Maine's worst pests / Unemployment payments / Pogie season

Today is Tuesday. Temperatures will be in the high 60s with scattered thunderstorms throughout the day. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.

Here’s the latest on the coronavirus in Maine

Another 13 coronavirus cases were reported across the state on Monday, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It was the lowest daily increase in COVID-19 cases since September. No new deaths were reported, leaving the statewide death toll at 845. Check out our COVID-19 Tracker for more information.

These are the pests that are going to haunt your Maine summer

If you are heading outdoors ticks are just one of the pests you need to watch out for this summer. Credit: Linda Coan O'Kresik / BDN

From those that are a mere nuisance to those causing potential health issues, here are six pests to be on the lookout for this summer.

Northern Light plans overhauls at half of its 10 hospitals

An addition to Northern Light’s Mercy Hospital in Portland under construction on Monday. Personnel will move into the new development in the fall. Credit: Courtesy of Northern Light Health

The hospital system is in varying stages of updating Acadia Hospital in Bangor, its hospital in Blue Hill, Maine Coast Hospital in Ellsworth, C.A. Dean Hospital in Greenville and Mercy Hospital in Portland.

Maine will pay people up to $1,500 to get off unemployment

Tradewinds on State Street in Veazie has a sign up along the road advertising job openings. Gov. Janet Mills’ administration will offer incentive payments to get workers off unemployment and into jobs this summer. Credit: Linda Coan O'Kresik / BDN

The “Back to Work” program will use $10 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to provide one-time, $1,500 payments to workers who start a new job by the end of June or $1,000 if they do so by the end of July.

Maine has appealed to white supremacists before. Now a new group says it wants to move here.

Kyle Fitzsimons of Lebanon, Maine, has been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. He told state lawmakers that he moved to Maine to escape what he called “multicultural hellholes.” Credit: Courtesy of U.S. Federal Court

A national news site reported Monday that a neo-Nazi and his followers on a far-right social media network are planning to relocate to Maine in hopes of establishing an all-white ethnostate.

Increasingly valuable pogie fishing season gets underway in Maine

Corey Doughty reaches for a set of hooks for hoisting a barrel of pogies off the deck of the Deja Vu II at CBS Lobster and Bait on Union Wharf in Portland on Monday June 14, 2021. Monday was the first day of Maine’s commercial pogie fishing season. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN

Monday marked the start of the state’s commercial pogie fishing season. With recent sharp cuts in Atlantic herring quotas, pogies are an increasingly valuable and sought-after bait fish.

Senate narrowly votes to close Maine’s youth prison

Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland is pictured on Nov. 17, 2016. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN

The proposal to close the Long Creek Youth Development Center is one of criminal justice reform advocates’ top priorities. It comes as the population of the youth prison has slid in recent years, with fewer than 30 children currently incarcerated.

UMaine men’s hockey coach hopes to restore prominence to team

Ben Barr, pictured last month during his introductory press conference as the head men’s ice hockey coach at the University of Maine, is busily preparing for next season while gearing up to move his family to their new home in Brewer. Credit: Ronnie Gillis / UMaine Athletics

The new University of Maine men’s hockey coach is balancing moving his family from western Massachusetts to their new home in Brewer, being a father to three children including infant twins, putting together his roster for the 2021-22 season and hiring a new full-time assistant coach.

Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck is shown in 2019. The department has opposed closing the Maine Information and Analysis Center. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN

The proposal from Rep. Charlotte Warren, D-Hallowell, to defund the Maine Information and Analysis Center over the course of two years was born out of increased scrutiny of the program after a Maine state trooper sued the state, alleging it was illegally spying on residents.