By Ann Rivers I would like to address some of the specifics in the recent Islander article, “Is Animal Rescue Commercial?” ahead of the hearing on Sept. 23. Ann Rivers of Acadia Exotics is my niece. She lives on Kimball Road, Northeast Harbor, in a house where three generations of Rivers have lived. She rescues domestic pets that have been discarded …
By Julie Berberian and Anna Durand The Charter Commission met for over a year to consider changes to the foundational document of our town’s governing structure. The commission forged a consensus on six out of nine major changes that will be presented to voters in November. On three of the nine changes, we were unable to reach consensus and two of us wrote a minority report, a synopsis of …
By Art Paine For 20 years I have listened to conservative talk radio. My liberal friends say they sometimes try but can’t tolerate it long. Ever since William F. Buckley (who was at least erudite), I’ve considered it a citizen’s obligation to tune in. Partly that’s because I’m a veteran and, like many veterans, I take it as an ongoing obligation to “support and defend” this country and everything it claims to stand for. Buckley …
By Sen. Susan M. Collins Throughout Maine’s history, our forest products industry has created good-paying jobs, driven local economies and sustained rural communities. It is a linchpin of our state’s economy, generating an estimated $619 million in economic output and providing $342 million in income to around 9,000 Mainers. Across the nation, this vital industry was already facing …
By Paul Mills “We’d fill it.” Those were the three words of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell when asked what the GOP would do if a high court vacancy occurred in the last year of the President’s term. News that 87-year–old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is confronting another cancer diagnosis has reignited speculation that the Trump White House may have …
By Brian Hubbell The United States is known for breaking records, but this record is troubling. Just recently, the United States reached over 75,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, breaking the previous record by over 10,000. This brings the total number of cases in the U.S. to over 5 million and the death toll to over 165,000. States around …
By Richard Baldarelli There is widespread concern that voters in November will have to face the difficult decision of risking exposure to the coronavirus while waiting in line to vote in person, or risking disenfranchisement while waiting for their mail-in ballots to arrive in time to be counted. Broad availability of ballot drop boxes is an important …
By Kaitlyn Mullen Nearly all aspects of living in Maine have fundamentally changed since the beginning of COVID-19, and Maine residents and businesses have adapted quickly to this new reality. While there are many common challenges, there are several challenges specific to operating animal shelters. Like so many nonprofits, animal shelters are primarily volunteer-driven organizations. Volunteers …
By Dora Anne Mills When I open up social media these days, I often see references to “pandemic pounds” and “quarantine couch calories” among photos of banana bread and homemade mac and cheese. They reassure me that I’m not the only one struggling to eat healthy and exercise safely these last few months. The good news is that just as COVID-19 has …
By Samuel Murray America is currently undergoing a radical transformation in the way we live our lives, from an ongoing civil rights movement to COVID-19, and so much in our lives has been upended since the middle of March. The voices of the youth are reverberating across the nation and the world with more …
