Halloween safety
Want to hear something scary about walking? Halloween is the most dangerous day of the year for children on foot. Pedestrian accidents result in over 700 deaths and 66,000 injuries in kids under 19 years each year in this country, according to injury reporting from the Center for Disease Control. Pedestrians who text are nearly four times more likely than undistracted pedestrians to display unsafe crossing behavior. So, don’t text and trick or treat.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends these guidelines:
— Supervise all children younger than 10 years of age.
— Model safety in crossing streets, driveways and alleyways. Teach children how to become good pedestrians.
— Take care to teach children not to walk in front and not in back of cars, because of the large blind spot that can be a risk for backing-up injuries. Parents should walk around a car completely before driving it, to get a sense of what needs to be avoided when backing up the car.
— Use reflective clothing and flashlights, to help others see you.
Walk and have fun. Don’t contribute to a scary statistic.
Janice Pelletier
Orono
Courage in Fort Kent
Thank goodness Fort Kent has a classy and professional town manager and police chief on the job. Both have been well spoken and rational in their comments regarding the Kaci Hickox matter. Is there anyone else in town with any courage?
Where are all my tea party buddies who claim they are always ready to defend the constitutional rights of persons oppressed by overreaching government agencies? Now is the time to put your money where your mouth is.
Dick Langley
Fort Fairfield
Reject Article 2
When someone comes to town and buys a grandfathered business in a residential district, knowing that there are restrictions, then questions the fairness of the zoning ordinance, it begs the question: Why didn’t they buy an inn in a business district?
The Windward House wants to serve lunch and dinners. It’s not allowed. The big reason is that it is not in a business district. Instead the owners are now attacking the same zoning ordinance that helped Camden keep its charm and magic — and attracted them.
Article 2, a citizens petition, if allowed to pass, will award more rights to the Windward House than other inns, restaurants and hotels have in their proper business districts. Their remedy creates serious contradictions in the zoning ordinance that can lead High Street into becoming a new business district. This opens the door.
Maybe the people who live in this residential district want it to be a business district. That change, however, is too big to be left up to one innkeeper armed with a flawed Article 2. Do what was done in the 1980s — establish a moratorium, review the comprehensive plan (that’s happening now) and make coherent changes to the zoning ordinance.
If Article 2 passes now, we can’t go back.
Thomas Filip
Camden
Reed remarkable
Having served with Rep. Roger Reed of Carmel in the Maine House of Representatives 126th Legislature, I can assure the citizens of District 23 that they have one of the finest and most dedicated representatives I have ever served with. His legacy, as one of the finest basketball coaches ever to coach at Bangor High School, has followed him admirably to Augusta.
Reed took each issue and bill seriously. He constantly maintained a sincere desire to learn all he could about each legislative document. How many times have I heard Reed say, “I have to learn all I can about this bill, how it will benefit the state and what the unintended consequences will be.”
His floor speeches were analytical, reasonable and delivered with great clarity. His passion and reason was always focused on how he could better serve his district. His cheerful attitude and yet his serious nature certainly made all his fellow lawmakers gain his confidence and all were so proud to serve with him.
The service Reed renders to your community and state, his ethics and moral values and his personal discipline are truly remarkable. You can show your appreciation by supporting Reed on Nov. 4.
Rep. Bernard L.A. Ayotte
Caswell
Vote Sheehan
We urge the voters of Brewer to support Gail “Kelly” Sheehan for state representative for Brewer. She served with dignity on the Brewer City Council. Sheehan is fiscally conservative and will serve Brewer and the state of Maine with votes for lower taxes and responsible spending of our precious tax dollars.
We are proud to say that Sheehan is a “traditional” candidate. In other words, unlike her opponent, she has not accepted “political welfare” or “clean” funds to run her campaign. In running her campaign without government funds, she already has started to save our tax dollars.
Ernest and Elizabeth Park
Brewer
The Maine brand?
While Mainers know the quality of our seafood, the rest of the nation and the world really doesn’t. This is one of Eliot Cutler’s campaign issues — Maine doesn’t brand itself well. This fact has economic consequences for everyone.
With regard to seafood in Maine, three years ago I worked for a small fishermen’s co-op. It was northern shrimp season and I was under the impression that everyone knew about Maine shrimp. After calling around just in the Northeast, I realized few if any of our neighbors knew about Maine shrimp. In fact, a couple of my contacts were getting northern shrimp from Norway.
So maybe northern shrimp is a little obscure market, but surely everyone in the world has heard of Maine lobster, right? Not the case. What I found out was east of Nantucket few have heard of Maine lobster, but they sure have heard of Canadian lobster. Conversations went something like this: “I’ll buy Maine lobster but we’ll market it as Canadian because everyone knows Canadian lobster.” I was even told that local Canadian embassies were contacting overseas seafood buyers to put them in contact with Canadian lobster firms.
The problem about the “Maine brand” goes beyond seafood. It encompasses all natural resources and products made in Maine. Cutler is the only candidate that gets it, understands the problem and knows how to fix it. Fixing the “Maine brand” and its market value attracts business, investment, and creates jobs.
Colin Amundsen
Rockport
Election notice
The Bangor Daily News has stopped accepting letters and commentary related to the Nov. 4 election. We will stop publishing election-related letters and columns with the Nov. 1-2 edition. Not all submissions can be printed.