Welcome to all the new members on our mailing list! Here is today’s call to action from us at Indivisible Bangor, followed by the great list of important actions from our friends at Mid Maine Indivisible.
AND new actions from Hancock Country Democrats (Action 165 – 9/18) and Bold Coast Civic Alliance (9/22). And be sure to check out the call to action from Mid Maine Indivisible that discusses a boycott of Sinclair advertisers in Portland.
Weekly vigils are happening here in the Bangor area! There is the Tuesday Weekly Vigil at the Federal Building in Bangor followed by the Wednesday Weekly Orono Vigil.
Would you like to take advantage of the opportunity to vote when it’s convenient for you?
Will you be out of town on Election Day, November 4, 2025?
Maine offers the option to obtain an absentee ballot that you can mail in early or drop off at your town’s drop box. There are even days of early voting, too! Click the link to request YOUR absentee ballot!
UMaine Graduate Workers Union, UAW Rally TOMORROW
Support our friends in the UMaine Graduate Workers Union, UAW in a Rally for Fair Contract Now on September 26, at MLK Plaza, 1:30pm, on the University of Maine Campus. Tell the University of Maine System to give the UMGWU a fair contract after 600+ days of bargaining.
It is recommended that people RSVP so that the Grad Workers can get an idea of attendance. Click the link for the RSVP form.
We need volunteers for “No on 1”!!
There are two canvassing opportunities in the Bangor/Brewer area coming up!!
On Saturday, October 4, 2025 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM ET, there is a canvassing action in Orono from Webster Park. Launch event in Orono on Friday, October 3: :Join us to sign up for a canvassing event and learn more about Question 1!”
And on Sunday, October 5, 2025 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET, there will be one in Brewer from the Food and Medicine building. Volunteers from the Graham Platner For Senate campaign will join in on this canvass, so we’ll be sure to cover a lot of ground!
These are in addition to the many other canvassing actions happening throughout the state! Visit Save Maine Absentee Voting for more details!
Voting Rights Forum with Congressman Jamie Raskin
Former Speaker of the House and candidate for Governor Hannah Pingree and Congressman Jamie Raskin, one of the nations leading constitutional law experts, invite you to a critical forum on voting rights and the forces threatening our democracy in Maine and across the country.
Friday, October 3rd, in Portland! RSVP required to receive venue address, which will be shared a week before the event.
Graham Platner in Brewer Thursday, October 9th
“We’ll be at the Eastern Maine Labor Council Hall from 6:00pm-7:00pm on. I hope you’ll come and check out this movement we’re building to defeat Susan Collins and her multi-billionaire backers. Come out, ask questions, and bring a friend or three. I’ll see you there.”
***Nationwide No Kings Protest!***
***October 18, 2025***
***Broadway Park, Bangor***
Tell your friends!!!
No Kings is a peaceful movement of millions of Americans from all walks of life rising up to make it clear: We don’t do dictators or kings in America. We never will. We’re organizing and taking action to defend each other and our communities, demand dignity, and say enough to all of the Trump administration’s power grabs.
Millions of us took to the streets in June, and we’re doing it again on Saturday, October 18.
The Indivisible Bangor protest will be at Broadway Park in Bangor at noon!
Please bring non-perishables and personal care items for donations to local food cupboards.
Click the link below for more info! And tell a friend! We want this to be even larger than June’s protest!
Hegseth shuts down advisory group for women in the military.
From CNN: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had decided to eliminate the group, formally called the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, saying that the committee, ‘focused on advancing a divisive feminist agenda that hurts combat readiness.’”
CNN goes on to say, “The move is the latest in a series by Hegseth that have eliminated efforts to increase the role of women in military leadership and planning.” Secretary Hegseth is on record as saying that he does not believe women should serve in combat.
Our Independent Senator, Angus King, is on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Our Congressperson from Maine’s Second District, Jared Golden, is on the House Armed Services Committee.
Contact Sen. King and Rep. Golden and let them know that this is unacceptable.
Volunteer on election day
Election Day is coming up on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Have you thought about volunteering at your town office to help? It’s a great way to learn about the election process as well as to give back to your town. Call your town office today-click the button/link for the list of all Maine towns, find your town, and give ’em a call!
