QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We’ve taken some older people out in office chairs. Some have walked into the polls but just can’t make it any further, so I’d like to have a wheelchair to make that easier.” 

— Presque Isle City Clerk Kim Finnemore on a $20,000 grant the city received to make its polls more accessible on Election Day.

TODAY’S TOP MAINE STORIES

A group hired to provide Bangor with cleaning, hospitality and safety services is now patrolling the city’s downtown. Their blaze orange shirts should make them easy to spot. 

Bangor wants a historic designation for one of its parks. Properties on the list are eligible for federal grants and tax incentives to help rehabilitate and maintain the site.

Nearly 7 acres are for sale near downtown Augusta, but no one’s buying despite the need for housing in Maine’s capital city. Developers say the price isn’t quite right to offset construction costs.

You could buy the home of a Maine sea captain who once challenged Harry Houdini. Elliott C. Gardner once stood at the helm of the Frank A. Palmer, a skipper that was briefly the largest floating ship of its kind.

A Mainer has been infected with the West Nile virus, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. It’s been four years since the last locally contracted case of the mosquito-borne virus was detected in the state. 

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

MAINE IN PICTURES

Post Malone, who recently put out his first country album, brought his F1 Trillion Tour to the Maine Savings Amphitheater in Bangor on Monday night. The sold-out concert was the final show of the 2024 season on the Bangor Waterfront. The first concerts for the 2025 season will begin to be announced later this fall. Credit: Jodi Devost / BDN

FROM THE SPORTS DESK

A few weeks into the high school football season, and some Maine high school teams are already showing signs of dominance, including Houlton, Ellsworth and Cony. Some games to watch out for this weekend include Lewiston High School at Bangor High School at 7 p.m. Friday, and Hermon High School at Hampden Academy, also at 7 p.m. Friday. As for University of Maine football, however, the Bangor Daily News’ Larry Mahoney offered a sobering analysis of its defensive struggles after its loss to Monmouth last weekend. UMaine football is at Merrimack College on Saturday.

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

Demonstrators gather to support new Afghan immigrants, outside of the Capitol on Dec. 8, 2022, in Washington. Credit: Mariam Zuhaib / AP

“Even in a divided Congress, supporting the Afghans who supported us and those fleeing persecution should be a concept that unites people across Capitol Hill.”

Editorial: It’s past time for Congress to pass an Afghan Adjustment Act

LIFE IN MAINE

Proponents of changing the Maine state flag at the ballot box this fall say the current flag design is boring. What’s not boring, however, is the Maine state seal itself. Here’s why the 1820 seal is so symbolic of Maine.

Going to the Common Ground Fair in Unity this weekend? Here are all the ways you can beat the traffic gridlock and have a pleasant journey to the beloved September event. 

Did you know that there’s still plenty of things you can forage at this time of year? Fall can be a great time for foraging in Maine — if you know what to look for.

The world is a better place without the carcinogenic pesticide DDT, and a tinkering UMaine chemistry professor is one of the people we can thank, BDN Homestead contributor Nick Thomas writes.