I was pleased to read that Sen. Susan Collins has recently co-sponsored a bipartisan bill that, if enacted, could eventually lead to the reduction of short-lived but potent climate pollutants. These include refrigerants, which leak from appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators, methane, which escapes from landfills and oil and gas exploration sites, and black […]

How often do you hear “… because of the powerful gun lobby …”? Really? A lobby is more powerful than our elected government? I challenge this newspaper to publish, every day until the 2020 general election, the names of every representative and senator, both state and federal, who receives campaign money from the National Rifle […]

As part of Portland’s vibrant “history community,” it was a delight to read about the success of all the various tours that are now offered to our visitors and residents (“Walking tours thrive in walkable Portland,” July 28). However, I do wish to clarify what appeared to be a misconception by the reporter. The Portland […]

Sen. Susan Collins voted in favor of the Trump tax reform act that took effect in 2018. That tax bill included a provision that included rescinding the individual mandate from the Affordable Care Act (i.e., the ACA – or Obamacare). In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled, in response to consistent Republican lawsuits to kill the […]

You may ask: Why does Portland need to publicly fund the campaigns of candidates, as proposed by the Fair Elections Portland initiative, to appear on the ballot this fall? The answer is in the campaign finance reports filed by candidates over the last five years. These reports show that from 2012 to 2015, the average […]

When my two daughters were small, and I saw a spider (either on an inside wall or outside the house), I would quickly step on it or kill it with a rolled-up newspaper. There weren’t a lot of them, but if my two young daughters saw me go after one, they would scream, “Daddy! Don’t […]

As parents of graduates and upperclassmen at Deering High School, we were dismayed by a recent article about the school. This sensationalized article doesn’t depict the school we know, where our children are receiving an excellent education. The Aug. 3 article failed to highlight the many outstanding achievements and activities happening at Deering. Instead, it relied […]

With the recent shootings, it is time to stop talking and do something. What can you do? How about writing your member of Congress and your senators to pass legislation outlawing assault-type rifles, requiring stringent background checks for all gun sales and limiting the magazines of guns and rifles to no more than five bullets? […]

I was relieved to read Superintendent Xavier Botana’s Aug. 7 letter about how Portland Public Schools will create a process “striving to understand the reasons students select schools and how to avoid another large single-year swing” such as the one between Deering and Portland high schools this fall. A related story, in the Aug. 3 […]