Jimmy Kimmel
The sacking of Jimmy Kimmel by ABC is another appeasement by Disney, the parent company of ABC. In December, “Trump reached a $16 million settlement with ABC…over remarks made on air by Stephanopoulos.” Donald Trump has also attacked and received money from Paramount, the parent company of CBS over a 60 Minutes story on Kamala Harris.
On Thursday, “Trump suggested networks that give him bad publicity should ‘maybe’ have their licenses taken away.” Read the Washington Post gift article here (you may have to create a free WaPo account to read it).
This is one more step in the administration’s quest to control the media and stifle dissent (and with the aid of Nexstar and Sinclair). Each capitulation by the media companies emboldens the administration. It is not unreasonable to conclude that the president may soon punish ordinary citizens (New York Times gift article).
ALSO!!!
Nexstar Media Group is the media company that is major player in this decision. It was announced last month that Nexstar is in the process of buying Tegna for $6.2 billion. Tegna owns channel 2, WLBZ (NBC)in Bangor and its sister station channel 6, WCSH (NBC) in Portland. Read the AP article here.
Sinclair Broadcasting Group is the second largest tv station operator in the U.S. after Nexstar and is the nation’s largest ABC affiliate group. They own channels 13, WGME (CBS affiliate)Portland, and 23, WPFO (FOX affiliate)Portland – Waterville.
Both Sinclair and Nexstar are conservative corporations that dictate the local news broadcasts, sometimes using the same scripts in their stations across the country.
One of the most effective ways to make an impact is to boycott the companies that advertise on these stations. And not just boycotting them, but contacting them to let them know exactly why you aren’t buying their products. If you have a Sinclair or Nexstar station in your area, note the advertisers and call or email them. And tell your friends in other cities and towns who these companies are that are supporting Sinclair, Nexstar, and ABC/Disney.
***This just in! ABC/Disney has put Jimmy Kimmel back on the air!**
However, Sinclair will not air the show. Read more here. Contact WGME in Portland and tell them you want Jimmy Kimmel back on their station. And contact their advertisers!
Read more strategies in this article. This is not over and we can expect more censorship from the FCC and Donald Trump.
COIVD vaccinations are available without a prescription in Maine
On September 12, 2025, the Maine CDC issued a standing order (PDF). This standing order “is an official directive that enables authorized health care professionals (such as physicians, nurses, and pharmacists) to administer a medication or vaccine to groups of patients without a patient-specific prescription. It can streamline access, reduce barriers, and ensure consistency across the state.”
Under the standing order issued earlier this month, “all recommended individuals six months and older can receive routine COVID-19 vaccination.”
Please call your pharmacy to verify before you arrive to make sure this order has not changed. Click the button/link for more information from the Maine.gov site.
CARE OVER CUTS: REINING IN THE TRUMP CHAOS
Trump’s authoritarian rise is being funded by our tax dollars. The national Indivisible Project has everything you need to know about passing a federal budget by September 30th; how Republicans and Democrats must rein in Trump’s regime, protect access to healthcare, and take away his slush funds for terrorizing our communities; and what you can do.
One way or another, the Trump regime’s weaponization of federal power – terrorizing communities, ripping away life-saving government services, and showering tax giveaways on the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of people already struggling to get by – must be stopped. Learn more about this fight below and take action to demand your Members of Congress take away Trump’s blank check to visit devastation on our communities, economy, and democracy.
Join Indivisible Bangor!
Do you want to become more involved? Would you like to help with the website and communications? How about helping to organize events, such as rallies and overpass actions or be a peacekeeper? Volunteer with Indivisible Bangor! We have had a huge influx of new members these past few months and to keep up, YOUR skills, connections, and input are needed!
Weekly member meetings are on Zoom with in-person meetings on the first Wednesday of the month. Please click the button to sign up and we’ll help you with the process of becoming a member of Indivisible Bangor!
New members, and current members, too, are invited to join one of our monthly Zoom informational meetings!
Save Maine Absentee Voting
There is a LOT of misinformation out there concerning Question 1, the voter suppression question that will be on the ballot THIS November.
Help spread the word about how this is written to make voting more difficult for voters by restricting access to absentee ballots, a method of voting that thousands of us Mainers use every election.
