Seasonal worker shortage
The state’s hospitality industry can’t find enough seasonal workers for a raft of reasons, including low unemployment, less than competitive wages, inflexible schedules, a graying and shrinking population.
So where are the people who will be needed to cook, clean and make beds for visitors to a national monument in the Katahdin region going to come from?
Bruce Pratt
Eddington
A warning about Trump
Now is a good time to recall Martin Niemoller‘s prophetic warning: “First they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Finally, they came for me and there was no one left to speak out.”
If Niemoller were with us today, he might issue a new warning: Donald Trump said our president is a Kenyan and the Republican establishment did not speak out. Then Trump came for the Mexicans, saying they are rapists and drug smugglers, and the Republican establishment did not speak out. Then Trump went after the Muslims, saying he would ban them from entering the country, and still the Republican establishment did not speak out. Then Trump came for the Republican establishment and the Republican establishment was perplexed, unable to fathom the creation of its own making.
Now Trump is coming for America. Let us pray sufficient wisdom resides in the land to save us from a monumental cataclysm we will long regret.
Jerry Farlow
Orono
Clinton should drop out of the race
Hillary Clinton would ennoble herself and benefit all people immeasurably if she stepped aside and ended her effort to secure the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
This action would permit Bernie Sanders, a person of integrity, consistency, high moral purpose and progressive viewpoint, to battle the ignorant thug who will, in all probability, be nominated by the Republican Party.
Bob Meggison
Belfast
Maine has great medical education
In the June 1 BDN article about Eastern Maine Medical Center unveiling its expansion, the governor is quoted saying, “I tell you, this is a great spot for a teaching hospital. … This would be a great spot to partner with the university and with the expertise of [The] Jackson Lab and make this a university teaching hospital. Maine needs to develop its own doctors.”
This is particularly concerning to me, considering EMMC already is a teaching hospital, working with the University of New England in Biddeford. In the next couple of months, third-year medical students will be traveling to Biddeford to begin their clinical training.
I understand the governor’s wish to see great medical education in Maine, but let’s not belittle the assets our state already has, such as a medical school that has been training physicians for 38 years and just graduated more than 100 physicians last month in Portland.
Frank Jackson
York
Route 1 a disgrace
Route 1 between Jonesboro and Machias is a disgrace. There are areas where the asphalt is broken or missing 2 feet inside the white line, which by the way is not there.
This section of road is very dangerous. Should a vehicle traveling toward Jonesboro meets up with a large truck traveling toward Machias, it might lead to a crash.
I would be very surprised if our law enforcement officers haven’t already discussed this with the highway department. As we say Down East, this section of road is shovel ready.
Larson Alley
Jonesboro
Dechaine should be exonerated
We’ve all heard stories of wrongful convictions, such as Steven Avery, who is the subject of the Netflix series “ Making a Murder.” Avery was charged with sexual assault in 1985. After serving 18 years in prison, he was finally exonerated by DNA testing. While watching the first couple of minutes of the first episode, Dennis Dechaine came to my mind.
Dechaine is a Madawaska native who was convicted of the 1988 murder of Sarah Cherry in Bowdoin. The absence of DNA evidence between the victim and the accused is why I believe he should be exonerated. Another man’s DNA was found under Cherry’s fingernails. The case has many more flaws, including false statements and the lack of evidence, which only encourages my belief more.
Being from the Saint John Valley, I grew up learning about the case. Although not knowing Dechaine, he has a great impact on the community to this day. He is a strong individual who deserves another retrial. I highly respect Trial and Error and its effort to secure his release.
Kelly Clavet
Frenchville
Sublime news
Beautiful photos pulled me into reading two articles about photographer Tom Blagden Jr. celebrating the centennial of Acadia National Park with a new book and BDN columnist Julia Bayly taking a lovely vacation in Paris. I simply wish the caption on the photo of Bayly walking in Paris accompanying her column had included the name of St. Severin church in the Latin Quarter. I have some of Blagden’s glorious photography on display in my winter home in Charleston, South Carolina, because he shares my love of Maine and its natural wonders.
Last June, there was a tragedy in Charleston, when Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. One way I dealt with my grief from afar was to ask Waterville residents about the tragedy here at Blessed Sacrament in 1996, when a man shot killed two nuns. The May 27 BDN article about that man, who wants to move out of the group home where he lives, brought back the agony of Roof’s treachery last June in Charleston. How broken people who commit horrible crimes are treated certainly is newsworthy. Now we await the trial and verdict for Roof.
News from the tragic to the sublime. I will recall the beautiful photographs of Acadia and the Paris sidewalk instead of the 57-year-old man who murdered and wounded 20 years ago.
Martha F. Barkley
Belgrade Lakes