Turning away investment
A recent USDA grant opportunity offered funds to maintain and secure the Center Theater pylons that support it over the Piscataquis River. The county commissioners, however, at first tabled, and then voted down a measure to vouch for this project. It seems they were not confident that the Center Theater was an asset to the community!
Seeing more downtown buildings fall into neglect and disrepair would be extremely unfortunate, and one would think that no commissioner would want that to happen on his watch. A vital downtown is key to Dover-Foxcroft real estate values, and the Center Theater has been an asset to the entire county in the decade since its restoration.
I contacted the county commissioners to urge their support for the theater in this matter. It is now clear that all Piscataquis communities are being put at risk. The commissioners’ anti-masking statements preceded a rise in the county’s COVID-19 numbers. Their racist comments persisted even as anti-Asian attacks spiked across the nation; have they no consideration for the international students who study at Foxcroft Academy?
Finally, they refuse to work with the Center Theater to benefit Dover-Foxcroft’s downtown. We need elected officials who work with state and federal agencies, not against them. Let’s help one another through this pandemic, rather than resort to childish blame and denial.That strategy will turn away investment, which Piscataquis County cannot afford.
Sue Griffith
Parkman
Being part of the EV future
In January, General Motors announced that it will aim to sell only zero emission cars and trucks by 2035. Other major automakers have expressed similar goals. If the majority of vehicles become electric, where will that leave Maine considering today that it ranks fifth in New England and seventeenth nationally according to the American Council for Energy-Efficient Economy?
There is good news coming from an unlikely source. The benefits package included as part of the New England Clean Energy Connect also known as the Clean Energy Corridor, includes $15 million for electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. These funds could add at least 50 fast charging stations and 500 slower charging stations as a direct result of the funding. That’s encouraging news for two reasons.
First, Maine’s businesses will need EV charging stations to support the current and next generation of electric vehicles. Second, spare EV charging stations throughout the state could significantly impact the tourism and outdoor recreation economy, putting a damper on a wide range of industries that depend on people visiting.
Improving Maine’s EV infrastructure is a necessary step toward building a clean energy future and prosperous Maine economy. It’s an exciting effort to be part of.
Ellen Pope
Southwest Harbor
Expand community recovery services
Like so many Mainers, I am a person in long-term recovery, which to me means that today I get to be a spouse, daughter, friend and overall productive member of society. About five years ago, I began my recovery at my local recovery community center: The Bangor Area Recovery Network (BARN). Recovery Community Centers like mine are a crucial part of the recovery network: they provide a safe space for people to receive peer-based recovery support services, such as recovery coaching, telephone recovery support, recovery meetings and public education. We need more of them.
In 2020, we lost 502 Mainers to accidental overdoses, a 25 percent increase over the year before. Attorney General Aarron Frey, Gov. Janet Mills, treatment providers and grassroots advocates point to increased social isolation caused by the pandemic as a cause of this increase. As we turn the corner on this dark time, the recovery community will need places to come together to heal and connect. Recovery Community Centers are those places.
Community is the key to recovery, and that is why today I am asking state Sen. Joe Baldacci to vote in favor of LD 488: A Resolve to Expand Recovery Community Centers throughout Maine. Passing LD 488 will provide funding for seven recovery community centers to open in the seven counties that do not currently have one: Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo and York counties. The BARN was crucial to my recovery. All Mainers deserve access to peer-supported recovery in their own communities.
Sam Ahearn
Glenburn