A positive future for Katahdin region
Several years ago, I started searching records of relatives who lived in the Katahdin region. Then my wife and I made a visit, fell in love with the people and purchased a home. Each summer, we visited the Katahdin region and made improvements on our home, preparing for it to be a more permanent move.
As the forest products industry, particularly the paper companies that once dominated the area and indeed much of Maine have packed up and headed elsewhere, we wondered if there would be anything left when we made our final move. Would there still be grocery stores, restaurants and hardware stores? Would there be schools, a library, police and fire protection? Would there be high-speed internet and other conveniences that make communities desirable?
The designation of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument has given us new hope that all those things and more are in store for the region.
Maine is a very attractive place with natural and historic traits that invite visitors like my wife and me. We love visiting state and national parks, and after visiting the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument we are blessed to have wonderful experiences of the wilderness, wildlife and scenic views.
The Katahdin region’s rivers and wilderness are a national treasure for millions living in crowded cities. The new national monument provides a new future and real opportunity for all communities surrounding it. Because of this, we look forward to the Katahdin region’s future.
Robert Carr
Millinocket
LePage’s fate up to voters
Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap absolutely has made the right decision in rejecting the empty chair provision of the Maine Constitution as a roundabout way of trying to impeach Gov. Paul LePage. The Legislature has been unable to even censure the governor thanks to the governor’s many supporters in the House of Representatives.
The issue is now in the people’s hands. If voters deny the governor the power of the veto by significantly changing the makeup of the Legislature this November, the public’s business can be conducted without the governor’s involvement. Maine’s national reputation will be salvaged when it is clear that the people of Maine have taken the only action available to them to respond to a tragic situation.
Bill Sullivan
Bangor
Ban fireworks
Like many people, I love watching fireworks. I rarely miss a Fourth of July display and have actively sought out opportunities to attend events with fireworks throughout my life. Then Maine lifted the ban on personal sales and displays of fireworks, and my feeling about them changed. One of our dogs now spends hours cowering in a corner many nights in July and August.
In 2013, a year after the first legal sales began, the people of Surry supported passing an ordinance banning the use of fireworks on all days, except July 4, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The first summer with legal fireworks had been a nightmare for pets and a trial for people who rise at 5 a.m. but can’t sleep through the loud fireworks shooting off late into the night. I was glad when our town passed the ordinance, and the number of evenings our dog is terrorized has diminished.
It’s time for Maine to reverse the law that allows residents to buy and shoot off fireworks whenever they wish. Individual rights must always be balanced with the common good, terrorized pets and wildlife, diminished ecosystems and veterans enduring post-traumatic stress disorder are too high a price to pay for some people’s personal pleasure. As a fireworks aficionado, I gladly give up the right to enjoy them whenever I please for the sake of others’ lives and welfare.
Let’s use our voices and contact our legislators to overturn the Maine law that has caused such unnecessary suffering.
Zoe Weil
Surry
Question 3 won’t make Maine safer
Background checks are required for firearm purchases in Maine. Question 3 — the universal background check referendum — takes it too far.
Two hunters are out for a day of hunting. One hunter wants to let the other hunter use his gun for the day. Question 3 requires a background check unless they exchange the weapon in the location where they plan to hunt or at a certified range. The second hunter wants to return the gun to its owner at the end of the day. Question 3 requires a background check unless they exchange the weapon in the location where they hunted or at a certified range.
Yes, the National Rifle Association, some of whose members live in Maine, opposes excessive laws like this. And Michael Bloomberg, who does not live in Maine, will dump a large amount of dollars in support of this referendum, thinking it will make us safer. It won’t.
Jo Ann Higgins
Bangor
Poliquin stands by veterans
I am a female Vietnam-era veteran, petty officer second class, U.S. Navy. Rep. Bruce Poliquin has always supported veterans. Former Rep. Mike Michaud, who served eight years in Washington, during which he was top Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee, oversaw some of the most heinous treatment of veterans that has ever occurred. I guess Democrat Emily Cain, who is running against Poliquin, would be proud to follow his efforts.
Poliquin has gone above and beyond for veterans. He welcomes veterans home from honor flights, speaks at American Legion posts, visits local veteran’s facilities, walks with them and greets them with exceptional respect in parades around the 2nd Congressional District. Veterans Poliquin has visited in Togus express the great experience it was meeting him and recount the warm and sincere appreciation he has for veterans
We veterans know he appreciates us and are thankful for the hard work he has done in supporting us in Congress. Time and again he has voted to increase funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs, while holding them accountable through his support for the VA Accountability Act. He recently introduced legislation to extend the ARCH Program. Having lived 30 years in Aroostook County, I know veterans appreciated getting local treatment rather than the time and expense of driving to Togus. He wants the ARCH Program expanded.
Poliquin has the back of veterans in Congress, and that is why I am voting for him in November.
Terry Hamm-Morris
Hermon