AARPMaine and our more than 230,000 members would like to extend our congratulations and best wishes to all the candidates running in the general election in November. We would also like to remind everyone that November is not that far away. By far the biggest and most robust voting bloc in the state is that of Mainers over the age of 50.

I offer praise to Bangor's Peace and Justice Center for showing the just released documentary “Awake” that shows the efforts of Water Protectors at the North Dakota Standing Rock Sioux Nation. The video exposes violent actions of the North Dakota National Guard, sheriff department, and hired mercenaries who worked for the oil pipeline company throughout 2016 and 2017.

As a new resident of Maine, I am dumbfounded at the recent legalization of marijuana in Maine. Everyone agrees that there is an opioid crisis in this state and around the country. So how does legalizing marijuana make any sense? It doesn't.

This week the SAD 41 community lost a valued board member and friend. Sheila Ellis passed away on May 31 after a battle with cancer. Sheila was a long-time member of the SAD 41 Board of Directors. She began her service on the board in April of 2008 and remained a member until the day she died.

This spring I have realized once again just how lucky I am to live in Dover-Foxcroft. Although I have retired from my medical practice, I am now devoting most of my “working hours” toward making life better for the people of our area.

Central Maine Power won't address the over charging of power bills for January and February 2018, a time when other customers saw unusually high bills, prompting a Maine Public Utilities Commission investigation.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Maine legislature could get along in order to get things done in Augusta? Well, you may think it’s not possible, but I would argue that here in Maine we have a unique chance to make that happen. In fact, I believe we are at a significant turning point in American politics, and Maine could lead the way. Unfortunately, we have to overcome persisting resistance from those who don’t want to give up their power or control over the Maine legislature. But on June 12 we have the chance to finally put these career politicians in their rightful place, out of office.

I recently had the opportunity to meet Lucas St. Clair and listen to his presentation to a group of concerned citizens in Dexter. What a breath of fresh air!

Majority rule is the basis of democracies around the world. However, over a century ago, Maine chose to allow state elections to be won with less than a majority of the vote, in order to save the time and expense of runoff elections. Ranked Choice Voting avoids the time and expense of runoff elections while at the same time allowing majority rule.

U.S. Sen. Angus King does not have the people of Maine’s best interests at heart by saying he would vote against Gina Haspel to become director of the CIA. Instead, King has decided to play obstructionist games with our national security.

Why are Maine Republicans so adamantly opposed to ranked-choice voting? There are four Republican gubernatorial candidates on the June primary ballot. Hypothetically, if the first choice votes resulted in a 26 percent, 25 percent, 25 percent and 24 percent apportionment, and ranked-choice voting was not in place, the candidate with 26 percent of the vote would be declared the winner for receiving the most votes (a plurality). That would mean that 74 percent of voters did not favor this candidate.

As you likely already know, the Maine Legislature adjourned in the early morning hours of April 19 with a great deal of work left undone. We returned on Wednesday, May 3 to act on various bills that the Governor had vetoed. That day I voted to extend the session one day to take up some important bills. The vote failed.

I had found that our yearbook collection was missing copies. In March I sent out an appeal for donations to complete our collection. The response was wonderful. We were missing 31 different years. Due to the generosity and help of our community we now are only missing 12.

Do you ever wonder what your next meal will be? Do you think about what is not in your cupboards or how to stretch what you do have on hand to make a meal for you and your family? Well, there are some of our neighbors that do have these questions.

Despite having reached out to him numerous times over the past 16 months, Rep. Bruce Poliquin has failed to represent me in Washington, D.C. I will be supporting Lucas St.Clair to take his seat.

Al Larson’s April 7 letter to the editor (in the Bangor Daily News) makes it sound like the woods are full of hunters using AR-15s with magazines that hold a large amount of ammunition.

We’d like Dover-Foxcroft pet owners to take a moment and look at the world through their dog’s eyes. Eating, sleeping and playing take up most of their day. The one job they do have, at least in their minds, is protecting their turf and their family.

In November of 2017, 59 percent of Maine voters approved Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. We understood that our vote would extend health care coverage to tens of thousands of low-income Mainers.