Last week, Don Loprieno wrote another in a long list of columns promoting the recently announced efforts to ban bear baiting, hounding and trapping. He continued to repeat the emotionally charged talking points likely extracted from polling conducted by the Humane Society of the United States. In the column he chastised the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, SAM.

Lincoln County, as we all know, is a wonderful place to live. While it is unfortunately true that professional opportunities are scarce for people in the prime of their careers, it is the perfect setting for growing up and for growing old.

Apparently a number of elver fishermen in Maine are making thousands of dollars, reporting far less money earned and applying for and receiving welfare. Since being elected, Governor Paul LePage has attempted to do something about welfare fraud in the state of Maine.

Sheena Bellows, Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate describes herself as a “libertarian progressive.”

I would like to take this opportunity to share a few insights related to my previous letter to the LCN editor on the topic of customer service.

It’s time once again for the home-grown gourd celebration that is the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta. Once again we celebrate the growers, organizers and the many, many volunteers who come together to make this thing go.

Having spent more than 20 years as a customer service monitor for several companies and industry trade associations, I feel very confident that I am qualified to assess the performance of companies and institutions in terms of the level of service they provide to customers.

I would like to call your attention to the serious and sometimes deadly issue of domestic violence in our community. We each need to accept a greater degree of personal responsibility to protect our loved ones, friends, neighbors and co-workers from the deleterious effects of domestic violence.

What are the odds our Pumpkinfest volunteers all agreed with each other on everything? What are the odds they could have sat through a Thanksgiving meal together without finding something fundamental to argue about?

On a good day cancer sucks.

In a best case scenario, it’s a minor annoyance that still involves extra trips to the doctor, maybe a little procedure; followed by a few years of some extra screenings and precautions before you can breathe a little easier.

I have the good fortune to live in Lincoln County. Fate brought me here to Midcoast. My long deceased husband’s family were all from the Rockland/Thomaston area in Knox County. I initially thought to settle there, but my path came here and I am lucky beyond words.

Wiscasset voters will have a series of choices they can make if they vote to leave RSU 12 Nov. 5. The actual cost savings of these choices is significant in some cases and involves changes as to how and where we educate our children. The most important fact is that we take back budget control in all cases.

The noted philosopher Yogi Berra once opined, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Facts are the most important issue regarding the upcoming vote to decide to ban or continue to allow the allegedly, “cruel and unsportsmanlike,” hunting practices currently used in the state of Maine when hunting bears. There are three hunting practices at issue: Hunting using foot traps, dog packs, and food placement (training the bears to feed in specific places). These three are referred to as “trapping, hounding and baiting.”