Aroostook country club / Axe throwing / Belfast ocean access dispute

Today is Friday. Temperatures will be in the low to mid-70s from north to south, with sunny skies and a chance for scattered afternoon showers across the state. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.

The latest on the coronavirus

The Maine Center for Disease Control reported 107 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the largest single-day increase since May. Four more Mainers have died, bringing the statewide death toll to 891.

COVID-19 cases are increasing around the nation as the more contagious delta variant becomes the dominant coronavirus strain, but Maine is not seeing as dramatic an increase as other states,

Despite surges driven by the delta variant, there is no plan to reinstate a national mask mandate, White House officials have said.

A northern Maine golf course is in jeopardy as US-Canadian border restrictions drag on

The clubhouse at Aroostook Valley Country Club is shown in 2018. The golf course remains closed to American players because of Canadian policies enacted to contend with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 18-hole golf course has become a surprising victim of the border restrictions throughout the pandemic.

PLUS: Janet Mills wants the US to reopen its border with Canada

Throw axes and eat barbecue at this new Bangor restaurant

Chris Jones, Jeff Solari and Greg Hawes are co-owners of Smoke & Steel, a new barbecue restaurant with axe-throwing lanes on Stillwater Avenue in the same development as Buffalo Wild Wings.

Smoke & Steel BBQ combines three things that have proven to be highly popular in Maine in recent years: barbecue, live music and axe throwing.

Dispute over public access to ocean on Belfast’s east side settled

After a consent judgment is signed, the city of Belfast will own a waterfront parcel with 400 feet of shore frontage on Highview Terrace, on the east side of the city.

The city now owns an unbuildable waterfront lot with 400 or so feet of shore frontage off Highview Terrace, a subdivision not far from the Searsport town line.

Community rallies around family of 9-year-old boy killed in Belfast

Bryan Totman, 9, of Searsmont died Monday while helping to load a vehicle onto a tow truck.

Bryan Totman, 9, of Searsmont received emergency aid at the scene and was rushed to Waldo County General Hospital for treatment, but he could not be resuscitated.

Bar Harbor council wants to demolish defunct ferry terminal pier and build new marina

The cost of tearing down and then replacing the pier has been projected to be between $17 million and $21 million.

Unpredictable lake gives Aroostook County angler the biggest salmon of his life

John Michaud of St. Agatha shows off the eight-pound, 25-inch landlocked salmon he caught on July 17 while fishing at Long Lake.

It took John Michaud 60 years to catch the 25-inch, 8-pound salmon.

Pride crosswalks defaced in downtown Eastport get repainted with rainbow colors

Workers repaint crosswalks in downtown Eastport with rainbow colors on July 15, 2021, two days after someone intentionally defaced them with splotches of white paint.

A security camera at City Hall recorded someone pouring white paint onto the colored sidewalks on the night of July 13.

A Searsport woman is bringing a traditional Armenian picnic to her community

Astrig Koltookian Tanguay of Searsport is holding an Armenian picnic this weekend to share her family’s culture with midcoast Maine.

Astrig Koltookian Tanguay grew up going to the picnics hosted by her tight-knit Armenian-American community. Now she’s holding her own picnic so that Mainers can taste home cooked Middle Eastern cuisine, groove to klezmer music, take a belly dancing lesson and much more.