Today is Wednesday. Temperatures will be in the 70s throughout the state, with bountiful sunshine. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.
Here’s the latest on the coronavirus in Maine
Another two Mainers died and 199 coronavirus cases were reported across the state on Tuesday, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The statewide death now stands at 805. Check out our COVID-19 Tracker for more information.
Maine will reinstate traditional work requirements for unemployment insurance benefits this Sunday, requiring those receiving unemployment to actively look for work and accept positions for which they are qualified or risk losing benefits. We want to hear from workers who became unemployed during the pandemic and are collecting benefits to know your work search plans.
Find out how many people in your town have been vaccinated
Maine continues to see large geographic differences in COVID-19 vaccinations even as more than 50 percent of the state’s total population and nearly 63 percent of eligible Mainers aged 12 and older have received at least one vaccine dose.
Janet Mills stymies progressives as they provoke business lobby on taxes and labor law
Gov. Janet Mills has largely sided with the business lobby against proposals from progressive Democrats to raise taxes on high earners and scrap at-will employment.
Bangor woman charged with Susan Collins decapitation threat not competent to stand trial
Katrina F. Preble, 56, allegedly left a series of voicemails on the senator’s office phones in Bangor and Washington, D.C., on Nov. 6 and 11.
FBI investigating alleged illegal donations to support Susan Collins in 2020
The warrant application alleges that Martin Kao, the CEO of Martin’s Defense Group, created a shell company to funnel $150,000 in funding from his company, then called Navatek, to the 1820 PAC, a super PAC created to support Collins.
In wake of official’s arrest, Penobscot County seeks to appoint a deputy treasurer
John Hiatt is accused of stalking and harassing a 34 year-old Bangor woman online and by cellphone texts.
Former Unity College employee will spend 2 years in prison after taking more than $500K from the school
Besides gambling at casinos, going on a cruise and paying utility bills, Beth Bing and her husband used the college’s corporate cards to go on cross-country trips and purchase items such as television sets and washing machines.
Maine university system set to raise tuition rates across the board
University officials say the increases are necessary to contend with the cost of inflation and salary raises for staff over the past few years.
Company with Maine ties claims in lawsuit that Apple runs App Store like monopoly
Primary Productions LLC claims the tech giant is harming millions of independent software developers with “anti-competitive business practices” in the App Store.
Mystery animal named ‘Fluffy’ turns out to be albino woodchuck
Some readers were convinced Fluffy was an ermine, an albino squirrel or a northern bog lemming.
In other Maine news …
Aroostook County mother and son arrested after drug agents find $250K worth of meth
Tiny bats put kibosh on CMP power line tree-cutting for 2 months
3 trapped by power lines after ambulance crashes into utility pole in Aroostook County
Feds seize $3.6M from company over sale of fake N95 masks to Maine
Locals push Scarborough to stop local police from cooperating with feds at ICE facility
Passamaquoddy Tribe reacquires stolen land on Pine Island
Funtown Splashtown will only open 5 days a week due to worker shortage