Lobster threat
Global warming may well pose a threat to Maine lobsters, but I posit that an even greater threat to their well-being are those who fish and eat the poor devils.
Kathleen Rogers
Ellsworth
Cardone for House District 127
I have known Barbara Cardone for more than 20 years and have watched her advocating for seniors, first-time college students and women struggling to improve their lives. I’ve seen her advocating and fundraising to aid women with no other place to turn.
Throughout her career as a family-law attorney, Cardone has helped families struggling with crises at home and with the cost of health care, food security and reliable child care. She has helped the elderly who need a safe place to live and someone to assist them in their daily tasks. She is a tireless and skilled advocate for those in need.
As a longtime resident of Bangor’s West Side, I support Cardone’s campaign for the State House to represent House District 127 as a Democrat. I want an experienced, skilled and understanding advocate representing my interests in Augusta. With Cardone, I know I will have exactly that representative.
Judith Young
Bangor
Yes on Question 3
I learned to fish from my father. Fly-fishing found me at age 13. Hunting took longer. Four years ago, I enrolled in my first hunter safety course. Instructors drove home lessons first learned on the BB-gun range in the Boy Scouts; the lessons are repeated because they are good and at the heart of responsible gun ownership. Keep fingers off the trigger. Do not identify a target through your scope. Always point the gun in a safe direction. These lessons have been and will continue to be taught for generations.
As responsible gun owners, we should be proud to be aware of what guns can do. In the wrong hands, a gun is dangerous. As a responsible gun owner, would you hand your gun to a man who beats his wife? Would you hand your gun to a suspected terrorist on the no-fly list? Would you put a gun in the hand of any untrustworthy individual? Why, then, would you ever consent to selling guns without first learning about the buyer? Vote yes on Question 3 — to require background checks for all gun sales and transfers — on the November ballot.
Eric Venturini
Orono
Elect candidates who promise real change
I can see the appeal of Donald Trump for those who are fed up with the government. They want change and see him as the person to achieve change in Congress. It is unfortunate that he has been chosen as their spokesperson as he has shown he changes his mind on a whim, has little value in the teachings of history, reviles others while he glorifies the same faults in himself, is an obvious bully and has surrogates who have dubious backgrounds.
I urge a large bloc of Trump supporters to change their tactics. Voice their dissatisfaction by not voting for president if they cannot vote for Hillary Clinton. Concentrate instead on candidates in offices at state and national level who pledge to work across the aisles. Back new candidates who pledge to spend our tax dollars sensibly for the good of all citizens and the future of humanity on Earth. Support Candidates such as Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King. Go beyond the TV ads and research the voting record or personal values of candidates. Don’t be misled by inflammatory posts on social media.
We live on the very cusp of social disintegration among ourselves and between countries. Massive storms because of climate change and rising oceans will erase whole island nations and our North American coastline, creating millions of climate refugees. Many major U.S. cities will become a modern Atlantis. Find ways to work together and bring us back from an irreversible tipping point in our lifetime.
Donna Allen
Hampden
Ward for House District 131
Two years ago, when Karl Ward first ran for the Legislature to represent House District 131 (Verona Island, Prospect, Stockton Springs, Orland, Penobscot, Dedham and Otis), he met my mother, Gerry Baxter, at her home on Verona Island. Ward is a great listener, and he asks questions. He stayed for more than an hour. I hear this is commonplace for him.
My mom was suffering from terminal cancer. He shared that every member in his family has had cancer except for him. It took his father.
After his 2014 victory, he co-sponsored the “Right to Try” bill with a Democrat to give Mainers with terminal illness a chance to try Tier One-level FDA approved drugs not currently permitted in Maine, and my mom wrote testimony for him to present in Augusta for her.
It passed overwhelmingly in both chambers in the State House, and it is now law. His only regret is that mom didn’t live to see it happen. We lost her last December.
Last spring, Ward had mom formally acknowledged in the Maine House. Shortly afterward, he presented to me a beautiful “Legislative Memoriam” signed by the House speaker and Senate president. He told me that my mom was and always will be an inspiration to him.
We are lucky to have a man like Ward willing to serve us in Augusta. He truly cares about Maine and its people. Vote for him on Nov. 8 so he can continue working for us.
Gail Baxter Creath Holden
Fulford for Maine Senate
This election season has been brutal. The dysfunction in the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee is not new, tragically. But this cycle thousands of us awakened from our slumber because of the Bernie Sanders campaign and WikiLeaks revelations, in particular. Personally, my faith in the system has nearly been destroyed, though I realize I’ve been naive.
I feel fortunate to have found a candidate here in Waldo County who has renewed my trust, albeit cautiously, in politics. Democrat Jonathan Fulford is someone I greatly admire for his forthrightness, earnestness, intelligence and integrity. I became interested in his positions in 2014, but this time around, having heard him speak and answer questions at more than half a dozen events, I believe more than ever that Fulford is someone to support.
I may have major reservations about the presidential candidates, but I have no reservations about voting with conviction in November for Fulford to represent Waldo County in the Maine Senate.
Mj Viano Crowe
Belfast