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

The owners of the popular Saddleback ski area in Maine say the resort will not open for the coming winter season if it can't finance a new chair lift. Owner Mark Berry says Monday that the Rangeley resort needs $3 million to fund the new lift. He says the resort needs to replace an old double chair lift with a four-person lift. Berry says the order must be in place within the next two weeks to save the season. Resort general manager Chris Farmer says the replacement of the lift is about economics more than safety. He says the existing double chair is a major bottlenecking site at the resort that needs to be alleviated. The resort is looking to investors and lenders to come up with money. (AP)

Franklin and Paula Richards of Winslow lost everything in a fire around 10:30 Sunday night. The cause of the fire was a lighting strike. The fire started here in the garage. In a matter of minutes, the entire house was up in flames. After putting out the blaze, crews came out a second time, a section of the building that had rekindled,” They have some insurance but it’s not going to be able to replace everything was in the home. (WABI/centralmaine.com)

Gas prices in Maine have fallen 2.6 cents per gallon in the past week. The average retail gas price in Maine was $2.75 per gallon on Sunday. The national average price remained fell nearly a penny to $2.76 per gallon. Maine gas prices were 93.1 cents less per gallon than the same day in 2014 and 5 cents lower than a month ago. The national average price is 81.2 cents cheaper than a year ago and 3.5 cents less per gallon than a month ago. (AP)

The Maine Republican State Committee has unanimously voted to put its support behind a voter referendum to phase out and eliminate the state’s income tax, as well as to support welfare reform.  According to WGME, the committee says it has authorized the Maine GOP Chairman to use “any and all” party resources to support these measures. Governor LePage said last month that if Maine lawmakers won’t lower the income tax rate, he'd lead a citizen's initiative and let voters decide. If successful, a vote to lower the income tax will likely be on the upcoming November 3 ballot. (WGME)

Maine’s highest court said Monday it would move quickly to address Gov. Paul LePage’s request for an opinion on whether he could veto bills the Legislature says have already become law. According to the Bangor Daily News, attorneys for LePage and for the Maine Senate and House of Representatives would have until 4 p.m. Friday to submit briefs in the case. Other interested parties also may submit briefs. Responses to initial filings will be due by noon July 29. Oral arguments are scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, July 31. Among the legislation in question are several bills fiercely opposed by LePage and many of his Republican allies. (BDN)

At least two Waterville city councilors plan to uphold the mayor’s city budget veto, and others on the council say they think his veto of the $37.4 million municipal and school budget will be upheld. The mayor vetoed it, saying that $58,000 in unexpected state school subsidy should go toward offsetting the tax increase, not into the surplus account. According to the KJ, five of seven councilors must vote to override a veto for the veto to be quashed, so only one councilor who supported the budget has to change his or her mind. If the council overrides the veto Tuesday, the budget will stand as is. If councilors sustain the veto, they must go back to the drawing board. They could approve the budget with changes. (centralmaine.com)

Augusta has stepped into a Maine Natural Gas rate increase case now before the state PUC out of concern it could have a large effect on local ratepayers. According to the KJ, a PUC staff recommendation that the costs of Maine Natural Gas’ ongoing expansion into the Augusta area not be shared with ratepayers statewide, as the company had proposed, but potentially be funded only by Augusta-area ratepayers, could increase dramatically the costs for Maine Natural Gas users in the city. Maine Natural Gas has recovered the costs for all its past system expansions into areas from its entire customer base, not just customers served by those expansions, they say said Augusta should be no different. (centralmaine.com)

A major newspaper in the key early-voting state of Iowa is calling for Donald Trump to end his bid to win the GOP presidential nomination. It's the latest fallout from Trump's questioning the heroism of Sen. John McCain, a former POW. The Des Moines Register has published an editorial calling Trump "unfit" to hold office or to share the stage with his Republican rivals. (AP)

A senior federal law enforcement official says investigators have not found any evidence suggesting the gunman who killed four Marines and a sailor was "specifically tasked" by anyone to stage the shooting. Authorities are pouring through Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez's past for possible motivations. There are indications of troubles. A person close to the family says Abdulazeez had been treated for depression. And he was due in court later this month for drunken driving. (AP)

Dashcam video showing a state trooper's arrest of a woman found dead in her Texas jail cell is expected to be released on Tuesday. The Waller County district attorney says what the video shows is consistent with the information the officer has provided. A coroner says Sandra Bland died by suicide. The 28-year-old Chicago-area woman was pulled over July 10 for a traffic stop and found dead three days. Bland's supporters and family question the circumstances of her death. (AP)

City leaders in Charleston, South Carolina, are taking steps to make sure the nine victims of last month's church massacre are not forgotten. The City Council is expected to approve a resolution on Tuesday to honor the victims for nine days starting next June. And nine live oaks will be planted at sites across the city. (AP)

A new report finds that 22-two percent of American children were living in poverty in 2013 compared with 18 percent in 2008. That's according to the latest Kids Count Data Book. Poverty rates were nearly double among African-Americans and American Indians. Problems were most severe in the South and Southwest. (AP)

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