Stories by Staff Pioneer Times

To the editor:

I recently participated in a tele-town hall hosted by AARP Maine on behalf of family caregivers across the state. 1,200 Maine residents participated during the hour-long discussion. Our goal? To raise awareness about the needs of caregivers and to start to examine the supports and services Maine caregivers need in their own communities.

With 178,000 family caregivers in the state of Maine taking care of a loved one every day, we know these issues are of paramount importance. When you are a caregiver, trying to balance work and other home and family responsibilities can feel overwhelming.

To the editor:

When I read the Oct. 22 Bangor Daily News article about the proposed Maine Center for Graduate Professional Studies, I got angry. This article discussed the University of Maine System (UMS) plan to “unite graduate programs for aspiring businesspeople, lawyers and public administrators under one roof” — in Portland. I got angry about this: because Maine citizens were only hearing about the plan when it was virtually a done deal — with the Board of Trustees to vote on it the very next day and the first phase of the project scheduled to begin in January 2017; because northern Maine was, once again, losing out to the more moneyed and influential south; and because the name of the proposed Center seemed to leave the door open for a continuation of the youth, money, and brain drain from the second district to the first.

To the editor:

Porter had his bedtime stories, but ask Ina for a story anytime and she might say, “I’ll tell you a story about old Mother Morrie and now my story’s begun. I’ll tell you another about Tommy’s brother and now my story is done.”

She had no time to tell bedtime stories. Working in the studio six days a week meant evenings spent in the kitchen till 11. She did rock OB, but I was 8 and soon vied for the privilege.