Tuesday afternoon I learned the unfortunate news that former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and former commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development John Richardson had passed away as the result of a heart attack. I had the great fortune to know John, though interestingly enough we first encountered one another well before we met in person.

I write to encourage your readers to support Paul Davis in the July 14 primary to be the Republican candidate for the Maine Senate for Piscataquis County. When you think about qualities we want in our elected leaders -- integrity, experience, prudence, maturity and pragmatism -- there is no other candidate in this race who can bring those to Augusta on our behalf. Davis’ knowledge of the state’s operations and governance have served us well in his daily work on behalf of his constituents, our neighbors.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week caught up with public opinion and common sense when it ruled that it is illegal to fire a person for being gay or transgender. The ruling was ground shaking and a major expansion of civil rights protections for LGBTQ people living in states without non-discrimination protections in state law.

I am running to be re-elected to Piscataquis County Commissioner, District 3, which includes Barnard, Ebeemee, Elliotsville, Frenchtown, Greenville-Harfords Point, Katahdin Iron Works, Kineo, Lakeview Plantation, Lily Bay, Milo, Moosehead Jct., Shawtown, Spencer Bay, Williamsburg and all unorganized territories north to Aroostook County.

I am writing this letter to ask the Town of Dover-Foxcroft to consider delaying the downtown road improvement project for several years. The logic for this is simple: Roads and sidewalks throughout the town are in a state of serious disrepair and we should allocate our limited resources towards existing needs instead of spending even more money on new studies to find new problems.

I am writing this letter as an indication of my full support for Adrienne Bennett (for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District). It has taken me some time and consideration, but the differences between her and the other candidates is glaring.

My purpose in writing today is simply to give my whole hearted support to Sen. Paul Davis’ re-election.  Having previously served in the Senate seat that Paul now holds I know how important Paul’s  personal qualities and leadership style are to his constituents.  Paul is a man of great integrity and honesty who has strived mightily and with great success to represent the people of his district without regard to political affiliation or other demographic.

It appears to me that President Donald Trump used his recent trip to Maine for a partisan campaign event rather than for official government business. This could be a violation of federal campaign finance law.

It seems I need to offer a few words of explanation to Doug Thomas as to why I, my own person, view him as a dishonest person. First, let me thank Thomas for his rebuttal to my former letter, which offers a clear case in point to my assertions and beliefs. Let us move forward and step by step dissect the half-truths and downright lies in this rebuttal.

Paul Davis is running for state senator once again and I can’t think of a better candidate for that office. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Paul and his lovely wife for more than 25 years. I’ve admired Paul for his integrity, honesty and hard working ethic.

It is only natural for people in the midst of a deeply emotional event to lash out at what they see as the cause of their grief and anger. Understandably, this reaction often overreaches and leads to calls for drastic measures that will not solve the problem in the long term.

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.