For instance, Question 1 will eliminate ongoing absentee ballots, even though this has been a boon for Maine seniors and Mainers with disabilities.
Visit the Save Maine Absentee Voting site to learn more. Then speak to your friends, your family, your neighbors, and even strangers!
And write a letter to the editor-there are letters weekly playing this down, calling it “common sense” legislation. This is part of the continuing MAGA war on voting and we can stop it!
Make Some Calls!
It’s mentioned a few times in these newsletters about calling your representatives in Washington, D.C. It’s one of the most important things we can do and it’s so easy!
The telephone numbers to the four Maine representatives in Washington are always listed in this newsletter, but for those of you reading this who live in another state, the site 5calls.org is the best way to find the contact info for your reps. AND, they have a list of the important issues to discuss when calling. It’s a super source and it’s easy to remember! Call early and often!
Write Some Emails!
If you are more comfortable with sending emails to our Maine congressional delegation in Washington, visit our Direct Action page for the links that go right to their email option.
California Redistricting Question-they need your help!
The California redistricting question, Proposition 50, will be on their ballot this November. This is intended to be a voter-approved plan to counter the Trump-directed gerrymandering that Gov. Abbot enacted in Texas to give Republicans five more seats in the House. Missouri legislators are looking to do a similar action.
If you’d like to help, there are phone banking opportunities! Help out our fellow Americans in California with their “Yes on 50” campaign from the comfort of your home here in beautiful Maine!
Vote Forward has now started a letter writing campaign to reach voters in California on this issue, so if letter writing is more your speed, consider joining that campaign.
One of our members has started a letter/petition to the President of the University of Maine at Orono to preserve their DEI policies.
“As students, faculty, staff, and alumni of The University of Maine at Orono, and people who support universities maintaining their DEI policies, we urge you to do your utmost to preserve the DEI policies at the University of Maine at Orono. We understand the complications and dangers involved in doing so, and we also appreciate your efforts to continue these policies while changing DEI names to avoid negative consequences from the Trump administration. However, we are concerned that as pressures mount there may be more motivation to agree to changes in DEI policies in addition to name changes, and we are concerned that this would compromise the basic values that are at the foundations of this university. We appreciate the statements of Interim Dean of Students Andrea Gifford in her reassurance that the university’s DEI policies are not changing in spite of the name changes, and it is our hope that this continues.”
The petition is open to signatures from anyone supportve of maintaining DEI policies at the university, regardless of whether or not you are affiliated with the school. Please sign! And please sign the second petition that applies to all universities in the U.S.
We are on Blue Sky!
Check us out on this social media site that is similar to that other one that has changed hands recently, but with less nonsense!
Follow us! Invite your friends! You’ll be glad you did!
The ACLU Maine has a “Know Your Rights” plan for students going back to school. “Politicians are attacking students’ and teachers’ rights throughout the country, including here in Maine – but as the Supreme Court ruled in 1969, students do not ‘shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.’” Click the button for these important details.
We have an easy way to donate to Indivisible Bangor. Drop off your returnable bottles and cans to Ohio Street Redemption in Bangor and tell them to put it on the account of Dave Cox. They’ll add the money to our kitty, mail out a regular check, and the money goes to our bank account to help with our expenses! You can find them here!
****Be sure the attendant writes down “Dave Cox” or “Indivisible Bangor” because several donations have not been credited. Thank you!****
And you can donate here, too! Donations help pay for supplies, website, outreach, and to fund the many upcoming actions in Maine.
Thank you for all you do! – Dave from Indivisible Bangor
And now to the Mid Maine Indivisible morning Call to Action!
Action Thursday September 25th: Begin a Boycott of Sinclair Stations in Maine and Their Advertisers to Support Free Speech
Hi Folks, we know that authoritarian governments don’t like Free Speech. Even Joe Rogan, Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson oppose the yanking of Jimmy Kimmel from ABC. Well, ABC put him back on but Nexstar and Sinclair that own about 30% of ABC local affiliates are NOT putting him back on.
