Healing from addiction
Thank you for the April 4 editorial focusing on healing families from addiction, but it left out the most critical and heart wrenching piece — children still living in households where family members struggle with addiction and who are still suffering major trauma, neglect and abuse. Ala-Non and Ala-Teen family groups are available for family members of addicts and alcoholics.
A critical piece missing and not mentioned in the editorial is the role of schools in addressing both support for children in households where family members are dealing with an addiction and those in recovering households. Two years ago, I moderated a panel at the Maine Counseling Association’s annual conference on the subject of children living in these households, and when we asked the 60 school counselors in the audience how many had comprehensive programs in their schools, we got barely four or five hands. I wager that hasn’t changed much.
As one educator familiar with the “problem” expressed to me recently, “the school administrations are terrified to really address the issue,” and he is right. Addressing this generates highly charged emotions from all constituents. With so many children growing up being damaged by the drug epidemic, we must do better.
I call on the Department of Education and Office of Substance Abuse Services, Department of Health and Human Services, state principals and superintendents, and others to come together as a task force to initiate and create a statewide comprehensive system of student assistance programs in every elementary and high school in Maine. Otherwise, we risk losing a generation.
Peter Duston
Educational consultant
Cherryfield
Fulford for Congress
Looking for a candidate who goes beyond the standard party lines? Looking for good old-fashioned values of accountability and integrity? Looking for someone who is interested in issues and makes himself available to the public? Then take a look at Jonathan Fulford for Congress.
Fulford, a Democrat, truly wants to make a difference for Maine families. He’s not interested in politics for power. He’s interested in representing the 2nd Congressional District because he wants our kids to grow up with opportunities for a good life right here in Maine. He wants our seniors to live in health and safety within caring communities. He wants working folks to have opportunities for meaningful employment and small businesses to have a climate in which to thrive.
I’ve known Fulford for more than 20 years. When he decided to devote himself to public service after 30 years in construction and agriculture, he did it because he wants a future for his grandchildren. Fulford follows bills closely at the State House, attends workshops and panels, stays up late at night researching, all to educate himself on the issues. He has knocked on more than 20,000 doors in the region to hear what you have to say. Ask him a question about an issue and he will not only tell you volumes, he’ll first ask you what you think.
Let’s put someone in Congress who is energetic, available and devoted to us. Elect Fulford for Congress.
Elise Brown
Liberty
Don’t blow it with offshore wind
This month, the Maine Public Utilities Commission will decide whether to reopen a draft term sheet it awarded to Maine Aqua Ventus in 2014 for a two-turbine offshore wind farm that would prove whether University of Maine’s VolturnUS floating concrete hull technology at full scale works.
If the commission decides to reopen the term sheet, the project will not proceed, a clear message will be sent internationally that Maine is not open for business, and future investments will not be made in Maine. This would be a tremendous loss for all of us.
Internationally, 11 countries have installed significant offshore wind power capacity.
I firmly believe that UMaine’s VolturnUS floating concrete hull technology will provide tremendous economic and employment potential in Maine with significant offshore wind development in federal waters.
Several independent reports from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory show that UMaine’s technology, once scaled up, will produce power for less than 0.077 cents per kilowatt hour. This demonstration project is a vital step — and a necessary and important investment — toward bringing the cost of offshore wind down to this highly competitive rate.
Also, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory claims Maine has a greater available capacity — roughly 65 gigawatts — with unsubsidized economic potential than any other state along the east coast. By 2027, it will have significant net value.
I’m eager to see significant offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine and our state well positioned to benefit from this development. The utilities commission should recognize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Maine and loudly proclaim its support.
David T. Edson
President and CEO
James W. Sewall Co.
Tremont