Dear Editor:

People need to read our Constitution!

Our forefathers wanted to keep government small and controlled by the people, with elected representatives. We have too many bureaucrats in government not elected officials, unjust judges. People have milked the system with to many welfare programs! They expect the government to take care of them.

People used to trust God, help each other out, work hard. There was equal opportunities and success for businesses. Credit and modern technology and government programs have kept people in poverty and or debt or both.

There is corruption and lies

Dear Editor:

The rally held on the Boothbay Common on Saturday, April 19 was a bad idea. 

It's one thing to exercise our Freedom of Speech. It's another matter to incite violence, anger and hatred. 

Our tourist season has begun and everyone needs to know that they are welcome to our beautiful Boothbay region. This kind of rally is harmful and dangerous to our way of life here. I hope the next one gets stopped before it happens.

Pamela Mancuso

Dear Editor:

I am writing to urge voters to become more informed on the upcoming November referendum on absentee voting.

If this referendum becomes law, you’d no longer be able to pick up or drop off a ballot for your elderly parent who lives in another town.

Your disabled neighbor wouldn’t be able to just pick up the phone and request a ballot from their town office – even though they’ve done just that for years.

Local town and city clerks wouldn’t be able to check their own drop-off boxes, meaning many would simply opt to not have a drop-off box.

It would limit the number of secure ballot

Certain bird species come and go in our neighborhood. This includes mockingbirds—northern mockingbirds to be exact, since there are another 13 species of mockingbird found south of the U.S. We see a mockingbird in or near our yard just about every year. But they’ve never stayed and set up territory. That means that we don’t get to experience, on a daily basis, what makes northern mockingbird so famous: their ability to mimic.

We were reminded of this recently when a local birder posted his recording of a mockingbird singing from a Portland location at midnight. In the recording, you can

I have been thinking all week about what I wanted to say about my longtime friend, I.J. Pinkham, who passed away April 15. Knowing someone for 45-plus years, being on his coaching staff for four years and being involved with him as a fellow BRHS coach for a dozen years, a fellow Rotarian (me, an honorary one) for several years, and covering his successful coaching career since 1987 when I began at the newspaper, I guess I am privileged to have known and was a friend of one of the best people I have ever known.

First off, my deepest sympathy to his wife Peggy, and sons Matthew and Tim. I.J

In the 1880s, Gilbert and Sullivan wrote a comic opera set in a fictional Japanese town where the Mikado was the boss.

“My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time, to make the punishment fit the crime,” sang the Mikado while reciting ways to torment miscreants. For instance, he said amateur tenors should be required to sing to crowds of wax figurines and boring social guests be sentenced to sit through lengthy sermons in the German language.

Was the Mikado right? Do you think the punishment should fit the crime?

In February, at a White House luncheon for governors, President Trump, 78

Martha Landry lives on Commercial Street in Boothbay Harbor, next door to the house she grew up in. She used to walk through Sample's Shipyard regularly. As far as I know she did not sneak cigarettes or hang out with workers at the yard. However, I did not confirm this nor did Martha suggest otherwise. Martha is a wonderful mix of adventure, history and extraordinary compassion. She can also suggest that you find an available hole into which you might climb if she is so inclined.

For many years, Martha and I landed on the “paying the rent” square when she worked with Joselyn Oakes

Back in the eighties I was in a book club for a hot minute. It didn’t stick. There were too many rules. First, we were expected to read a book — a major obstacle. And, really, weren’t we just there for the food? Things fell apart pretty quickly. 

But on a recent Wednesday, I put a toe back in the water as a guest of the Waterville Area Newcomers Gourmet Group. The premise seemed promising. This group is unapologetically all about eating and eating well. No pretext of reading a book — the food is the narrative on the third Wednesday of every month, when this group gets together for lunch

Dear Editor:

Under budgeting of expected revenue in the Edgecomb school budget is a serious problem. As noted in a previous letter, Maine regulations (MRS Title 20-A, §15689-B.(6)) require that all but a small portion of excess school funds at the end of a fiscal year “must” be applied to the next or subsequent three (3) years’ school budget.  

