National park an opportunity for Katahdin region
As a Millinocket native, I’ve followed the discussion about the national park proposal. Millinocket and the Katahdin region are a very special and important part of my life. As a doctor, just finishing my training and looking to possibly return to my hometown and help make it a better place, I’m dismayed by the downfall in the region after the closing of the mills.
Much of my family still lives in the Katahdin region. My grandparents, parents, siblings and I were born and raised in Millinocket. My father and uncle worked in the mills in Lincoln and East Millinocket, respectively. Since their closures, the towns have not been the same. I recall as a child a booming, vibrant Main Street that is now desolate and almost always empty. I know many friends and acquaintances that own and operate small businesses in Millinocket that struggle more and more each day that we fail to move forward and create this national park.
Every day legislators fail to support the park or a national monument and accept this incredibly generous gift is a day another home is foreclosed on. Every day the voices of the majority of constituents are ignored is another day fewer of those constituents are employed in what remains of the timber industry.
I hope Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King understand how this opportunity could turn Millinocket and the Katahdin region back into the thriving area it once was.
Janessa Leger
Portland
Support a sensible wage hike
As a restaurant owner, I know the Maine People’s Alliance proposal to raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour and eliminate the tip credit would be detrimental for Maine’s restaurants. Maine’s small businesses, which most restaurants are, operate on slim margins. They cannot absorb such a steep increase in the minimum wage without letting workers go, not hiring additional workers in the future or, in the worst case scenario, closing down.
A $12 per hour minimum wage is not feasible for them. The elimination of the tip credit, as included in the Maine People’s Alliance proposal, also would be damaging to restaurant owners and their employees. Many restaurants rely on the tip credit to stay in business and grow. Without the tip credit, profit margins for restaurants across the state could be wiped out.
Furthermore, prices would have to rise to accommodate the increase. Customers, especially Maine’s seniors on fixed incomes, would not be able to absorb this. Maine needs to take the sensible path on the minimum wage, which is why I support a $10 per hour wage that keeps the tip credit in place. The time is right for an increase in Maine’s minimum wage, but let’s not go so far that we crush small-business owners and kill jobs.
Randy Wadleigh
Owner
Governor’s Restaurant & Bakery
Bangor
All students deserve healthy school climate
The student at the Penobscot Valley High School whose yearbook quotation prompted a teachable moment, as reported in a March 23 Bangor Daily News article, is a fine example of good people working toward a healthy school climate. The young man showed why he is a National Honor Society member and Youth Leadership Ambassador when he went to the school board to seek reversal of the principal’s decision to remove the quote: “No wonder I dress so well. I didn’t spend all that time in the closet for nothing.”
Superintendent Michael Wright did the right thing to allow the quote to be included and to point out the need for guidelines about such matters. And the principal, although wrong to censor the student’s statement without guidelines, was credited with being “quick to discipline students for anti-gay or other discriminatory behavior.” Kudos to everyone who learned from this situation and especially to the student who did what needed to be done.
At the Down East Maine chapter of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, we want every student, in every school, to be valued and treated with respect, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. We believe that all students deserve a safe and affirming school environment where they can learn and grow.
Douglas Kimmel
Hancock
Protect human trafficking victims
As a graduate student in social work at the University of Maine, I want to urge my senators and representatives to vote in favor of LD 1531, An Act to Protect Victims of Human Trafficking. This bill will allow victims of human trafficking to file protection from abuse and protection from harassment orders.
Sex trafficking is one form of human trafficking. The prevalence of sex trafficking in Maine ranges from 200 to 300 cases annually, according to the Maine Sex Trafficking Exploitation Network. The typical case is a white woman, between the ages of 14 and 30, with a history of sexual abuse or domestic violence.
There is currently not enough information to estimate the prevalence of labor trafficking, another form of human trafficking.
Under Maine law, protection orders are reserved only for individuals who want protection from abusive family members or intimate partners. Yet, the trafficking relationship is so similar to intimate partner violence. The victim is controlled and manipulated, forced to remain dependent on the abuser. By being able to file protection orders, victims of trafficking could start to feel safe and hopeful that they can regain stability and take control of their own life.
If this bill does not pass, victims will continue to be in the control of their trafficker and unable to break free from the cycle of violence. Any hope for long-term stability and independence will be lost.
Samantha Brown
Old Town
Trump should take the pledge
I just watched a rebroadcast of the “60 Minutes” special with Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates. They talked about their ” Giving Pledge” in which they ask multibillionaires to give away at least half of their wealth to charity. Many of them do. It can help solve many world problems.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump should put his money where his mouth is to help eliminate world suffering instead of creating anger and strife in this country and the world.
Joan Shapleigh
Dover-Foxcroft