Good morning. Temperatures will be in the mid 70s and partly sunny throughout the state.
Here’s what’s happening in Maine today.
Kids in Maine are more likely to get cancer, and no one really knows why
–Tabaitha Steward didn’t think much about childhood cancer before her daughter, Hailey, was diagnosed with leukemia in October 2012. “Like anything else, unless it hits you, you stop paying attention to it,” Steward, of Bethel, said.
Hailey Steward was among more than 700 Maine children diagnosed with cancer between 2003 and 2014, according to new federal data. In fact, Maine’s rate of cancer among patients under age 20 was 190.5 per million residents, significantly higher than the national average of 173.7, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report shows. Experts don’t know why Maine’s rate exceeds the national average, or what’s driving differences from region to region.
Public transit returns to a midcoast Maine city
–For the last two years, Rockland has been without public transportation following the shutdown of Coast Trans. But since May, Mid-Coast Public Transportation ― a part of Waldo Community Action Partners ― has been offering a new bus service that not only meets the needs of those who are dependent on public transportation, but the community as a whole.
–The service, called DASH (Downtown Area Shuttle), runs Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Two buses run the same route, which extends from Wal-Mart in Thomaston to Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport, including 10 stops in all.
Missouri pork farmers breathe new life into an old Maine dairy farm
–In 1950, there were nearly 5,000 dairy farms in the state. Earlier this year there were just 241. That kind of decline is familiar to the Arbuckles, who got into pork farming more than 20 years after that industry went through a similar freefall.
John and Holly Arbuckle moved to Newcastle from Missouri last month to sell pasture-raised pork, a niche product that is growing in popularity, following a similar trajectory to grass-fed beef. Their pigs are not fed genetically modified feed and they are given no antibiotics or growth stimulants. And they practice regenerative agriculture, which incorporates organic farming, permaculture and other philosophies with the aim of restoring degraded soil, improving the water cycle and sequestering carbon.
Plastic waste is everywhere. Here are some ideas for Mainers to reduce their use of it.
–The world is awash in plastic waste, and Maine is no exception. According to the National Geographic Society, since the 1950s, humans have generated 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics — and of that vast number, only 9 percent has been recycled. Almost 80 percent has ended up in landfills or the environment, where it takes more than 400 years to degrade.
So what are folks concerned about their discarded plastics to do? A good idea is to decrease the use of plastics in the first place.
Rockefeller’s household items auctioned off for charity
–Personal items that had belonged to David Rockefeller Sr., who died last year at the age of 101, were put up for auction Friday at the Neighborhood House in the local village of Northeast Harbor. Among the items auctioned Friday were African and Japanese artwork, his Cadillac Seville sedan, furniture and Rockefeller’s Hermes rigging knife, which is a type of knife sailors carry at sea.
Other items being auctioned included paintings, a set of golf clubs, a microwave oven, a coffee maker, fireplace tools, household linens and dishes, baskets and a host of other antiques and collectibles.
Father of man who drowned in Kenduskeag sues Bangor Police Department, officers
–The father of a Bangor man who drowned in the Kenduskeag Stream while fleeing police in March has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Bangor Police Department and four of its officers.
Gary Manuel, the father of Peter Manuel, 22, filed the lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court in Bangor. In the lawsuit, Manuel alleges that his son faced “a pattern of harassment” from the Bangor Police Department, culminating in his death on March 2.
Do this: Use up all your farmers market veggies
–We’ve all been there. You go to the farmers market and load up on all the produce you can find with lofty goals of becoming the gourmet home chef of your dreams. Back at home, the veggies get unloaded into the fridge, unused, where they remain until trash day. But not this time, with the following recipes.
In other news…
Maine
Maine man allegedly leads police on multi-county chase
Maine town’s Amish population quadruples in less than two years
Maine judge threatening jurors who don’t show up for duty
Bangor
Ex-UMaine worker admits stealing $250,000 in tuition, room and board payments
EMCC reports possible data breach affecting students and staff
‘Will it float?’ is the question of the day at Orono’s Cardboard Canoe Festival
Business
Millennials love their ‘fur babies’ and that means solid growth for a Maine firm
Inventor who played key role in lobster industry dies
New England shrimp population still looks bad amid shutdown
Politics
Lawyer facing disbarment says he needs DA office for health coverage, mental treatment
Special election for Penobscot County commissioner taking place in November
‘Marriage penalty’ debate takes center-stage in Maine home care fight
Opinion
Maine can’t go it alone when it comes to air pollution
Stalling fuel economy standards won’t save lives. Keeping them in place will.
Legislators should give less power to executive branch
Sports
The Blodgett era highlights Maine Basketball Hall of Fame inductions
Old-time Bangor basketball standout gets hall of fame nod
Red Sox ace Chris Sale goes on 10-day disabled list
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