Time to practice our economic boycott strategies. Sinclair owns Channel 13 WGME (Portland) and Channel 23, WPFO (FOX affiliate)Portland – Waterville. Call their advertisers and tell them you will stop purchasing from them unless they pull their ads or Sinclair puts the show back on air. Here is a great toolkit from Jen Craven on who to call, how to call and where to call. It even has a national crowd sourced list of advertisers for the affiliates.
Maine is a tiny market, so it hasn’t been added to the list – but you could do that work and add it to the list. Ask Chatgpt which local Maine advertisers advertise on channel 13 and 23.
Note: Nexstar is planning a merger with Tegna which owns a number of stations in Maine.
Go here for a full rundown on the “HOMAN FILES” situation from Representative Jamie Raskin.
Keep the heat on our Congressional Representatives (Especially Senator King) to demand that they only support a budget that restores Medicare Cuts be Restored, that the ACA’s tax credits be renewed which will prevent insurance premiums going up by 75%, that the US Military be withdrawn from US cities, and the illegal abduction of immigrants cease or else they will vote against the Continuing Resolution to fund the budget.
Members of the MPA (Maine People’s Alliance) Federal Issues Group are working on a letter (see draft attached) that you can use as an email or script for these calls. I have a meeting with King’s office in Augusta for Thursday at one to present the letter. If you are interested in joining that meeting, let me know. If you wish to have your name attached to the letter please let me know as well. Name and Town would be great.
For the HeartFor Your Heart this First Week of Fall: When we speak, our voice often shows if we are acting from centeredness or off balance. Centeredness holds the moment including our own experience with an acceptance of the way things are.
~~Nancy Hathaway Center for Studying Mindfulness
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saint Francis and the Sow
by Galway Kinnell
The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retells it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;
as Saint Francis
put his hand on the creased forehead
of the sow, and told her in words and in touch
blessings of earth on the sow, and the sow
began remembering all down her thick length,
from the earthen snout all the way
through the fodder and slops to the spiritual curl of the tail,
from the hard spininess spiked out from the spine
down through the great broken heart
to the blue milked dreaminess spurting and shuddering
from the fourteen teats in to the fourteen mouths sucking and blowing
beneath them:
the long perfect loveliness of sow.
TODAY’S ACTION (s)
- If you are in the Portland Area and watch Channel 13 and Channel 23 (covers Waterville as well) they are Sinclair owned: Get a list of who advertises on those channels. Call those businesses and let them know that if they don’t pull their ads – you will boycott their business, as these media stations have supported the firing of Kimmel. Sinclair has said they will not reinstate the Kimmel show at this point. Read this article that supports local boycotts as particularly effective. Share the list with us and we will publish it tomorrow.
- Call on Representative Pingree and Golden to demand the release of the Homan Files: According to reliable sources, the FBI has video of our man Homan accepting $50,000 in a Cava bag in return for a promise to give undercover agents Government Contracts once Trump gets back into office. Learn more here.
- Call on Senator King and your Representative to pledge that they will vote against funding the Government until agreed upon demands are met: Go here for a script for this call (Indivisible’s campaign on this) 5calls also has some background on this. For more background information go to “Care Over Cuts”. For even more background go here. Check out the letter attached below as well.
- Support efforts in your area for the homeless: Volunteer, donate, take action as this vulnerable group gets targeted by the administration.
- Sign the petition to demand Fox fire Brian Kilmeade for his reprehensible comments about the homeless: Sign the petition here. If you are so moved you can write a Letter to the Editor, and/or call Fox Headquarters. Go here to get three different ways to contact Fox.
- Sign the petition to ask the President of UMO to maintain their DEI policies: Universities are one of the pillars of our democracy and they must not cave to the racist and mysogynist preferences of our current government. State Universities are in the crosshairs. Let’s give Maine’s system the public support for showing a backbone. Go here to sign the petition.
- Get involved in the referendum questions coming up in Maine on November 4th: Here is the wording of the questions; you can donate and canvass to oppose the voter ID law (Question 1) by going to SaveAbsenteeMe , and you can support the institution of a Red Flag Law (Question 2) by going to the Maine Gun Safety Coalition. You can request your absentee ballot here, now. One yes vote (Red Flag), one no vote (Voter ID).
