Mainers from both sides of the political aisle have honored the legacy of our beloved senator, Margaret Chase Smith, in the 69 years since her “Declaration of Conscience” against the demagogue Sen. Joe McCarthy for the tactics of his communist witch hunt. On July 1, 1950, our then-freshman senator had the courage to condemn McCarthy’s […]

Supporters of Donald Trump who focus on “outing” the whistleblower reveal their ignorance (in some cases) or their hypocrisy (in others). These, remember, are the folks who have lately voiced extreme distrust of “the government.” They either don’t understand or they ignore the original motivation for the whistleblower law itself: namely, to ensure that when […]

The Maine Unitarian Universalist State Advocacy Network, which links Maine’s 25 Unitarian Universalist congregations to support just laws and policies statewide, adds its voice in support of Abraham J. Peck in his Nov. 9 Maine Voices op-ed (“We’re all included in definition of ‘real Maine,’ ‘real America’ ”). Notwithstanding our respect for the right of […]

As you report (“New tax on internet sales boosts Maine’s budget further into the black,” Nov. 15), the state now has more money on hand, due in part to about $16.6 million from sales tax collected by online retailers. Although this has all the appearances of a windfall, a slightly different rendering would involve pointing […]

Re: “Our View: Rising rider numbers show that mass transit works in Maine” (Nov. 5): The unexpected level of Concord Coach Lines and Greater Portland Metro ridership may indicate our individually increasing awareness of our climate emergency (as well as the difficulty finding parking in Portland). Another way we each can mitigate the impact of […]

Recently, our city arborist, Jeff Tarling, spoke at the University of Southern Maine, and I learned that $2,000 is the annual budget for new trees. When I asked later, he said that a special initiative called the Portland Tree Trust handles donations just for tree planting. Because the city lost 80 trees in a storm […]

I can only assume that the author of a recent letter, “Diabetic child is being priced out of his life” (Nov. 15), is terribly misinformed or intentionally lying about Sen. Susan Collins’ record. While I am deeply sorry for the struggles the author of the letter (Sabrina Burbeck) and her son are going through, to […]

The latest proposal by the Trump regime, to extend the waiting period for a work permit from 150 days to one year for so-called illegal asylum seekers, is simply a means to punish persons seeking asylum for daring to do so. It is a vindictive, cruel, unjust and immoral act unworthy of anyone daring to […]