Today is Thursday. Temperatures will in the low 60s to mid-50s from north to south, with partly cloudy skies throughout the state. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.
The latest on the coronavirus in Maine
Another 401 coronavirus cases were reported across the state on Wednesday, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. One new death was reported, raising the statewide death toll at 747. Check out our COVID-19 Tracker for more information.
Thousands streamed into the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Wednesday, the first day that all Mainers 16 and older were eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Maine is getting $18 million from the federal government to reduce racial disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations. That comes as Maine has seen significant racial disparities throughout the coronavirus pandemic, with Black Mainers accounting for more than a quarter of coronavirus cases even though they comprise only 1 percent of the state’s population.
Mainers woke up at midnight and lied about ages in race for COVID-19 vaccines
It will still be a while before everyone is able to get a shot as vaccine supply remains tight.
Maine counties chafe at lower-than-expected payments from wind farms
Several counties and towns are finding out they are getting less revenue out of the wind projects than they had expected when they were wooed in the 2000s and 2010s by developers looking to erect turbines several hundred feet tall along local remote, elevated ridgelines.
Maine police departments are giving out fentanyl testing strips
The kits will allow an individual to test substances for the presence of fentanyl and will also include information about treatment and recovery options.
Apartment seekers advertise themselves in a bid to beat the midcoast Maine housing crunch
Officials in Belfast, a city of 6,700 people, have been worrying about the problem of affordable housing scarcity for years. It turns out that the community also doesn’t have a lot of surplus market-rate housing at hand that can easily absorb all the people who are looking for places to live.
Luna the pug back home after surviving a month in the northern Maine outdoors
It took the efforts of an entire community to bring 1-year-old Luna the pug home exactly a month after she ran off into the woods on the upper end of Academy Street in Presque Isle on March 5.
Boston TV show that may have inspired ‘Cheers’ to be digitized by Bucksport film archive
Over the next two years, Northeast Historic Film, located at Bucksport’s Alamo Theatre, will digitize WCVB’s massive collection of videotapes and 16 millimeter film reels, showcasing the 18 programs that were part of its groundbreaking slate of original programming, one of the largest such collections in the country.
How to go rockhounding for Maine gems and crystals
Pink, green and blue tourmaline, aquamarine beryl and deep red garnet, purple amethyst and sparkling lepidolite — they all lie buried in Maine granite. To find them, all you have to do is dig — and perhaps use a hammer and chisel.
Gray fox creeps past Maine trail camera
They’ve certainly got a distinctive look, with some red highlights on their darker fur.
In other Maine news…
Tractor trailer loaded with frozen hash browns rolls over on interstate exit
Pressure cooker in parking lot leads Bangor Walmart to briefly shut down
Portland man claims that Percival Baxter would support leashless dogs in his namesake park
Maine attorney general clears 4 officers in 2020 shooting death of Auburn man
Maine man charged in Capitol riot denied bail
Florida woman allegedly tried to bring replica grenades through Bangor airport checkpoint
Attorney general clears Old Town officer in 2018 shooting of NH man