Statewide Actions
- Support the effort to boycott Sinclair Station local advertisers (Channels 13 and 23). If you get a list of the local advertisers for these two stations, please send them to me and I will add them to our action email tomorrow. Links or phone numbers with each advertiser would be great.
- Support the effort to defeat the Voter ID referendum Question One, which takes away our right as Mainers to use absentee ballots. We can vote NO on Question 1, donate, and canvass to defeat this voter suppression initiative. Go to SaveAbsenteeMe to pledge to vote no, and sign up for canvassing in early October. Question One will have significant support as it is paired with the Red Flag initiative cited below.
- Support the effort to get a red flag gun law in Maine – Question 2 on this Fall’s Referendum. Gun rights advocates will be out in force to defeat this one. For more information go to the Maine Gun Safety Coalition. You can help by voting YES, canvassing and donating to this cause as well.
- Start a Poster/Chalking Campaign in Your Neighborhood! Go here for ideas and check in with Karen about a postering campaign in Mid Maine on this Tuesday at the Waterville UU Church. Poster ideas also attached below.
- Indivisible Bangor has a great daily newsletter and actions go here to sign up.If you are in the Mid Coast area consider joining Audacity – learn more here.
- Ask Janet Mills to join other Blue States to call for a redistricting of Maine so that Democratic candidates have the edge in the second district, if and only if other states join Texas in redistricting to the Republican advantage. For talking points on this go here. For a toolkit on this for red and blue states go here.
- If you know your Maine Representative or Senator is supportive of making ICE accountable in Maine, ask them to join with Representative Cassie Julia to put in a bill to ensure proper identification of ICE agents acting in Maine. Lawmakers in California have introduced legislation requiring the identity and affiliation of ICE agents to be displayed while interacting with the public.
- For statewide NoKings2 Actions go to the Activate Maine calendar, and Mobilize to see if there is an event planned near you for October 18th. If there isn’t one within an hour’s drive plan one for your community!!
- Check out Graham Platner’s “Un-Shuck The System Tour”, Thursday, 9/25 Portland Bunker Brewing 6pm; Wednesday 10/1: Rockport, American Flatbread 6 pm; Thursday, 10/2, Brunswick, Curtis Memorial Library 6pm. rsvp@tinyurl.com/grahamrsvp or go to Grahamforsenate.com
Angus King
DC: (202) 224-5344
Augusta: (207) 622-8292
Susan Collins
DC: (202) 224-2523
Augusta: (207) 622-8414
Bangor: (207) 945-0417
Chellie Pingree
DC: (202) 225-6116
Portland: (207) 774-5019
Waterville: (207) 873-5713
Jared Golden
DC: (202) 225-6306
Bangor: (207) 249-7400
Caribou: (207) 492-6009
Lewiston: (207) 241-6767
Find your State Representative:
By name: Here
By district: Here
MORE ACTIONS
*Consider supporting Graham Platner who has announced his run against Collins. He is an electrifying speaker, with good positions on the important issues. His entry will force Mills to make a decision on her run. Volunteer here.
*If you prefer, write your letter to Governor Mills thanking her for her stand against Trump, and her opening up Covid Vaccines for all, and ask her to run against Collins. Hand written if possible. Mail to: State House Station 1, Augusta, Maine, 04333. A primary between Mills and Platner would be awesome!
*If you would like to join Maine People’s Alliance Federal Lobby Group, please contact Jim Parakilas at jamesparakilas@gmail.com. We meet Mondays at 2 pm.
With great appreciation for all the engagement everywhere!
As always, throw a little sand in their gears!
-Mid Maine Indivisible
For a full discussion of why it is crucial that the Democrats vote to shut the Government Down at the end of this month go to the Ezra Klein show on this subject here.
From the Department of “This Sounds Familiar”: Abscam, sometimes written ABSCAM, was a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members from both chambers of the United States Congress and others for bribery and corruption.[1] The two-year investigation initially targeted trafficking in stolen property and corruption of prominent business people, but later evolved into a corruption investigation. The FBI was aided by the United States Department of Justice and convict Mel Weinberg in videotaping politicians accepting bribes from a fictitious Arabian company in return for various political favors.[2]
More than 30 political figures were investigated, and six members of the United States House of Representatives and one member of the United States Senate were convicted.[3] Wikipedia
