Collins Center impresses
We recently attended a performance at the Collins Center for the Arts by the swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. These guys are world-class performers having been together for more than 20 years. The performance was outstanding. I daresay if there had been a dance floor everyone there would have been up dancing.
Unfortunately, there would have been enough space because the crowd numbered only around 700. I know that the Greater Bangor area has many more entertainment options now and it is hard to fit them all in. The Collins Center has been providing this sort of world-class entertainment for many years.
If Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is any indication this year’s CCA season will be one to remember. We would encourage everyone to give them another look. We are certain you will not be disappointed.
Greg and Betty Jamison
Holden
Shortchanging victims
Why are the candidates shy about talking about funding the cold case squad? We have heard them promise to fund all these other programs and services but no one is speaking out to give the victims, families and communities justice. Why not?
Do they want killers walking the streets? Do they view those victims as less important? Shame on all of them for failing to fund the squad the first two times it went before the Legislature. This is not about politics, it’s about justice. Do the right thing and fund the squad.
Patrick Day
Rockland
Palmer for Bangor
Gerry Palmer, former Bangor mayor and city councilor of several terms, is running for election in November for another term on Bangor’s City Council. A community-centered leader, he is a strong supporter of the downtown, business development, the importance of education to continued economic growth, and the Bangor brand. Born and bred in Bangor, Palmer will bring a creative vision, enthusiasm, and a wealth of experience to the city council position. He believes that Bangor is a great place in which to live, work, and raise a family.
Bangor is a growing city with expanding connections to community. Currently, the city has more than 130 miles of sidewalks. He will work to expand and maintain their infrastructure. He will also work to expand and maintain the city parks, which he says are the best in Maine. An avid supporter of public transportation as a community connector for all people, he will seek to upgrade the bus system and create an inner city shuttle that would take people to and from the parking lots to destination points downtown. He would also support new methods of technology for Bangor including funding high speed internet access for businesses.
Bangor is a welcoming city. Under his leadership, Palmer will grow and enhance that reality through hard work and dedication to the city that he grew up in and is proud to call home.
Judith Sims
Bangor
Bellows too liberal
Senate candidate Shenna Bellows was listed in a New York Times article as the most liberal candidate in the entire nation for the U.S Senate. The last thing Washington, D.C. needs is more radical, fringe politicians like Bellows.
What we need is more pragmatic leaders like Sen. Susan Collins, who has demonstrated she can bring the two sides together. In this difficult political environment, she has been able to get important legislation passed. I will be supporting Collins in November.
Duane Wardwell
Stetson
Locals support Question 1
I was born and raised in Maine. I have lived and worked here my entire life. So it is with some surprise that I watch ads by “professionals” employed by the state of Maine suggesting that it is out-of-state interests that are driving the Vote Yes on 1 campaign. There are a lot of Mainers like myself who are against trapping, baiting and hounding; folks that grew up with an understanding and respect for fair hunting. Who is paying for these ads?
And shame on the state-employed biologists trying to scare people by implying that we are not safe if we do not engage in deplorable methods to hunt bear. I have lived in the woods for most of my adult life and have enjoyed coexisting with the wildlife that share my environment including black bear.
Who has not learned from an early age that you do not feed the bears? Is this a lesson that the wildlife biologists on the TV ads have learned? Do their colleagues that work in national and state parks and promote not feeding the bears there agree that it is okay to dump millions of pounds of junk food elsewhere in the woods to feed the bear?
I stand with the registered guides, skilled hunters and independent biologists (not employed by the state) along with thousands of Mainers who will be voting yes on 1 for a fair bear hunt.
Sherry Treworgy
Orland
Join Michaud vote
Over the many years Mike Michaud has been a candidate either for the Maine Legislature or the U.S. Congress, I have gladly voted for him each and every time he was elected to office. My late wife, June, always made sure he got her vote also. He has always worked endlessly for all of the people of our state and never forgot the people from our area during the good or the bad times. He continues to take the time to listen to all of the people and address our concerns to the best of his ability. Mike is a credit to our state and our town.
Gov. Paul LePage, with his incivility to anyone who disagrees with him, has proven himself unfit, over the last four years, to lead our our fine state of Maine any longer. Michaud has a long history of working with both sides of the aisle both in Augusta and Washington, D.C. and, when elected, would use his negotiating skills to bring much needed harmony and progress back to our state Legislature and help the state face its many problems.
Meanwhile Eliot Cutler, the other candidate, has been an unknown entity, having never been elected to office. Why would we elect a wild card for governor during these difficult times when we have a seasoned veteran legislator who is ready and willing to step in and do a fine job as governor.
Michaud is the only candidate for governor with a proven record and qualifications to unseat LePage in November. Join me in voting for Michaud in November.
Paul Baker
East Millinocket