During my career, I’ve been an educator and a businessman who focused on workforce development for one of Maine’s largest companies. I feel the need to weigh in on the issue of proficiency-based education -- an issue that’s extremely important to me.

The upcoming spending bill in Congress is being used to sneak in language to repeal or weaken the Johnson Amendment, the law that since 1954 has shielded nonprofit organizations from partisan politicking. That bill must pass by March 23 to keep the federal government from running out of money (and shutting down for a third time this year).

The best way to stop the drug problem in Maine is to concentrate on drug enforcement. If the drug flow into Maine is stopped, then the rehab problem will take care of itself. No drugs, no need for expensive rehab programs.

I strongly recommend and support Sue Mackey Andrews for District 4 senator. We will all benefit so much.

We reaffirm our support for the safety of our schools, children, teachers, staff, and families. Safety is an essential part of dignity, and every person among us has the right to live a safe, dignified life.

President Donald Trump is a dangerous raving fool. He thinks he can captain the U.S. Ship of State all by himself, with no crew.

My husband watches the news and reads the Bangor Daily News faithfully every day. He pays close attention to both Maine news and national news. Does he know his stuff? You bet he does. He relates his opinions to me daily, and I am impressed with his knowledge and ideas.

Hello, my name is Charlotte Violette and I am the library ed tech at Piscataquis Community High School. I have found that our yearbook collection is missing copies for the following years:

I want to support all the efforts to reduce the violence we see daily in this country. I stand with the students in Parkland, Florida, who are demonstrating for increased safety in gun laws.

I read in the BDN that General Dynamics, the parent company of Bath Iron Works, just spent $9.6 billion to buy another company, a huge IT conglomerate that provides IT services to the government.

For what reason do we want to assemble a wall along the southern border of the United States? Loss of jobs? Currently, an average of 95 percent of Americans in the labor force are working. Illegal drugs? Trafficking? Violence?

America has always been a great country, but as an American during the present administration, do you feel proud? Every day there is a new scandal rocking the White House, from domestic abuse charges in a staff lacking security clearances to paying hush money to a porn star for an affair with President Donald Trump.

For some time, I’ve felt like I’m living in the “Twilight Zone.” The conservative Republican Party is almost unrecognizable.

The year 2017 was a positive year for the town. Town meeting we elected a new selectman. That I feel gave us three good common sense people. All three selectmen had no experience as selectmen but I feel they are doing a good job.

Threatening to deport young adults brought here illegally by their parents years ago, the “Dreamers,” is the same as threatening young legal citizens with a prison sentence because it was discovered that their parents had placed them in the getaway car during their bank robbery years ago.

We are happy to see that Maine’s federal delegation unanimously supports bipartisan legislation to end an arbitrary cap on the annual amount Medicare will cover for those who need outpatient therapy services. These arbitrary spending limits are preventing older Mainers from receiving the rehabilitation care they need from their therapists.

Matthew Gagnon’s parents should be lauded for teaching him “not to label people, and to reject attempts at categoriz(ing) human beings.” Unfortunately, labeling and categorizing are endemic to our society.

On behalf of the 178,000 unpaid family caregivers who reside in our state, AARP Maine applauds U.S. Sen. Susan Collins for her leadership in sponsoring the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act.