Now that gas is approaching $3.50 a gallon, maybe high prices might end a practice that is all too common leaving the engine running while shopping or getting the mail.

I want to thank District 51 Rep. Jon McKane (R-Newcastle) for standing up for businesses in Maine. Jon is co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Regulatory Fairness and Reform. He understands real jobs are created in the private sector, not by government. Local businesses are the heart of our state economy providing much needed jobs for citizens.

The Frances Perkins Center deplores the secret removal of the Maine Department of Labor’s mural depicting Maine workers through the centuries and asks that it be safely returned.

In the last seven days, the RSU 12 board revisited and reinstated, albeit temporarily, the Wiscasset High School mascot; there was a major structure fire in the Damariscotta Mills; and, a simmering dispute between the town of Newcastle and the Newcastle Fire Company boiled over in the public eye, again.

Diana and I had no idea just how lucky we were when 30 plus years ago we moved into this wonderful community. The longer we live here, the more we realize just how fortunate we are to be in this most special place. While it was the Damariscotta estuary of lake, river and ocean that brought us here from other Maine parts, it is certainly the people and community that have made it such an incredible place to live our lives and raise our family.

I would like to urge people to learn about how to care for the Maine we all love. Take part in the Midcoast Steward Program.

I am writing this letter to raise awareness of the scams that are being presented to the public, especially the elderly.

According to Maine Public Radio, our distinguished legislature recently spent an hour plus debating the merits of making the Whoopie pie the state’s official dessert. Do they really have nothing better to do?

Our last fuel oil delivery, on Feb. 1, 2011 cost us $3.25 per gallon, 65 cents higher than the rate exactly a year ago. I am certain most of your readers are having a similar experience. Heating the average Maine home is forecast to cost an estimated $200 more than last winter. Therefore it may be of interest that my fuel consumption for this winter to date (Feb. 1) is 22 percent lower than for the winter 2009/10, as of the same date. This, in spite of the fact that the current winter has been a lot colder so far.

We can’t be the only ones unhappy with the sentence Roxann Berry received in Lincoln County Superior Court last week for her role in the death of Loren St. Cyr.

I was amazed by your story on the Bremen Budget Committee meeting. (“Bremen Budget Committee calls for stricter rules on selectmen,” LCN, Page 10, 1/27/11)

Mr. Schaaf wrote a confusing letter to the editor.

Craig Eliot does a great job exposing the loss of local control in his letter.

I commend Susan Connery and Jane Ross for submitting letters to the LCN that appeared in the Jan. 27 edition expressing their disappointment with Governor LePage’s recent “Kiss my butt” response to a reporter’s question.