and sovereignty.
John Dieffenbacher-Krall
executive director
Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission
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Next step for change
Voting for change isn’t enough. If we really want change, we need to get back to work.
In November, record numbers of Mainers voted, overwhelmingly electing Barack Obama as our president. The grass-roots effort in this state was unprecedented. Over 7,000 volunteers came into Democratic Party offices to help us convince Mainers to support Obama and other Democrats. Ultimately, the Maine Democratic Party and the Obama campaign made more than two million phone calls to Maine voters. This was a truly historic campaign, but it doesn’t stop now.
Since December 2007, two million Americans have lost their jobs, unemployment in Maine has grown to 5.7 percent and the housing crisis has threatened the economic security of countless working families. Major industries are failing, and businesses can’t find the credit to create new jobs. That is why we need to pass an economic recovery package now, and we need your help to do it.
I hope you will join me in calling on Sens. Snowe and Collins to support a comprehensive economic recovery package and work to make sure it is ready for President Obama to sign soon after the inauguration. This isn’t a time for partisanship, empty rhetoric or commissions to slowly study options; it’s a time to work together for a solution. This crisis has no quick or easy fixes, but we have an opportunity to transform our economy, create jobs, invest in America’s economic future and strengthen the middle class for years to come.
John Knutson
chairman, Maine Democratic Party
Arden Manning
executive director, Maine Democratic Party
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Wear a helmet
On Oct. 13, I was involved in an ATV accident as I rounded a corner, sending myself 25 feet down into a ravine.
My friends Chris Moody and Jay Watts reached me first. They transported me to one of Lincolnville’s many first responders, Anne Marriner. If it weren’t for the selfless acts of my friends, I wouldn’t be here today. Jay and Chris are my heroes. Anne and another EMT, Justin Hills, immediately called for a LifeFlight helicopter, which landed in the soccer field at Lincolnville Central School. EMTs Julia Libby and Brian Allen met us at the school.
I stayed conscious through all of this, even though the accident had crushed every bone in my face, cracked my skull entirely around and took the sight from my right eye. I spent the next 19 days at Eastern Maine Medical Center, and I consider the outcome of the experience a miracle.
I am very grateful to Chris Moody, Jay Watts, Brandon Allen, Anne Marriner, Julia Libby, Kergan Thoman, Ben Watts, Adam Jones, Brian Allen, Justin Hills, Larry Philbrook, Andrew Staples, LifeFlight and all the staff of Grant Five at EMMC.
I am also deeply grateful to my friends and family who traveled every day to visit me at EMMC. I will always remember the time and energy Kristi Brown spent taking care of me the first two weeks I was home.
Remember — always wear a helmet!
Clifford Coburn
Lincolnville
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Domestic abuse issue
I have been a reader of the paper since the 1930s, and I want to say that the domestic abuse article is an important issue. My sister saw it in her life, bringing up three kids. She died earlier this year. I have always looked at domestic abuse as a serious matter.
I plan to help victims by making a donation to the new women’s shelter in East Machias.
Also, I want the BDN reporters to know that what they do is the most important part of the paper, unlike the ones that sit in front of a camera with a clown’s mask on. I do not worry about TV stations shutting down at night in rural areas, since I go to sleep at 7 p.m.
James Briggs
Howland
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Wrong priorities
Emily R. Chaney hit the nail right on the head with her Dec. 16 letter to the Bangor Daily News.
We advertise that Maine is “the way life should be” as a place to live, work and retire. How can we look anyone in the eye and say Maine would rather upgrade snowmobile trails than serve breakfast in assisted living facilities?
Are the citizens of Maine who have worked hard and paid taxes now being delegated to second place behind snowmobile trails?
Roads are necessary for everyone to use. Snowmobile trails are for some people to use. Breakfast for our assisted living residents should not be dropped while $300,000 goes into upgrade snowmobile trails.
When are our politicians going to take a cut or do without, and tighten their belts, as the rest of us are being asked to do?
Betty Heald
Lincolnville