Here are the things you need to  know today......

The mysterious bang and shaking of homes in the Augusta/ Gardiner area Sunday night is still a mystery. Centralmaine.com reports despite a number of ideas, no one seems to know for sure what it was.

From the Associated Press:

Maine's conservation department is getting involved in the proposed pardoning of a dog, Dakota, saying the case could have implications for the state's animal welfare laws. Gov. Paul LePage said he was pardoning the dog from a death sentence levied at a court hearing. This dog killed a neighbor's pug last year. Dakota's case is scheduled for a court hearing on Tuesday. The state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry has offered to assist the court with the case. A spokesman for the department says it has a "strong interest" in the case and wants to make sure animal owners are afforded due process. The department says the dangerous-dog statute is designed to protect the public and not to punish dogs like Dakota.  (More from Centralmaine.com)

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention says reported cases of Lyme disease reached an all-time high in the state last year.The agency says the total of 1,464 cases surpassed the previous high of 1,410 in 2014. The Portland Press Herald reports Lyme cases surged in the fall after a dry summer caused ticks to take on a hibernation-like state. Meanwhile, public health authorities say ticks should be out this week because weather is starting to warm up. Lyme disease symptoms include fatigue, dizziness and joint and nerve pain. Lyme can be treated with antibiotics. Some people get a "bullseye" rash indicating the disease, but not everyone who contracts Lyme disease will have the rash.

The lawmaker who introduced a bill designed to restrict wild foraging for food in Maine says he will call for the bill to not pass. He says Maine state law already covers the subject of getting permission before using someone else's land. He initially said he was concerned about wild pickers gathering large amounts of food for commercial operations without permission. But the bill was unpopular with hunters, outdoors enthusiasts and foragers, who said Maine's foraging traditions are best left intact.

A Maine fire department's parody of the song "Area Codes" by Ludacris and Nate Dogg is going viral. New Gloucester Fire & Rescue is using its parody video of the song as a recruitment tool. It features firefighters rapping and unfolding firehoses while singing about how they've "got hose in different area codes."

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and world leaders are holding an urgent meeting in Italy to discuss the crisis in Syria. The meeting of the "likeminded" countries is taking place on the sidelines of the Group of 7 industrialized economies.

A senior U.S. official says Russia knew about Syria's chemical weapons attack in advance. But the official says the U.S. has no proof that Russia was involved in last week's attack that killed more than 80 people. The official says a drone operated by Russia flew over a hospital that treated victims of the chemical attack. And hours after the drone left, a Russian-made fighter jet bombed the hospital in what American officials believe was an attempt to cover up the usage of chemical weapons.

Officials say a man who killed his estranged wife and one of her elementary school students before killing himself, got into the San Bernardino, California school by saying he had to drop something off for her. Authorities say Cedric Anderson walked into the North Park Elementary School classroom Monday and opened fire, killing 53-year-old Karen Elaine Smith and an 8-year-old student. Another student was critically wounded. On Monday night people in the community gathered for a vigil to pray.

The fight for western Mosul is proving more brutal and destructive than the battle for the city's eastern sector, and Iraqi civilians are caught in the middle. Iraqi government forces trying to wrest back the city from Islamic State fighters are relying on heavier firepower, including extensive barrages with mortars, rocket launchers and some improvised systems that do not have any guidance mechanisms. The militants, meanwhile, are battling from within areas crowded with residents.

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