Good morning. Temperatures will be in the mid-70s, with partly cloudy skies throughout the state.
Here’s what’s happening in Maine today.
Challenges from the far right and far left leave the center to Angus King
–The 74-year-old independent U.S. senator is running a relatively quiet campaign for his second term, despite efforts from progressive Democrat Zak Ringelstein and libertarian Republican Eric Brakey to gain momentum in the race. While he votes most often with Democrats, King believes Republicans see him as “somebody they can work with.”
Brakey and Ringelstein are trying to establish themselves as political outsiders, but from opposite ends of the partisan spectrum. Ringelstein wants the Democratic Party to “start acting like the party of the working people again” while Brakey said “people are sick and tired of Washington, D.C., taking advantage of us.”
Thomas Walsh, 88, grew international hotel empire from Bangor and Bar Harbor
–Thomas Walsh, the Bangor native who built one of the largest privately held hotel companies in the United States, has died. He was 88.
Walsh was a well-regarded and occasionally controversial figure whose business grew from a single hotel in Brewer to become Ocean Properties, Ltd. The company has in its portfolio more than 125 hotels and resorts in North America, including several hotels in Augusta, Bangor, Bar Harbor and Portland.
Investors pump almost $2 million into a Maine solar energy firm
–Pika Energy of Westbrook was the only Maine company to attract venture capital investment in the third quarter of 2018. The company garnered $1.9 million from unnamed investors and has been expanding during the past few years, having brought in $1.49 million out of a $2.3 million fundraising effort in debt, options and promissory notes in the first quarter of this year.
LifeFlight of Maine celebrates 20 years of life-saving care at dedication ceremony
–On Monday, LifeFlight of Maine celebrated 20 years of service at a dedication ceremony and open house at the LifeFlight base at the Bangor International Airport. The event brought together paramedics, pilots, patients and Northern Light Health leaders for a morning to reflect, tour the aircraft, visit the crew, and celebrate the program that has made strides in emergency medical care in the state.
“Without LifeFlight, I would not be here today,” Husson University student Tristan Kaldenburg said. Kaldenburg was traveling back to Bangor from his home Littleton, Massachusetts, when he was injured in a head-on collision in 2017. “We need it.”
Undefeated UMaine prepares to take on fellow unbeaten URI
–The University of Maine was picked to finish eighth in the Colonial Athletic Association preseason football poll. The University of Rhode Island was predicted to finish last (12th).
When they face off at Meade Stadium in Kingston, Rhode Island, on Saturday at noon, they will be two of just four teams who are undefeated in league play. Both are 2-0. URI hasn’t won more than two conference games in a season since 2010 (4-4).
Do this: Watch this Maine actress make her debut as TV’s first transgender superhero
–Orono native Nicole Maines made history with her family in 2014, when they won a lawsuit against the Orono school district, winning the right for transgender students in the state of Maine to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
Maines will make history again this week, when she debuts as TV’s first transgender superhero on The CW’s series “Supergirl.”
In other news…
Maine
Vintage airplane in Maine to be converted to NY cocktail lounge
Maine man allegedly shot by turkey hunter, refuses medical treatment
Recovery home for women to open in Auburn
Bangor
‘Kidnapper’ in widely shared Facebook post was just 77-year-old woman asking directions, cops say
Charges dismissed against Penobscot Nation chief’s sons in parking lot fracas
Bangor Salvation Army receives $10,000 memorial donation
Politics
Poliquin, Golden repeatedly accuse each other of lying during testy debate
Susan Rice considering 2020 challenge to Collins in Maine
After flap, Trump says he has no plans to fire Rosenstein
Opinion
After ‘rock bottom’ with Kavanaugh, how do we move back to ‘common values’?
America’s women are second-class citizens
Democrats, this is no time to panic
Sports
Happy and healthy, Maine native Steve Clifford takes over in Orlando
How a Maine small college is cashing in on ‘guarantee games’
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