LUPC adjacency concerns
I agree with the editorial board’s Jan. 25 assessment that the Land Use Planning Commission’s new proposed adjacency rules aren’t the right direction for Maine.
I own a small business in Millinocket’s downtown, and the town is working to attract people and development into Millinocket. Having a centralized, walkable community is ideal for local businesses and residents, and everyone pays fewer taxes when the town isn’t servicing sprawl.
I’m very concerned that LUPC’s proposed rules could undercut the potential of Millinocket and the region. Allowing large-scale development to go as many as 7 miles outside Millinocket’s boundaries — despite the fact that the roads leading to Baxter and Katahdin Woods and Waters are undeveloped forests — isn’t consistent with building strong local economies. If anything, development stretching for miles between municipalities not only risks making all towns look the same and lose both their community and natural character, it also undercuts municipalities ability to grow and stabilize their tax base.
I encourage the LUPC to help Millinocket and the surrounding towns achieve our goals through a planning approach that fits the needs of this particular region of the state.
Anita Mueller
Millinocket
Stick to civics, not politics
Plainly spoken, we have three distinctive branches of government.
One is the legislative branch, which is responsible for crafting the laws we the public deem necessary to maintain a civilized society.
Second is the judicial branch, which judges the laws to make sure they are crafted and enforced within the framework of our Constitution.
The third and final is the executive branch, which is responsible for enforcing the laws.
I don’t know if the porous southern border is an emergency or not, but it is clear that it’s the president’s duty to stop illegal immigration. The president must enforce all laws, and it’s up to us to make sure he has whatever tools necessary to complete his task.
It’s also very important that we insist these three branches stay distinctive.
Andy McGlinn
Presque Isle
The real national emergencies
This manufactured “emergency” is something this president has fabricated to keep a campaign promise, based on racist rhetoric, to build an immoral, wasteful, unneeded, environmental disaster of a wall on our southern border.
Sens. Collins and King must not support his fake “national emergency.” They must not let our military be used as pawns. They must not let this president play a shell game with government funds designated for other programs such as disaster relief in order to build his wall.
The national emergency in this country is thousands of children forcibly separated from their families, because of Trump’s policy about families seeking asylum.
The national emergency in this country is gun violence against people of color, our children not being safe in school, and families being killed at the movies or at their places of worship.
The national emergency in this country is Trump and his administration and the spread of fear and hate.
Collins and King must speak up for this country. Speak up for the truth. There is no national emergency on our southern border.
No wall.
Catherine Masters
Deer Isle
A vast universe
Proxima Centauri, after the sun, is the nearest star to the Earth. Centauri’s distance is about 25 trillion miles away. Even if a spaceship could travel at 1 million mph, it would take thousands of years to travel the distance.
The universe is vast, with many millions of galaxies and trillions of stars and planets. So the odds against humans being alone in the universe are very high. However, the many planets supporting intelligent life are far, far away.
Irvin Dube
Madawaska