Good morning from the shores of beautiful Moosehead Lake on this cloudy overcast summer morning as dawn has penetrated the night sky with the Lord’s glory, pray that He will bring abundance of sunshine and blue skies. To fill our hearts with love.

As everyone knows, the legislature is embroiled in an awful battle in an attempt to come up with a state budget. As a representative to the citizens of House District #119 I would like to share my perspective and some of my thoughts on the predicament that we find ourselves in.

The first referendum vote for the FY18 budget in SAD #4/RSU 80 has failed. A new interim superintendent and bookkeeper are about to take over on a part-time basis. The school committee must step up and pull itself together. The board’s leadership is critical going forward to make progress on both passing a workable budget and facing the need to improve instruction in the classrooms in the district, which happens to enjoy very favorable class sizes.

After dismissing Gov. Paul LePage's budget out of hand, and failing to arrive -- after six months -- at anything resembling a real budget framework to replace it, leaders in the Maine Legislature have decided to forego the typical process and rely on an appointed "supercommittee" of members from both houses, who will hammer out a final budget.

Since 2012, on average, 18 of Maine’s 25 community hospitals have operated with negative operating margins. Now, it seems that nearly every day there is news about a hospital or health system closing or reducing services to control costs.

It seems as if we forge some pretty amazing bonds with the libraries in many of the towns we move to. Certainly, it is the case with the Thompson Free Library here in Dover-Foxcroft. Let me explain.

It’s no secret to people who know me -- I oppose Donald Trump on just about everything. But the erosion of basic human decency since the election is at a level I’ve never seen before.

For the past decade, we have been hearing about the supposed "rebirth" and "revitalization" of Bangor. Yet, at the end of the day, it is all an illusion. For all the "Bangor is back!" talk of some kind of Queen City renaissance, it isn't reflected in the numbers. Bangor has lost 1,000 people in the past decade. Yes, Bangor's population is shrinking.

On Election Day Tuesday, June 13th voters will be going to the polls. Unlike many other elections, we are not seeing constant media coverage as there is only one State bond question being voted on. There is a lot being decided here at the local level and it’s important that Dover-Foxcroft voters weigh in on these issues.

Once again the budget season for school districts is upon us and once again my concern in writing this letter is the way in which the school committee chooses to handle the SAD #4 budget development

It saddens me to see people use this space to put out misleading and false information to the taxpayers and voters of Dover-Foxcroft. Therefore, I feel the need to correct information which Chris Maas stated last week in the publication of this newspaper.

It is with great pride that I write to you about the RSU 68 school budget. Throughout the budget process, the RSU 68 School Board worked with a guiding principle that says they are committed to making transparent, student-centered budget decisions. The budget that was presented and accepted at the May 30, 2017 district budget meeting reflects the belief in that principle.

When I was elected to the school board in Guilford I made an appointment with my doctor and he doubled my meds. If you are prone to nausea, you might want to take some precautions yourself before you read the budget presented to SAD 4 by the board.

Speaking to a group of Little Leaguers on Saturday, Washington Nationals phenom Bryce Harper had a simple message. “As much as they might tell you, ‘It’s OK you guys lost today,’ no, Johnny," he began. "No participation trophies, OK? First place only, alright?”

There’s a new day coming and it’s June 13 -- Municipal Election Day in Dover-Foxcroft. It can be a day of victory, a day for rejoicing because it will be the day we can vote our Freedom.

Today I had the honor of participating in Dover-Foxcroft’s Memorial Day Parade. It is a celebration of our community and the connections between all of us who live here in our wonderful small town.

We’ve recently seen several letters to the editor complaining that the proposed new town charter removes our sacred right to a secret ballot. It does not.

Well, I hate to say I told you so. But, I told you so. I tried. I tried to warn you all that ranked-choice voting was unconstitutional.