What would Frank J. Wood do?

Regarding the future of the green bridge between Brunswick and Topsham, I ask only: “What would Frank J. Wood do?” And I ask in two parts:

First, it is more than obvious that, when Mr. Wood had the bridge built nine decades ago, if he had the option to build the bridge with the design and technology that Maine DOT is proposing, the engineer absolutely would have chosen the larger, safer and more durable design.

But a harder question to answer is, what would Mr. Wood decide in 2022? Would he consider the aesthetic value of keeping his old bridge, or would he opt for the modern construction? My answer may not matter, here, but there really is value in everyone trying to answer this question, in appreciating the perspective of the bridge’s namesake engineer.

Funds that are being spent to postpone the inevitable could well be spent on a project to make the new bridge more beautiful, with statues perhaps, or lighting, nice walkways and even benches. Efforts could be made to move part of a truss to a public park as a monument or work of art, or parts of the old bridge could accent the new structure. Many things are possible when creative minds can grasp the opportunity before us and dream of a beautiful future.

Mark Gilchrist,
Brunswick

Supporting Mill for her work on brain injuries

As former co-chair of Maine’s Acquired Brain Injury Advisory Council and current member of the Brain Injury Association of America’s Brain Injury Advisory Committee (Maine Chapter), I have witnessed the importance of two critical accomplishments of Gov. Janet Mills that have not received the coverage or attention they should.

In 2019 and 2021, Governor Mills enacted two bills that have profoundly improved the lives of individuals, families and supporters of people affected by acquired or traumatic brain injuries: LD 297 “An Act to Strengthen Community Brain Injury Resources,” and LD 559 “An Act to Improve the Rights and Basic Protections of Persons with Acquired Brain Injuries.”

LD 297 ushered in a new era of desperately needed services for people with brain injuries, establishing a statewide helpline as well as neuro-resource facilitators and support groups to work directly with survivors of brain injuries. There are now 17 active support groups around the state. A webinar series to help inform and train family caregivers is now available online.

LD 559 created a bill of rights previously unavailable to people with brain injuries. For more than 30 years, adults and children receiving other developmental or mental health services have had just such rights. They have had, most importantly, the right to be heard. If they didn’t agree with how services were being delivered, for instance, they could file a grievance. These protections were not available for people with brain injuries until LD 559 became law, allowing people with brain injuries finally to be heard.

As a father of a son who suffered a life-threatening traumatic brain injury, I have gained hard-earned insight into the utter chaos that upends the lives of victims of brain injury and their families. I know I share this experience with Gov. Mills who lost her husband Stanley in 2014 from complications following a stroke.

I will be casting my vote for Gov. Mills because I know professionally and personally that she cares about the welfare of the people of Maine, and she does something about it. Our governor is making a difference.

Richard M. Brown,
Dresden