Consider then the following: 

1. The difference between budgeted and expected “Tuition” revenue in FY2024 produced a surplus of $195,325. 

2. The difference between budgeted and expected “Tuition” revenue in FY2025shouldproduce a surplus of $460,081

Dear Editor:

I would like to echo the Brennans' support, for Forrest Carver as he runs for selectman in the town of Edgecomb.

I have spoken to Forrest, and his desires to serve in the community, of his upbringing, as a selectman.  As a business owner, he knows the challenges of this time in our country and is committed to bringing ways to provide services within the budget funding of Edgecomb.

Therefore, fulfill your duty as a member of the Town of Edgecomb, and vote for Forrest Carver for selectman on May 17. Absentee ballots are currently available at the town office.

Joel E. Morley

Edgecomb

Dear Editor:

Our Senator, Susan Collins, is the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. That committee will hold a session on Biomedical Research: Keeping America's Edge on April 30. It is unfathomable that we can maintain our leadership in innovation, given the recent devastating cuts to HHS, but perhaps the Committee can staunch the hemorrhage of talented researchers overseas.

As an infectious diseases physician and former clinical researcher, I understand the stakes. Clinical trials were stopped abruptly, even leaving patients in those trial abandoned. Research has stalled. Are you

Dear Editor:

You think you are immune from the atrocities that the Trump administration is doing. Think again.

Are you still proud to be American? Are we turning into Argentina of the 70s? Is it OK to snatch students off the streets because they protest or immigrants because they have tattoos? Look around how many people do you know with a tattoo? How many of your neighbors protest? When will it be our turn?

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade

Dear Editor:

I was reading the Register online this afternoon and ran across this: "selectmen received an unusual question from Boothbay Region Elementary School students. In a letter from Jessica Lessner’s third grade class, students said they are learning about Earth Day and asked what happens to the shells and debris from fireworks launched in the harbor. "Is it cleaned up? How do you help take care of our planet?”

A few years ago, while working for the largest electrical engineering and manufacturing company on planet Earth, I had the pleasure of releasing one of my team for an

Dear Editor:

Victoria "Tory" Paxson is a BRHS graduate, the parent of a BRES student, and an engaged and committed community member who cares very much about the future of our schools. I’m writing to express my full support for my friend Tory, who is running for a seat on the School Board.

Tory believes in making smart, responsible decisions that support students, strengthen school programs, and reflect the values of our amazing community. She’s committed to ensuring our schools are places where every child can thrive—and she has the experience and heart to back that up.

I’ve watched Tory

Dear Editor:

I’m writing to ask that you vote for Peggy Splaine for re-election to the consolidated Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor School Committee, (the CSD) at the election to be held on Friday, May 2, in Boothbay Harbor.

I have been her colleague on the committee for nine years, so I have come to know her work quite well, especially so in the last six years when she has been the CSD Committee Chairperson.

As a CSD Committee member she has supported our schools effectively, spending time in the schools, and thoughtfully supporting the CSD school budget. In all of our budget meetings, she has

Dear Editor: 

I have a worldwide reputation as a designer of recreational boat electrical systems. I work with a local company in Woolwich to supply equipment for these projects. I am currently working with another Florida-based company which has its boats built in China but shipped to the U.S. for completion and commissioning. It hires installers and riggers and service people in the U.S. 

We are already seeing the impacts of Trump’s tariffs. Up to 30% price rises for equipment we ship overseas, resulting in canceled orders. Import duties which will bankrupt those small boatbuilders for whom

Dear Editor:

I would like to thank Senator Collins for her leadership in supporting access to telehealth services by introducing the bipartisan Connect for Health Act along with 59 other senators.

The pandemic showed how vital telehealth can be allowing patients to receive safe care and removing transportation and scheduling barriers. Telehealth has become lifeline for seniors, individuals with chronic conditions, and families living in remote areas But now emergency provisions expiring, and we risk losing the care.

This Connect for Health Act would make the COVID-era telehealth care

Dear Editor:

Special thanks to Leigh Sherrill for her years of Southport columns. Her love of the people and place shone through every week. It has been a while since our parents lived on the island, yet Leigh kept us reading.

Best wishes and gratitude for being one more reason to enjoy the Register.

Rick Barton