8 years ago A letter to Forest Society of Maine Will your organization support the Moosehead Region Futures Corporation to prevent the building of two large windmill farms consisting of over 100 windmills? They will be built on Misery Ridge and on Burnt Nubble and Black Nubble.
8 years ago Article was misleading The editorial piece written by Governor LePage that was published in the April 19th edition of the Observer is decidedly misleading. The Governor has a history of granting tax breaks to big business and the wealthy at the expense of education, the elderly, working families, the poor and the environment.
8 years ago Preserving local access to health care America’s rural hospitals are at risk. In fact, 80 rural hospitals in 25 states have closed since 2010. In Maine, 19 of the state’s 36 hospitals ended fiscal year 2016 with negative operating margins. On average half of Maine hospitals have reported negative operating margins annually since 2012.
8 years ago Don’t vote your rights away There is a thief in Dover-Foxcroft. It currently exists in the proposed revision of the town charter and it's ready to steal away your right to vote all the budgetary warrant articles presented on the ballot at the June municipal election. That's right! If you approve the revised town charter appearing as a referendum on this June's ballot you will effectively lose the ability to vote by secret ballot on any budget-related item except a "bottom line" budget total.
8 years ago More regressive taxes on the way Taxed enough already? Well, yes and no. In our last letters we discussed taxes levied by the State of Maine. About 50 percent of their revenue comes from regressive sales taxes and another 40 percent comes from (very) mildly progressive income taxes (the rest from licenses and other taxes).
8 years ago Revising charter is a step backward Aren't town charters developed to be a kind of rule book to which town administrations and town residents can agree to adhere? Shouldn't one be able to assume revisions of that charter would be undertaken in the interest of these residents and in an effort to achieve maximum transparency by the town's government? Well, the currently proposed (revised) Dover-Foxcroft Municipal Charter appears to do just the opposite.
8 years ago Thank you to People’s United Methodist Church On behalf of our lovely community and the Moosehead Lake Region, I want to thank the People's United Methodist Church for the wonderful spaghetti suppers they have on Wednesday nights. They are delicious. Also the Thanksgiving dinner every year. We appreciate all the work church members do in preparing these lovely meals.
8 years ago ‘Medicare for All’ Single payer health care, sometimes referred to as “Medicare for All”, is the 900-pound gorilla sitting quietly in the corner during health care discussions. Fifty-eight percent of us support it. Now that the American Health Care Act has been put on hold, maybe even more people will be open to taking a look.
8 years ago President Trump must uphold Obamacare | Now that House Speaker Paul Ryan has affirmed that the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land for the foreseeable future, Republican and Democratic lawmakers have the responsibility to come together to fix what’s wrong with it and work together to expand its benefits to all Americans.
8 years ago Speak up now for our environment I am deeply saddened and alarmed by President Trump's recent executive order to dismantle President Obama's program to fight climate change. Climate change is one of the most significant threats that challenge our earth today.
8 years ago SAD 4 parents, students deserve details To the Editor; SAD 4 is facing another tough budget ahead.
8 years ago Taxed enough already? Taxed enough already? If you are a working family, yes! And we are taxed on the wrong things.
8 years ago Great expectations for Moosehead Lake To the Editor; Good morning from the shores of beautiful Moosehead Lake on this cold late-winter morning, as we anticipate another winter storm.
8 years ago The magic of regressive taxes To the Editor; Taxed enough already? Well, if the State’s new budget proposal gets passed, for working people the answer is no — and your taxes will go up.
8 years ago Sangerville politics could use a change To the Editor; Sangerville’s annual town meeting is coming up Saturday, March 25th and as usual we will be electing candidates to several positions, including one selectman.
8 years ago Working families pay more than a fair share of taxes To the Editor; Working families in Maine pay more than their fair share of taxes – and it’s about to get worse.
8 years ago What’s the fairest way to assess taxes? To the Editor; Taxed enough already? In our last letter we noted that the average Mainer (with $37,500 in annual earnings), pays a tax rate of about 16 percent for his federal and state income taxes and for his local property taxes.
8 years ago Tax cuts are really just reductions in services To the Editor; Taxed enough already? Median family income in Maine is about $37,500 (half of families earn more, half earn less).