Dear Editor:

In response to Pamela Mancuso’s accusations (Letter, May 1):

I was at the gathering on the Boothbay Common on April 19. It was 100% a peaceful event. No violence whatsoever. She is entitled to her opinion, but please do not make false statements and lie about what happened. Again, there was no violence.

If she wants to accuse a gathering of violence toward a political opponent, please refer to the Washington Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021. That was violence.

Elizabeth Derecktor and Peter Brown

East Boothbay

Come hang out with the Genealogy Club this Saturday, May 3, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.! It’s all about exploring your family history, and having some great conversations -- plus, there are always some yummy goodies to enjoy. It’s a fun and relaxed way to spend your Saturday, so don’t miss out!   

The next Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 6, at 1:15 p.m. 

Healing Hearts is a support group that gets together at the Community Center on the first Friday of each month, from 10 a.m. to noon. It’s a safe, welcoming space for anyone dealing with loss or going

Each day as we walk our little black dog around the neighborhood, we revel in each new song and call as spring adds them to the acoustic environment that surrounds us. Those sounds are now layering at a rapid pace. The rollicking song of the ruby-crowned kinglet.  Sweet, wispy trills and emphatic “chuck” calls of the yellow-rumped warbler. The persistent trills of the chipping sparrow. Bubbling, rambling vocal exuberance of the purple finch. Each morning brings a new thrill to ear. Perhaps the new sound we are enjoying the most is the loud “old-sam-peabody” whistles of the bunches of

Wiscasset and neighbor towns, you're making this so easy, thank you! At the close of the first third of 2025, we're four months into our monthly lists of five good things that happened in or around Wiscasset, and the tough part is, again, keeping it to just five.

And we're off (said in honor of this week's Kentucky Derby)! First up, and maybe foremost for some, is the first look we got at the about to reopen Montsweag Flea Market, with a new owner and the Woolwich site's decades of popularity to build on. We recall a lot of people missed this flea market the last couple years and its return

A brief TV news item this week made me look into it further. The item was about eating Ultra-Processed Foods and their significance in higher rates of premature death.

I stayed up into the early morning hours over the weekend because I was fascinated by the elaborate papal funeral pageantry that played out on my TV.

You have to give it to the church. Nobody, but nobody, does pomp and circumstance like the Vatican. If you stayed up or got up way too early, you watched quite a show as the cardinals, bishops, kings and presidents, and the faithful,  prayed, marched, processed, sang, preached and paraded through St. Peter's Square.

It was an elaborate pageant designed to honor the legacy of a man who practiced humanity and simplicity. Pope Francis was an old

First and foremost I need to apologize for this delayed recognition, only four months past due! I’m sorry Arthur Richardson that I did not pull your honor for service together in a more timely fashion! Sixty years of service deserves better treatment. Thank you for your patience.

I got a call from Gerry Gamage in late December 2024 to see if I would be available to make a few photos at Southport Fire Department’s annual “Chief’s Night” feast at Southport Town Hall. Back when I was an active volunteer at the department (pre-knee replacement surgery), the annual dinner was a much anticipated

If you read last week’s article, you had a challenge. You were to see if you could calculate the VA overall disability rating for a veteran with a VA disability rating of 60% for PTSD, 30% for diabetes, and 10% for tinnitus. If you came up with 100%, you would be wrong. The answer is 80%. Take the largest rating first and subtract it from 100, giving you 40%. From there, you take 30% of that, which is 12% and add that to the 60%, giving you 72%. Then take 10% of that giving you 7.2% and adding that to the 72% gives you 79.2%; you round up to the nearest 10 giving you a rating of 80%. So, if

Dear Editor:

The Democrats in Augusta have a fondness for adopting policies that have, in other states, proven woefully ineffective. This habit is especially apparent in gun control legislation.

Last year Ann Carney proposed several bills, all attacking the right of Mainers to bear arms. Thankfully, the majority were defeated with only the 72-hour waiting period passing. That passed only after a nay vote somehow became yay. That bill is being successfully challenged in court.

This year we had a magazine ban proposed based on the number of rounds held. Thankfully that nonsense failed

Dear Editor: 

Contributing to the financial challenges of the Edgecomb school system was a shift from contract services to full-time,salaried employees with full benefits.  An example of how this dramatically increases cost is an analysis of social work services.  In FY2021 and FY2022 that service was provided entirely by contract services:  

FY2020Budgeted = $24,653Actual = $19,531Avg. No. SPED students = 19 

FY2021  Budgeted = $24,390Actual = $17,190Avg. No. SPED students = 20 

In FY2023 a social worker was added to the staff as a salaried employee with full benefits, primarily

Dear Editor:

Times like these challenge one’s mettle and compel voters to decide what they truly value. My wife and I are ineligible to vote in Edgecomb’s town elections. Though we live in the town nearly half the year and pay hefty 5-figure town taxes, we still have a voice. And we cast our voices for Stuart Smith for the Edgecomb Selectboard.

