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

The Waterville city council is set to debate recycling collection in the city after the mayor and a councilor challenged the administration’s position that the current recycling schedule will stay the same. According to the KJ, some councilors are questioning why a decision was apparently made without bringing the issue to the council’s attention first. The council will discuss whether the city’s public works department should collect recycling on the weeks that its contractor, Sullivan’s Waste of Thorndike, cannot. Collections are scheduled for first and third full weeks of a month. But every now and then because of the calendar, it can be two weeks in-between collection. They city was looking for a way to bridge that for residents. (centralmaine.com)

A China man is facing misdemeanor charges after he allegedly got a truck stuck on an all-terrain vehicle trail and destroyed a bridge early Sunday morning. According to the KJ, the bridge is owned by China Four Seasons Club, whose president says it has struggled this summer with damage caused by people driving passenger vehicles on their trails, which cross private land. Wardens found an unregistered and uninsured full-size Chevrolet truck half-off of the damaged ATV bridge with the driver, Tyonek Thurlow, and a male passenger asleep in the back seat.  Trails have been damaged by passenger vehicles on the last five weekends. While the club members think they know who causes much of the damage, they usually leave the trails before they’re caught. (centralmaine.com)

Maine Natural Gas is seeking a rate increase that would help fund its ongoing expansion in Augusta and help return the company to profitability.  The company's proposal is currently being reviewed by the state Public Utilities Commission and would increase delivery rates by 62 percent over three years. Those rates make up roughly a third of a typical customer's bill. The plan would increase the total bill of an average gas user from $2,101 to $2,644 per year in December 2017. Company officials say rates haven't risen since 2011 and the increase is needed to help it recoup its $50 million investment in new infrastructure. The three-person commission is expected to rule by the end of November. (AP)

A replica of an 18th Century French tall ship is preparing to sail into Maine for its final U.S. port of call. The Hermione is expected to arrive in Castine around 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Its visit coincides with the French celebration of Bastille Day, which marks the storming of the Bastille prison by revolutionaries on July 14. The Hermione is a replica of the ship that brought Marquis de Lafayette to America in 1780. Lafayette brought the news that France was sending soldiers to aid American troops in their fight against the British during the American Revolution. The ship began its voyage in France in April. When it leaves Maine Thursday, it will stop in Nova Scotia before heading back across the Atlantic Ocean toward France. (AP)

Skowhegan police are seeking the public's help in identifying the person who knocked a man unconscious and robbed him of his money and prescription medication. James Fletcher, of Skowhegan, told investigators he was at a storage facility at about 2:45 p.m. Sunday when he was attacked. The victim did not know who attacked him but says when he came to, his money and medication was missing. Skowhegan police were assisted at the scene by the Somerset County Sheriff's Department. Anybody with information is asked to call Skowhegan police. (AP)

Gas prices in Maine have fallen more than a penny per gallon in the past week. The average retail gas price in Maine was $2.77 per gallon on Sunday. The figure is based on a GasBuddy.com survey of 1,228 gas outlets in the state. The national average price remained stuck at $2.76 per gallon. Maine gas prices were 94.3 cents less per gallon than the same day in 2014 and seven-tenths of a cent higher than a month ago. The national average price is 85 cents cheaper than a year ago and 3.9 cents less per gallon than a month ago. (AP)

A debate between Republican Gov. Paul LePage and lawmakers over the status of dozens of bills on his desk may not be resolved any time soon. LePage said that he plans to ask the Maine Supreme Court for its opinion, but hasn't yet decided when he will do that. He said he may wait until January. LePage says that because lawmakers adjourned last month, he can still veto bills on his desk when they return to Augusta. But lawmakers and Attorney General Janet Mills say the bills are now law because LePage missed his 10-day deadline to act on them. They say that lawmakers recessed but haven't yet adjourned. Lawmakers plan to return on Thursday to finish their work for the session. (AP)

A Republican activist and several lawmakers are hoping to block a new law to allow people seeking asylum in Maine to receive municipal welfare benefits. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said Monday an application for a people's veto referendum was filed on Friday. Stavros Mendros, a former Republican representative, filed the application, and several current lawmakers have also signed onto the effort. The law is among 70 measures that recently became law after Gov. Paul LePage missed the 10-day deadline to veto them. LePage says he plans to bring the issue to the Maine Supreme Court. Dunlap said that if the group gathers more than 61,000 valid signatures, the measure will be placed on the November ballot. The law would be suspended until after the referendum. (AP)

Barber Foods of Portland is recalling 1.7 million pounds of frozen chicken products over concerns that they may be contaminated with salmonella. The frozen chicken affected by the recall was produced between Feb. 17 and May 20 and distributed throughout the United States and Canada. Monday's recall is an expansion of a July 2 recall of 58,000 pounds of food. That was prompted by six illnesses in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Two more patients have been identified since then. A spokesman for the company says Barber is collaborating with the USDA to change production practices to reduce salmonella. (AP)

The family of a black man who died after being placed in a New York City police officer's chokehold has reached a $5.9 million settlement with the city. Forty-three-year-old Eric Garner was stopped last July 17 outside a Staten Island convenience store because police officers believed he was selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. A video shot by an onlooker shows Garner refusing to be handcuffed and telling officers, "I can't breathe!" 11 times after an officer places him in a chokehold. Garner then loses consciousness. (AP)

A landmark Iran nuclear agreement is taking shape after clearing some final obstacles. A senior diplomat says the deal includes a compromise between Washington and Tehran that would allow U.N. inspectors to press for visits to Iranian military sites as part of their monitoring duties. But Tehran would have the right to challenge the U.N request. Any deal also must address Iran's call that an arms embargo be lifted or at least modified. The U.S. is opposed to that demand. (AP)

Mexico's most notorious drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman began plotting to break out of prison not soon after his recapture in February 2014. Internal Drug Enforcement Administration documents reveal that drug agents first got information in March 2014 that various family members and drug-world associates were considering "potential operations to free Guzman." Guzman escaped from prison Saturday, by slipping down a shaft from his prison cell's shower and disappearing into a mile-long tunnel. (AP)

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