I am writing this letter in support of our Governor and his policies. By the time that you read this, he will have given his first state of the State address and the roadmap for at least the next year will be a bit clearer.

Now that we are in the heart of the winter season I am reminded daily of what a special place I left behind when I moved to the West Coast.

I’m writing in regards to a Main Street shop that has closed for the winter. On closing last fall, the owner removed their product flag but left the American flag hanging by the door. If I could physically remove it I would, until spring when they return.

The western side of Maine Medical Center in Portland looks out over the expanse of the city. Depending on the season and the room assignment, a patient with a window seat can watch the Sea Dogs in action on Hadlock Field below.

Before tip-off at a recent school basketball game, one of our associates couldn’t help but notice that not everyone stood up during the playing of the National Anthem.

On the Thursday afternoon before Christmas, the staff members of Savory Maine in Damariscotta were delighted to host a holiday sing-along and finger-food-feast to raise money for two very deserving local projects: the Community Housing Improvement Program (C.H.I.P.) winter heating fund, and the Lincoln County Animal Shelter.

While the headline for this story in the Jan. 5 edition of the Lincoln County News noted that many residents of Sheepscot were upset about the killing of domestic geese by a hunter (Page 1), I think the anger goes well beyond Sheepscot as many residents of Lincoln County are extremely dismayed and angry that someone would shoot the geese and claim they were Canada geese. Most people who were aware of the geese knew that they were not Canada geese and that they were really very tame and loved by both residents and visitors to the village.

As a very concerned resident of South Bristol, and the person who owns the property directly on the Gut, adjacent to the proposed construction of a new swing bridge, I am writing to voice my concern that this project has become a boondoggle and a waste of the scarce resources and revenue available to Maine DOT and the state in general.

Drinking and driving is very dangerous, sometimes deadly. About three in every five Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives. Dying or killing someone because of alcohol or drugs is a preventable tragedy. If you don’t want to add to these numbers, don’t drink and drive.

The Christmas story is much more than a message about the birth of Jesus. Christmas is more than sleigh bells and mistletoe. It is a story whose center is Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The apparent mess at the Bristol/South Bristol Transfer Station, which we report in this issue, is a particularly unusual situation, because, generally speaking, things run pretty smoothly in those two towns.

Recently a friend of mine asked me a question about my religion and my faith. I answered it as honestly as I could, but when I expressed the sheer joy at knowing that God sent his son to save the lives of every man, woman and child in the world, she was taken aback and denounced this act as an “unfair act.”

Maine’s problem with Medicaid isn’t one that can be fixed by raising taxes or demanding other state agencies make up the $221 million dollar difference.

On Dec. 13, the National Transportation Safety Board came out with its strongest statement yet against the use of cell phones and text messaging devices while driving. The NTSB has recommended all 50 states adopt laws banning the use of such devices by drivers.