A former member of the selectboard, Stuart’s business acumen and his common-sense approach to town governance are well-documented. Stuart understands the serious financial challenges now facing Edgecomb (and other mid-coast towns). And his work this

Dear Editor:

We write to support the nomination of Stuart Smith for Edgecomb Selectman. A life-long resident of Edgecomb, graduate of Edgecomb schools, an active pillar of the Edgecomb community, and a successful, self-made Edgecomb entrepreneur, Mr. Smith will bring a deep appreciation of Edgecomb’s history, a steadfast commitment to Edgecomb’s future, and proven dedication, transparency, and expertise to the position of selectman. 

With a background in computer science, Mr. Smith has worked both in industry and in his own highly successful small business, Seguin Software, providing compu

Dear Editor:

In case you missed it, the US Coast Guard is proposing to remove hundreds of navigation buoys up and down the coast. Several markers in the Boothbay Harbor area are on the hit list, including buoys at the mouth of Damariscove harbor, off Newagan harbor, the Cuckolds, South Bristol, and Fisherman’s Passage. Many small boats that go to these local areas don't have GPS navigation. For them, and even for boats with GPS, entering places like Damariscove would be treacherous without The Motions buoy, even in good weather. Further east, dozens of go-to buoys are proposed for elimination

Dear Editor:

Forrest Carver is running for the select board in Edgecomb. He is preeminently qualified for the position.

Forrest has been a life-long resident of Edgecomb. College-educated, a father of two, an integral member of the town fire department, Edgecomb town constable, and a board member of the Edgecomb Historical Society, Mr. Carver leads a very active life, steeped in town affairs. Furthermore, as the managing partner of Bath Cycle in Woolwich, Forrest has demonstrated a flair for entrepreneurship.

Forrest makes carefully calculated decisions based on logic and common sense

Dear Editor:

“L’etat, c’est moi.” Thus Louis XIV summed up his theory government during the Golden Age of France: “I am the state.”

It was the apex of royal absolutism; the king held court at Versailles and forced the higher nobility to reside there, reduced to fawning sycophancy.

The unbridgeable gap between inherited wealth and abject poverty, famine, and disease provided the tinder for the conflagration of 1789. In the meantime, royal patronage stimulated a golden age of French philosophy, literature, art and music.

A century later, Mark Twain’s novel The Gilded Age captured the

Dear Editor: 

Stuart Smith has lived in Edgecomb his entire life, attending Edgecomb Eddy School, Wiscasset High School and the University of Maine. I feel strongly that Edgecomb needs elected officials with experience and knowledge of both the town and state regulations. Stuart, who is running for Edgecomb’s Select Board, meets these requirements and more. His past experience as chair of both the Edgecomb Select Board and Planning Board qualify him as the perfect candidate. He has served as the president of Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission, which he helped start, and president of

Dear Editor:

I would like to encourage Edgecomb voters to vote for Stuart Smith as selectman. He has proven experience on the select board and planning board and has already shown he has the ability and the willingness to make a difference.

The huge tax increase last year promoted a lot of research and the resulting figures show that much of this increase was largely unnecessary. Asking for greater financial transparency and a deeper look into each budget request will make a difference and Stuart can do this.

Like Stuart, I feel it’s imperative that Edgecomb students get the very best education

Dear Editor:

People need to read our Constitution!

Our forefathers wanted to keep government small and controlled by the people, with elected representatives. We have too many bureaucrats in government not elected officials, unjust judges. People have milked the system with to many welfare programs! They expect the government to take care of them.

People used to trust God, help each other out, work hard. There was equal opportunities and success for businesses. Credit and modern technology and government programs have kept people in poverty and or debt or both.

There is corruption and lies

Dear Editor:

The rally held on the Boothbay Common on Saturday, April 19 was a bad idea. 

It's one thing to exercise our Freedom of Speech. It's another matter to incite violence, anger and hatred. 

Our tourist season has begun and everyone needs to know that they are welcome to our beautiful Boothbay region. This kind of rally is harmful and dangerous to our way of life here. I hope the next one gets stopped before it happens.

Pamela Mancuso