Vote for Lyford
I have had the personal satisfaction of knowing Peter Lyford, candidate for House District 129, for 56 years. During that period of time, Lyford has always demonstrated his ability to be consistently strong and a positive thinker, with good morals and work ethic.
I’m supporting Lyford in the upcoming election because I genuinely trust he will be a strong advocate for the average working Maine family. Locally, he has proven his ability to support economic growth and job opportunities.
Let’s get some new blood with common sense in Augusta by joining me in supporting Lyford this November.
Phil McTigue
Holden
Davis support
Paul Davis of Brewer is one of the most ethical and caring people that I have had the pleasure of knowing. He will make a superb senator for District 8, which includes Brewer, Eddington, Holden, Clifton, Orrington, Bradley, Lincoln and several communities in Hancock County.
He has run a very strong, positive campaign, and deserves to be elected. Please join me in sending Davis to Augusta as our state senator by voting for him on Nov. 4. You will not regret doing this.
David Sawyer
Brewer
Bear facts
If you apply a little math to some of the numbers being used by the out-of staters seeking to ban bear baiting, the numbers look very different. Assuming the “7 million pounds” of stale doughnuts is a remotely accurate number, all you have to do is divide that number by the estimated bear population and you get about 200 pounds of donuts per day. Then divide that number by the 92 days that baiting is legal and you come up with a fraction over 2 pounds per day per bear.
That falls far short of the 20,000 calories per day that a bear needs to get ready to hibernate.Thus, 2 pounds of doughnuts is a statistically insignificant factor in a bear’s diet.
Another number that needs examination is the claim that there is a person on this planet who can track down a black bear in the Maine woods and kill it. If this person was such an incredible hunter, he would have to be so indoctrinated into the sport of hunting that they would never side with the anti-hunters.
Which do these people think is more cruel, killing a bear cleanly at short range or boiling a lobster alive? These are the very same people who are harassing the lobster processors. How far are you going to let these out-of-staters go in destroying Maine’s traditions?
Mike Look
East Machias
Kitchen tour benefits
The 10th EMMC Auxiliary Kitchen Tour proved to be much more than an opportunity to see some of the most unique kitchens in the area. My wife and I toured seven homes in Bangor, Brewer and Orono recently. There was a wide array of homes included representing the versatility in age and architecture of homes in this community. The homes ranged from a historical Brewer Cape and birthplace of Joshua Chamberlain, featuring a unique claw-foot toilet and interesting period architecture, to a cozy condo with a great outside deck overlooking the Bangor Waterfront.
An informative history lesson was presented when touring a home on Broadway. It seems that this residence was the only home in that area to survive the Great Bangor Fire. The servants at the home doused the flames with buckets of water and were successful in saving it from ruins. The original electrified chandelier over the dining room table once ran by gas in this beautiful, grand old house.
Three outstanding upscale modern homes on Bangor’s Fox Hollow allowed visitors to see the latest ideas in modern kitchen fixtures, cabinetry, appliances, countertops and flooring.
An Orono home displayed Venezuelan art and also featured an outstanding intricate stonework garden.
Those attending the event got to tour an impressive selection of homes, acquire interesting local history and sample various foods from Maine vendors.
Proceeds from the tour benefited the EMMC Ravish Peavey Haskell Children’s Cancer and Treatment Center.
Rodney Duplisea
Bangor
Stop the robocalls
The tremendous amount of funds raised by political candidates this year is frightening. I expect many attack ads and calls, including robocalls. I got an answering machine recently and am now screening every call before answering.
The most annoying calls are the ones where someone blabs on and on, leaving the message. These calls make me disagree with what they are asking. One recent day, I counted eight calls like these.
Things will only get worse before Election Day. I will probably turn my phone off completely during the last week before the election. I can imagine getting robocalls every 10 minutes during this time.
Beth Kidder
Bar Harbor
Treating the person
When faced with a cancer diagnosis, patients and their loved ones often take swift and aggressive action to develop a plan to fight the disease. Doctors are chosen, treatment options are weighed and plans for fighting cancer are outlined. Unfortunately, there is often a missing piece to the cancer treatment puzzle — palliative care.
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with a serious illness like cancer. It is focused on providing patients with relief from the stress, pain and other symptoms that may come with a diagnosis of cancer. Palliative care is appropriate at any age and for any stage of a disease. It is all about treating the patient as well as the disease. It’s a big shift in focus for health care delivery — and it works.
Legislation proposed in Congress would expand the availability of palliative care to patients. This month, I traveled to Washington, D.C. with hundreds of fellow advocates, cancer patients and survivors to urge Sen. Susan Collins to co-sponsor these bills.
For every moment that action is not taken to improve patient access to palliative care, many people battling cancer and other diseases continue to suffer unnecessarily. We must complete the cancer treatment puzzle by working to ensure everyone has access to quality palliative care. For the sake of the 9,270 people expected to be diagnosed with cancer in Maine this year — let’s do it now.
Janet Miles
Volunteer
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Livermore
Election notice
The Bangor Daily News will stop accepting letters and commentary related to the Nov. 4 election on Monday, Oct. 27. We will stop publishing election-related letters and columns with the Nov. 1-2 edition. Not all submissions can be printed.