Maine’s worst road
Last summer, Route 15 was selected as the worst road in the entire state. It is especially bad from Blue Hill to the Sedgwick town line. Once Sedgwick is reached, the road noticeably is better.
I first noticed the condition of the road in the fall of 2013, when I was towing a small sailboat up from Massachusetts. It was a smooth ride up until Blue Hill, then I almost lost the boat before I got to Sargentville.
I have found it actually is easier to do shopping in Bucksport and Bangor than to try to take Route 15 to Blue Hill as a way to shop in Blue Hill and Ellsworth.
Roger Eaton
Little Deer Isle
Anti-renewable energy agenda
Can Maine afford more job losses, such as the 500 that evaporated from the closed mill in Bucksport? Now that our local in-state renewable energy and clean technology industries are gaining real traction to the tune of $1.4 billion per year in economic activity and about 12,000 jobs, Gov. Paul LePage is proposing legislation that would devastate this growing employment sector. LePage’s LD 1400 proposes we eliminate net energy billing, a key mechanism specifically designed to encourage renewable energy investments by residents, businesses and nonprofits.
Under net energy billing, utilities are required to issue credits for any surplus renewable energy delivered to the grid by solar electric systems. This encourages people to invest in modern, effective technology to harvest Maine’s abundant sunshine to generate their own electricity instead of rely entirely on the utilities’ less efficient grid.
My company, ReVision Energy, has grown from two guys in a garage to more than 85 employees under net energy billing. Maine’s growing solar industry employs more than 500 people today. But if LD 1400 becomes law, we will be gone just as quickly as the Bucksport mill.
If you think clean energy is part of the solution to Maine’s long-term economic and environmental sustainability, then you should contact your local politicians and urge them to oppose LePage’s anti-renewable energy agenda.
Phil Coupe
Cape Elizabeth
Eye off the ball
ISIS is a well-equipped, international army of sociopaths whose avowed goal is the utter destruction of civilization as we know it. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 15.8 million children under the age of 18 in America do not receive enough food to sustain a healthy life. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that in 2013, 20 percent of children in the U.S. lived in poverty.
The Department of Education tells us that at some point in 2013 there were 2.5 million children living on the street because they had no home. Inner cities are erupting with lawlessness and violence that make some look like war zones. Police are afraid of those they are supposed to protect and serve, and the latter are afraid of their protectors.
According to an article in the November 2014 New York Times, the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans received 90 percent of all the income growth between 2010 and 2013.
We keep electing a Congress that is so bitterly partisan that each party opposes anything proposed by the other just on principal and, therefore, virtually nothing gets done about the country’s problems.
But, by God, we won’t stand for any underinflated footballs in the NFL.
As Pogo once said in a cartoon, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
Brent Slater
Bangor
Improving home care
May is Older Americans Month, a time to recognize and celebrate the myriad contributions made by seniors. According to 2013 U.S. Census data, roughly 18 percent of Maine’s population is made up of persons age 65 and over, a percentage that is 4 percent greater than that of the nation as a whole. As we honor older adults who live among us here in Maine, we also are being granted the opportunity to recognize the critical workforce that supports these seniors in living independently at home: home care workers. The Legislature has the ability to do just that by passing LD 1350, a bill sponsored by House Speaker Mark Eves of North Berwick that would increase the wages, benefits and job support of this critical but undervalued workforce.
Care work chronically is underpaid and undervalued, with workers making less than $10 an hour on average and with few benefits. These dedicated men and women who care for our loved ones are paid so little they cannot afford to care for their own families, and nearly half of all home care workers are forced to depend on public assistance for basic necessities.
Also, nine out of 10 seniors say that they, if given the choice, would prefer to age at home instead of live in a facility or nursing home. We also should call on our elected officials to pass LD 1350 and support the care workers who support our parents and grandparents in living independent lives at home and in their community.
Joelle Bouchard
Bucksport
Incomplete tax question
I would suggest that placing a question on the ballot asking citizens if they would like to eliminate paying state income taxes is an overly simplistic approach to appropriate tax reform. I believe that when asked the single question of eliminating the state income tax, the emotional vote typically would be in the affirmative. But it is ethically wrong to not ask the complete question of our voters.
Instead, the question should be “would you like to stop paying income tax by replacing that revenue with massive increases to your property taxes.” If that were the question placed on the ballot, I would suggest the answer would be a resounding no.
I do not support this question being placed on the ballot unless a full explanation of the implications of the elimination of the income tax can be guaranteed. Such a guarantee cannot be given. I am extremely concerned that long-lasting damage could be done to our state and to the citizens of our state, specifically those who already are struggling to pay property tax bills, if the income tax is eliminated without a full understanding of the implications of such a drastic action.
I always have cautioned those who want to be able to say they eliminated a major tax source without proper explanation of implications to “not ask the question until you are sure you can handle the answer.” That is clearly the case in this debate.
Paul Krohne
Belfast