Central Maine News: January 11, 2016

These are some of the stories central Maine is talking about today.

(AP) — The University of Maine Cooperative Extension says it distributed more food through its Maine Harvest for Hunger in 2015 than in any year in the program's 15-year history. The university says the program donated more than 318,000 pounds of food to 188 distribution sites and to individuals. The program organizes farmers, businesses, gardeners, schools and civic groups to donate food.

(AP) — Governor Paul LePage has apologized for his remark about out-of-state drug dealers impregnating "young white" girls, saying it was a slip of the tongue. At times defiant, the Republican governor told reporters Friday that he never intended to inject race into the debate over Maine's heroin epidemic.

(AP) — Maine fire officials say a fire ripped through the roof of a technical education center in Dexter. A police officer spotted the fire at the Tri-County Technical Center and alerted fire officials at 2:14 Saturday morning. The fire was under control in about an hour, but the building suffered significant smoke and heat damage.

(AP) — Chinese and other Asian markets are down Monday as Wall Street's sharp decline and doubts about China's economic management are keeping appetite for riskier assets such as stocks in check. U.S. stocks had their worst week in four years last week, following a sell-off sparked by concern that China's economy might be slowing. That was despite a relatively healthy U.S. employment report Friday.

(AP) — The mother of the man who's leading the occupation of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon is asking the group's supporters to send supplies, like warm blankets and coffee creamer. The group, led by Ammon Bundy, seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 2, and members say they won't leave until there's a plan to transfer control of federal land to locals. The standoff is the latest flare up of tensions over federal management of Western lands.

(AP) — A new government study finds that even though fewer U.S. teens are smoking, secondhand smoke remains a big problem for them. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say nearly half of nonsmoking kids in middle school and high school encountered secondhand tobacco smoke in 2013. Secondhand smoke has been linked with several illnesses in children, including breathing problems, ear infections, bronchitis and pneumonia. The study is online in Monday's edition of the journal Pediatrics.