No free candy
Recently while at the check-out of a local pharmacy chain, I noticed a display of candy bars boasting a sign, “Free if we don’t ask you!” The cashier suggested them to me as I checked out.
I inquired if this was a new promotion. She said it was a new but permanent thing. She also stated that if she forgot to ask and a customer mentioned it (therefore getting a free snack), the dollar amount of the snack came out of her paycheck. The girl was serious and irritated about it.
I wasn’t led to believe she was fabricating the truth in order to get a sympathy sale or anything like that. I couldn’t believe that any business would exploit an employee like that. They probably don’t make more than minimum wage and yet the “lost sale” must come out of their paycheck.
I seriously have considered not shopping at this store again, if this is true. I pray that this isn’t the case. Hopefully this isn’t the beginning of a new trend in an economically depressed society.
Tabitha Lindsey
Bangor
···
Shooting at Togus
A few days ago I read in the Bangor Daily News where they had a huge military funeral for a Marine veteran who had been shot and killed at Togus where he had been seeking treatment. I think it said he was shot by a game warden and police officer. At the end of the funeral service a Marine major presented his 8-year-old daughter with an American flag. In my opinion that wasn’t a very good swap, a man’s life for a flag.
Later I read in your paper where game wardens shot tranquilizers into a bear and put it to sleep so they could take the unruly bear to another location where it couldn’t bother people. Too bad they hadn’t shown as much compassion for the Marine veteran, shot him with a tranquilizer, and took him home to Grindstone where he wouldn’t bother anyone.
Eli H. Zwicker Sr.
Brownville Junction
···
Vanishing logic
In a recent letter to the editor in the BDN, I read the astonishing claim that “An American vanishes every 35 minutes in Phoenix.”
Wow, let’s see, 60 minutes per hour, times 24 hours per day, times 206 days so far this year, divided by 35 minutes equals 8,496 Americans who have simply vanished since Jan. 1. Poof, gone! Must be the work of those darned illegals.
Why have I not heard about this? Ah, liberal MSM has covered it up.
Even Google is in on the conspiracy, all a Google search of this outrage has yielded is a letter to the Bangor Daily News.
Martin O’Connell
Bangor
···
Vote for Libby
This Thursday, I will be turning 16 years old. In politics, I have advocated and fought for the rights of the Maine people. I have also strongly advocated for Libby Mitchell to be Maine’s next governor. Libby Mitchell has worked as a teacher, lawyer and is the first woman in the nation to serve as both speaker of the House and Senate president. Libby’s passion to improve the lives of Maine people is phenomenal.
Something I truly admire about Libby is her ability to bring people together and never give up. Libby, as president of the Senate, spoke to the Senate floor only once — to encourage others to vote in favor of marriage equality, explaining why it is so important that Maine allow couples, regardless of sexual orientation, to marry. The Maine House and Senate passed LD 1020, and it was signed into law by Gov. Baldacci.
Libby was one of the strongest advocates for LD 1020, as she so boldly stood up for Maine families, all families. I encourage everyone to watch Libby’s speech to the Senate floor on the marriage equality vote. It is accessible from YouTube.
When asked what I want for my birthday, I never say anything. Instead this year, I have decided to ask for exactly what I want. I am asking Maine people to look into Libby’s campaign, meet her before November. Because I know that when you do, you will be confident in voting Libby as Maine’s next governor.
MaKayla Reed
Ellsworth
···
Immigration fantasies
The letters to the editor in the BDN have, of late, been a cornucopia of right wing fantasies and falsehoods, to wit:
Reader Bono, in his July 23 letter, he disingenuously links illegal immigrants with the “kidnappings, drug wars and murders” of Mexico. Another reader mentioned “beheadings” and the disappearance of Arizona residents.
The readers failed to mention that Americans are the greatest consumers of drugs over which the current Mexican battles are being fought. More importantly, they ignore William Finnegan’s July 26 piece in The New Yorker, where it is reported that violent crime in Southwestern border counties “has dropped more than 30 percent in the past two decades [and is] down in Sen. McCain’s Arizona.”
Immigrants come to the United States, legally or illegally, for the same reasons that they always have — to escape persecution or to improve their economic lot. They invariably encounter what immigrants have always encountered — scapegoating by the fearful, ignorant and malicious.
Robert E. Meggison
Belfast
···
Why I am angry
The BDN’s July 24-25 story reported that I was angry about the St. George revaluation, but did not explain why. Our town manager signed a contract that left much to be desired in terms of specifics, and then did nothing to ensure that the value lived up to even those inadequate contract terms.
Mr. Gingras was not asked to explain how he arrived at his fair-market values for 2010, nor where that market is, when that market was determined and by whom. He was heard to dismiss as not relevant local sales data for 2008 and 2009 — which contradicted his own findings — whereas Mr. Ledew of the Maine Revenue Services Property Tax Division described local sales as primary evidence.
Local sales data would not have suggested doubling or tripling the valuation of some properties that had seen no improvements in 15 years, and reducing the value of others that had been renovated recently. Had Mr. Gingras lived up to his contractual obligation to inspect every property, he would hardly have made the egregious mistakes he made in describing some land and buildings.
I am angry the town has spent $165,000, yet we have no assurance that our new assessments are any closer to current market values, and that the revaluation has led to greater equity. We do know the higher valuation will make it easier to demand higher property tax payments by referring to our “much lower tax rate than that of 2009.”
Hans Peter Muth
Spruce Head