A version of this story first appeared in the Morning Update newsletter. Sign up here to receive the Morning Update and other BDN newsletters directly in your inbox.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I’ve been doing this for 43 years, and I’ve never seen a wall like that in my life.”
— Clifford Lane, owner of Patriot Paving Group, after settling with OSHA over the collapse of a retaining wall last year in Brownville that killed Lane’s brother.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
Here’s what we learned from U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King questioning Tulsi Gabbard in her confirmation hearing. Along with Gabbard, who is nominated for director of national intelligence, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Health and Human Services Department, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appeared before senators in a confirmation hearing, where Collins asked him about his past vaccine criticism.
Flu cases are rising in Penobscot County. Health care experts believe fewer people getting vaccinated and multiple illnesses spreading simultaneously are factors.
A construction company owner settled with OSHA over a fatal Brownville wall collapse. The federal investigation found the company made the decision to ignore “repeated warnings” before the fatal collapse.
Charges mounted against the four men accused of killing Corinth man. The men previously had one criminal charge each. But a grand jury this week returned indictments with a total of 10 charges against them.
An iconic Portland breakfast joint passed from one family to another. In the nearly 20 years since it opened, Hot Suppa! has survived shifting neighborhood demographics, a global pandemic and an ongoing, citywide real estate crunch.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE
- Advocates urge Maine lawmakers to protect drug discount program
- American Airlines plane that crashed in DC was in Bangor twice this week
- American Airlines flights between Maine and DC canceled after deadly crash
- Tractor-trailer and pickup truck collide at Bangor intersection
- Former state representative suspended from practicing law permanently gives up license
- Missing Maine woman found safe
- Massachusetts teen being held by ICE at Cumberland County Jail
- 4 Bangor-area boys high school basketball games to watch this weekend
- Regional cheerleading competition will be held in Bangor on Saturday
- Legendary UMaine football player and coach John Huard dies at 80
- UMaine men’s basketball overwhelms New Hampshire for 6th straight win
- High-scoring forward leads UMaine women’s basketball to win at UNH
MAINE IN PICTURES
FROM THE OPINION PAGES
“Disregard for the will of Congress is coupled with Vought’s dangerous belief in shifting critical funding decisions away from career officials — who are experts in their fields — to political appointees.”
LIFE IN MAINE
An innovative violist wove modern and classical sounds in her performance with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. Martha Mooke uses what she calls her “spaceship,” a device with foot pedals similar to those used by electric guitarists.
A northern Maine group plans to make the first ever international ice carousel. The giant disc will be cut into a frozen river and spin in and out of Canada.
Maine’s backyard beehives are seeing their highest survival rate in eight years. This is good news. Honeybees pollinate about 80 percent of all flowering plants and most of the fruit and vegetable plants people rely on.
Meet these entertaining birds of the North Maine Woods. “When it comes to Canada jays, you don’t have to find them. They find you,” Bob Duchesne writes.