To the Editor; Rarely do I find Matthew Gagnon with anything significant to say; his column last week, “Political conventions don’t matter,” is no exception.

Throughout Maine’s history, our forest products industry has created good-paying jobs, driven local economies and sustained rural communities.

To the Editor; I am excited to endorse Margarita Contreni be our next state representative for District 119.

To the Editor; Republican Saul Anuzis is right when he says that the national popular vote (NPV) will correct the problems in the current electoral system, in a manner that is constitutional and works within the Electoral College.

Today the ideal family size is two parents and two children, but years ago families were much larger.

The talking heads who infest cable news channels absolutely love political conventions.

In the age of COVID-19, the entire idea of a convention had to be re-imagined and recreated, in a new digital image.

To the Editor; As a 68-year-old white, retired history teacher, I have followed the sad state of our recent political discourse.

To the Editor; In the early part of the coronavirus pandemic, medical specialists worked on determining the death rate from COVID-19.

To the Editor; Last Friday marked the 85th anniversary of the passing of the Social Security Act, an historic set of protections that has benefitted millions of Americans in our state and across the country.

To the Editor; Can Americans ever vote the way we were taught to vote in civics class? Mainers will answer that question this November, thanks to ranked choice voting.

When I open up social media these days, I often see references to “pandemic pounds” and “quarantine couch calories”, among photos of banana bread and homemade mac and cheese.

I am a registered Republican.

Throughout nearly all of American history, a presidential candidate’s choice of a potential vice president has been among the most irrelevant things in politics.

To the Editor; As a result of the opioid epidemic in Maine, oftentimes grandparents have to raise their grandchildren while parents are seeking substance abuse assistance.

Since the middle of March, when the coronavirus shut down much of the state and country, there have been many days I don’t get farther away from my house than the mailbox at the end of my driveway.

To the Editor; The efforts of the group who helped distribute taxpayer-funded food to 850 households should be applauded.

To the Editor; We have recently been reading and hearing of the difficult and complicated work being done by our school administrators, faculty and custodians to make it possible to open our schools as safely as possible.