In an article posted on Anderson Cooper’s AC360 blog, CNN correspondent Jonathan Powers commented that he was spending his second Fourth of July with the troops in Iraq, who marked the occasion with “a few non-alcoholic beers and some locally grown watermelon.”

Thank you so much for your recent article on my friend and former Berklee College of Music instructor Charles Chapman the Guitar Man. He is not only impressive musically, but his humor and generosity of spirit are the qualities that brought the subjects he taught at Berklee to life.

From my first time in the Legislature, in 1996, I have been frustrated by our antiquated tax system and the seeming lack of Legislative will to fix something that is no longer working.

To the Editor:

This letter is to encourage a positive voter turn out on June 8. Not only are there important candidates to elect, deciding a DOT bond issue that potentially affects the Wiscasset waterfront is paramount.

I grew up in Louisville, Ky., one of the first cities to have fluoridated water. Nonetheless, I spent the entire summer before high school in the dentist’s chair. My mother was afraid of dentists and didn’t take me. My father was only home on weekends. Dental care is still not part of many cultures, nor is it affordable to many.

To the Editor:

This letter is in response to Pete Hope’s letter regarding the Bristol Consolidated School budget validation vote on June 8.

To the Editor:

Paul LePage, my choice for governor in the Republican primary, is a man of the people.

We like to, or try to, offer a little food for thought with the quotes we post in the banner above our nameplate each and every week.

To the Editor:

Three years ago, I moved to Newcastle with my daughter Bella and partner, Rich Simon.

To the Editor:

I’m a firm believer in one generation passing down whatever wisdom and truth they have learned, fought for and attained, to the next group of budding adults.

We have numerous “first days” of the summer season; there is the first summer-like day; there is Memorial Day, the unofficial first day of summer and now, with June 21 in the rear view mirror, the actual first day of summer.

To the Editor:

Greg Griffin is following in a long line of effective Road Commissioners. His quiet and steady leadership benefits the town greatly.

As co-producer of the Damariscotta Pirate Rendezvous, I would like to thank everyone who participated in any way to make the day such a success!

To the Editor:

I’m writing this letter to express my views concerning the MSAD/ RSU 40 Fiscal Year 2011 Budget.