E. Brunswick residents need to speak up

On Monday, during the Brunswick Town Council meeting, one of the agenda items concerning the former radar site — now named the Capt. William A. Fitzgerald USN Recreation and Conservation Area — was the cause of some discussion.

Most of the councilors wanted to be sure that no money was being promised for any improvements or work to the site. A report was being accepted, that was it, but just to be sure they clarified more than once.

As I was driving home, I pondered the discussion and comments, and I came to the reason why it struck me as funny. As most readers may have done in the past and one of our councilors recommends to her clients I’m sure, when you sell a house or a car, what do you do?

You clean it, repair it and make it attractive as possible. Considering that our current Zoning Ordinance Rewrite Committee is proposing some sweeping changes to the area here in East Brunswick, it’s time to clean up the offering. These residents deserve a round of applause for the countless hours of work they have committed so far and will continue to do for the near future.

Going back to the previous zoning rewrite, the border of Deerfield Estates and the 66-acre Capt. Fitzgerald site delineated the new Growth Zone. This is an area that the town would like to see utilized for more housing, which in turn would mean more tax base, a win for all. The newest version of the rewrite makes lot sizes more conducive to development in the area, which in turn will mean more families.

Currently, the nearest athletic field can only be accessed by children in the area after crossing eight lanes of traffic (Wildwood subdivision), which I’m sure no parent is willing to allow. If the idea is to promote growth in this area we need to make the offering more appealing.

Right now it’s nice wooded lots, with shopping, hospitals, veterinary services, etc. close by. Of course, once a prospective buyer asks about recreation offerings for their children, and they are told it’s just across the major intersection, well, you get the idea.

I by no means am proposing raising taxes to pay for this, but I will ask the town councilors to appoint a committee to find funds through every means possible to make this happen sooner rather than later. Through fundraising, donations and so on, we can make this happen. I hope that more residents of East Brunswick start attending these meetings. One way to improve our area of town is to make our voices heard.

Jason Coombs Brunswick

Family caregivers need support

There is a group of people in Maine who frequently go unnoticed and underappreciated.

They are the nearly 200,000 unpaid caregivers who provide assistance to family members or friends who can no longer take care of themselves.

Family caregivers play a critical role in care transitions, especially as their loved ones move from hospitals to rehabilitation centers and back home. Today, nearly 50 percent of family caregivers perform medical/nursing tasks, often with little or no explanation or guidance. Simple, yet profound changes can be made to support family caregivers so they can safely care for their loved ones at home and prevent unnecessary hospitalizations or re-hospitalizations following surgery or treatment.

Presently, statistics show that one of every eight Medicare beneficiaries is readmitted within 30 days due to the lack of proper transitional care. That’s why AARP has embarked on a multi-state effort to advance commonsense legislative solutions to provide some basic support for family caregivers that will make big responsibilities a little bit easier.

AARP Maine is working with Rep. Drew Gattine, DWestbrook, and a bipartisan group of co-sponsors on LD 666, the Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable (CARE) Act. This act is designed to directly support caregivers who help loved ones remain in their own homes and we are urging all legislators to support it. Under the CARE Act, the hospital would record the name of the patient’s caregiver, the caregiver would be informed when the patient is being discharged from the hospital, and the caregiver would be given detailed instructions on how to best care for their loved one before discharge. This is an important step in our efforts to give family caregivers the recognition they deserve and I urge you to contact your legislators and ask them to support this bill.

Dr. Erica Magnus, AARP Maine Volunteer Windham

Proposal will leave patients stranded

I have just been listening on PBS to a panel of experts discussing the pros and cons of the proposed termination of Methadone treatment in Maine. It is certainly a very complicated issue and everybody involved wants the best possible outcome, but one thing stands out very clearly: The necessary infrastructure is not in place, and what is worse, there is no plan going forward for developing that necessary infrastructure.

There are not enough health service providers right now to serve the number of patients that have been approved for Methadone treatment, and the number of service provider and facilities who are willing to work with addiction in any form is actually dwindling. Everybody is already overburdened, and addiction is just too difficult, given the present levels of support.

We do not want to leave patients who are now doing well on Methadone treatment stranded without any help at all, do we?

Betty King Woolwich

Pre-K is important

Mark Westrum’s commentary about how quality early learning programs can reduce future crime struck a chord with me. As a retired Flag Officer, I want to emphasize that quality pre- K is also important for our future national security.

According to the Department of Defense, 70 percent of young adults between ages 17 and 24 are unable to join the military. While the military is currently meeting its recruitment goals, Defense Secretary Ash Carter recently said that the military faces a challenge in recruiting people with the skills it needs for the future.

High-quality early childhood education can help address the three primary barriers to military service: poor educational achievement, obesity and having a criminal record.

The long-term studies of preschool programs that Westrum cites for reducing crime also show that these programs can increase graduation rates. For example, children who participated in the Perry Preschool program were 44 percent more likely to graduate from high school than children left out of the program.

There is even new evidence showing how early learning programs can help reduce America’s rising rates of childhood obesity by instilling healthy eating and exercise habits from an early age.

I too urge state policymakers to prioritize quality early learning programs in Maine’s next budget. I also urge our federal policymakers to include designated funding for high-quality early childhood education programs as part of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Besides ensuring that more children can start school ready to learn, this will also help ensure our future military readiness.

Richard Mayo Vice Admiral, USN (Ret.) Harpswell