Maine local governments are still waiting for financial aid assistance from the federal government. Maine state and local budgets will be decreased by many thousands of dollars in the coming months due to decreases in revenue sharing, excise tax revenues, loss of property taxes and the overall economic impact of COVID-19.

I have wonderful neighbors here in Guilford. We don’t always agree about politics. That’s OK. But for me President Donald Trump’s words are personal. I am American, born and raised. My father was not so lucky -- refugees from Hungary, his family came here with nothing but hope. Like many “white” Americans -- Irish, French Canadian, Italian, the list goes on -- we were the “wrong type” of immigrant at the time. Although I consider talking about this with my neighbors, usually I choose not to.

Last year I read a book entitled "The Three Languages of Politics," by Arnold Kling, which was originally published in 2013 and has since been re-issued with an updated edition. In the book, Kling argues that the problem causing our increasingly caustic political discourse is that our ideological groups behave “like tribes speaking different languages."

We cannot allow science and public health to become just another part of the culture wars. Wearing a mask in public as COVID-19 continues to kill thousands of Americans is about helping to protect our friends, family and neighbors. It’s not virtue signally, and it’s not the same as wearing a Planned Parenthood t-shirt or a MAGA red hat.

The Maine Republican Party is paying an out-of-state signature collection firm $400,000 to gather 63,067 valid signatures by a June 15 deadline.  They even managed to have paid signature collectors designated as “essential workers” during the coronavirus pandemic.

Think dirty politics happens only at the national level? Think again it’s alive and well right here in rural Maine. I refer to the letter by Andy Torbett published this week on the Piscataquis Observer website. Of course, it’s hard to tell if Torbett wrote the letter or if Sen. Paul Davis wrote it. Since Davis hired Torbett to write letters the last time I ran against him and even reported it on his ethics reports as a campaign expense. This letter is just the latest example of the half-truths and outright falsehoods we have endured for years from the Davis camp.

I have waited for several weeks, in a vain hope against reality, for Doug Thomas to show some modicum of integrity and honesty to clarify just exactly what was meant by the supposed “letter of endorsement” from Gov. LePage.

Everything we need to know about our president is wrapped up in the simple story that all of the swabs produced in Guilford on the day of his visit had to be destroyed. Why? Potentially because our role model in chief decided not to wear a mask.

Here we find ourselves at an historical tipping point under questionable leadership right in the middle of a deadly pandemic. We could be forgiven for burying our heads in the sand and ignoring the light of day. In fact, many people are trying to do just that, however, the noise from the streets is insistent.

While sheltering in place, I have more time to brood over what is causing me so much anxiety and sadness which I feel the need to share. What occupies my mind are concerns about whether the virus will infect family and friends. I find myself thinking about and praying for all the people suffering from the virus and for all those courageous citizens providing services to their neighbors and countrymen/women. But my anxiety and sadness is more deeply rooted.

Loudspeakers kept blasting out Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A” while the crowd screamed the refrain with delirious enthusiasm. What could be more thematic than a “Make America Great” theme song? But how many of you have listened to the lyrics? I

The Maine Appalachian Trail Club (MATC) would like to thank Aislinn Sarnacki for her recent Act Out article on safely enjoying the Appalachian Trail (AT) this summer and getting the word out to a broader audience. As the management resource for Maine’s section of the AT, we would like to reinforce on a couple of points.

Recently, a gentleman in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania encouraged his community to stand up against violence. They gathered in front of a Target store and prevented violent protesters from entering and looting this store.

More jobs in the factories of Maine. More opportunities for Maine’s commercial fishermen. That’s the good news President Donald Trump brought to Bangor on Friday as he celebrated a dramatic expansion of swab production for COVID-19 testing in Guilford and signed a proclamation reopening the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts area to commercial fishing.

I read earlier this week about President Trump coming to Maine with little advance warning for the state, against our governor’s wishes during a pandemic, and potentially at significant cost to taxpayers in Maine. I hate to disabuse the residents of Guilford, but this does not seem to be a compassionate trip by him to praise factory workers making swabs, but rather a campaign strategy for which he is willing to create havoc, act in unsafe ways, and create a financial burden for Maine (that is not reimbursed by the federal government) just to have a photo op.

Please support Sen. Paul Davis for the Maine Senate in the upcoming primary. He has done a lot for his community and his understanding of the process of government and record of bipartisanship is stellar. He works well and effectively across the aisle if you will, and gets things accomplished.

As anti-racism protests grow across the country and coronavirus continues to spread, a presidential visit to Maine on Friday feels misplaced. Worse, it has the potential to spread dangerous violence -- and the deadly virus -- to rural Maine while taking precious financial resources away from local and state agencies that need them to serve their citizens. President Donald Trump is headed to Guilford anyway. Here is our message to our president. You should not be coming here. Not now. 

It can be quite hard to talk about the issues circulating around the death of George Floyd, as well as the protests that death sparked, without everyone tuning you out. Depending on not only what you are saying, but who you are, people can discount what you say before you utter a single word.