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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Who decided that was enough for restitution? Also, what happened to all of the money that he stole?”

— Eric Moran, who gave Jake Brown of Palermo $25,000 in 2023 to work on his Bath home. A judge found that Brown owed clients $2.5 million for shoddy and incomplete work for which he was paid up front, but the state attorney general’s office inked a deal allowing him to pay back just $350,000.

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

U.S. Sen. Angus King echoed Margaret Chase Smith in a speech on President Donald Trump. The independent senator’s office called his 28-minute speech an update to Smith’s 1950 “Declaration of Conscience” address.

Maine and two dozen states sued the Trump administration over cuts to AmeriCorps. The lawsuit alleges that federal cost-cutting illegally gutted the agency and reneged on grants approved by Congress.

A contractor accused of defrauding clients will pay a fraction of what he owes. A January deal with the Maine attorney general was not communicated to those who say Jake Brown took upfront payments for shoddy and incomplete work.

Three Bangor businesses vacated the former Queen City Cinema Club space. Cool Girl Collective, Glowgetters and Dream in Gold previously coexisted downtown at 128 Main St.

Orland is preparing to open a new fire station along Route 1. The new building replaces a small, moldy building from the 1970s that barely fit fire trucks.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

MAINE IN PICTURES

A male bluebird, left, brings food to his mate who has been busy with nest-building duties on May 28, 2024, in Freeport. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty / AP

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

A Palestinian child walks with a bicycle by the rubble of a building on Oct. 8, 2023, after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City. Credit: Fatima Shbair / AP

“Israel could not accomplish its mission of exterminating Palestinians without U.S. complicity. We taxpayers have paid for the slaughter and, for the most part, remained shamefully silent.”

Letter: American values are not my values

LIFE IN MAINE

Fishers are skilled hunters in the Maine woods, but they are not likely to pass up an opportunity for some free food. This fisher captured on a trail camera was desperately hoping it could take its free meal home. 

The salmon fishery is heating up in parts of Maine. Anglers are still contending with solid or floating ice on parts of Moosehead, but serious fishing is happening on the Moose River.

The Bangor Symphony stunned with Brahms’ “Requiem” in its season finale Sunday, Judy Harrison writes. The concert will be available for streaming May 2-16 at watch.bangorsymphony.org.