Maine’s radiation problem
I have contacted Sen. Susan Collins’ Bangor office to express my concern about the storage of radioactive material in Wiscasset and the radiation in smoke detectors, which are good to have but often end up in the trash as few are disposed of properly.
I often see smoke detectors at the landfill, so I am very concerned they are not getting properly disposed of. So much for our pristine state. Radiation can linger for a long time, and a small amount is toxic. Seems as though we are dirty bombing ourselves.
Frederick Fraley
Mount Desert
Sarnaki sparks interest in Appalachian Trail
The Maine Appalachian Trail Club is indebted to Outdoors writer Aislinn Sarnacki and the Bangor Daily News for helping us fill key volunteer positions as we fulfill our mission to maintain 267 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maine.
Last fall, the club was in dire need of trail maintainers, volunteers who adopt a section of the Appalachian Trail to ensure it is clear of debris and in good hiking condition. Without the BDN’s help, we would be facing critical shortfalls as the 2016 Appalachian Trail maintenance and hiking season begins.
Ron Dobra, a club maintainer who oversees the Whitecap District, indicated there were five section vacancies, two of which had been vacant for two years or more. The Whitecap District includes Gulf Hagas and the endurance-testing 100 Mile Wilderness. Volunteers are responsible for sections ranging from 2 to 4 miles, and retaining and attracting coverage can be a challenge.
As a result of the Sarnacki’s Oct. 16 article, “Wanted: Volunteers to adopt sections of Maine Appalachian Trail,” 10 people contacted the club and will tour the sections this spring to learn what a maintainer does, and five have become members, sparking an infusion of interest in our club.
“One of the most productive things we’ve done to attract interest in the club and bring in new volunteers was to contact the Bangor Daily News,” Dobra remarked.
Lester Kenway
President
Maine Appalachian Trail Club
Bangor
Trump’s endorsements
What happened to the country I grew up in? The Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, is a big-mouthed, fact-free billionaire. And he has been publicly endorsement by former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke and he has been praised by an ex-KGB officer and current president of Russia Vladimir Putin.
In the 1980s these endorsements would have doomed him. Now people like him because of this. Have we sunk so low that decency is ignored? The Klan and Putin like this guy. Why does anyone else? Think about it.
Peter Beitzell
Bangor
America at the crossroads
With apologies to Rodney Dangerfield for using a variation of his old joke, but I went to a fight last night, and a Republican rally broke out. This statement may seem silly and far-fetched, but it is not too far from reality.
Several Donald Trump supporters confronted Ted Cruz at a rally in Indianapolis on May 2. It was obvious from the negative language used and the anger displayed by the Trump supporters that they were ready to physically attack Cruz had he provoked them in any way. For the record, I am not a Cruz fan.
Sadly, this is the level Republican politics has sunk to in recent years, both at the national and state level. No longer do we hear the type of idealism and faith in the United States formerly expressed by Ronald Reagan and even George W. Bush. Instead, we get hatemongering and violence reminiscent of Adolf Hitler’s pre-World War II brown-shirted thugs. (That’s how it all started there.)
This country is at a crossroads. Which path do we take? The path that leads to extremism and persecution or one that leads to cooperation and working to make life better for everyone? It’s your choice.
Steven Colburn
Orono