Today is Wednesday. Temperatures will be in the high 20s to low 30s with partly sunny skies in the north and cloudy skies in the south. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.
Here’s the latest on the coronavirus in Maine
Another 12 deaths and 277 cases were reported in Maine on Tuesday, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. There are now 3,563 active confirmed and “probable” cases in the state. The death toll now stands at 239. Check out our COVID-19 Tracker for more information.
Maine’s coronavirus-related restrictions are mostly in line with other New England states as governors across the region grapple with rising cases, while an expert warns that containing the virus will only get more difficult if cases continue to escalate.
A secret settlement hid an officer’s misconduct. Outside Maine, it would have been different.
Settlement agreements like the one Franklin County negotiated with a former corrections officer can make it harder for law enforcement agencies to gain information about job candidates’ past performance as police and corrections officers. It means future employers could hire someone without learning the full scope of the person’s history.
Other states, however, have made changes in recent years to make it easier for police agencies to get information about the officers they’re hiring. Those states now require past agencies to release details about officers who used to work for them, regardless of whether officers signed a confidential settlement agreement, and have given agencies legal immunity to get and share information.
Maine hospitals start to expand COVID-19 units with spike in virus patients
The number of Mainers hospitalized with the virus reached a new high of 171 on Tuesday, with 48 in critical care and 19 hooked up to ventilators, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a four-fold increase from just one month earlier, and more than double the 60 hospitalizations at the peak of last spring’s surge.
Millinocket police chief accused of sexual harassment has been fired
Craig Worster allegedly sexually harassed Deputy Police Chief Janet Theriault and used police department resources to eavesdrop on town employees illegally.
Maine schools see enrollment plummet as pandemic upends education
Maine’s public schools enrolled nearly 8,000 fewer students this fall than a year ago, as some parents have kept younger students home and others have turned to homeschooling and private schools during a school year altered by the pandemic.
While Maine’s school enrollment has dropped in all but one year over the past decade, this year’s drop of 7,865 students is more than five times the size of the next largest recent enrollment drop.
Presidential electors to officially cast Maine’s vote on Monday with pandemic twist
Four presidential electors will still meet in the chamber of the Maine House of Representatives to officially cast the state’s votes for president and vice president, but they will likely be among the few people in the large room and they must all wear masks.
We want to talk to Maine businesses and workers about the need for virus aid
We want to talk to Maine businesses and their employees about the lingering need for aid during the pandemic. Did you get aid earlier this year? What was your situation then and how does it compare to now?
Portland reconsiders renovating Preble Street homeless shelter as plan to use jail falls through
City officials on Tuesday night will reconsider a plan to build a 40-bed emergency shelter for vulnerable people during the pandemic as Portland temporarily houses more than 300 people in area hotels.
It comes as a plan to shelter unhoused people in a repurposed jail facility fell through because of liability concerns, according to county commissioners.
There’s an odd object flying around on this doorbell cam video
Technically, today’s trail camera offering did not actually come from a trail cam. Technically, it doesn’t show wildlife (although we really don’t know what it shows).
In other Maine news…
Newport woman pleads guilty to stealing more than $250K from nonprofits
Rockland questions if 60-year-old Sears building is historic enough to save
Susan Collins, Jared Golden skeptical of Biden’s pick of retired general to lead Pentagon
More than 2,000 Maine fishermen to get coronavirus aid by Jan. 1
Winter sports activities beginning this week, but only for some Maine high schools
COVID-19 outbreak reported at York Hospital