Things You Need to Know Today: Lakes + Ponds Icing Over, But Not All Are Safe

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

Some of Maine's lakes and ponds are icing over BUT not all of them are safe to be on. The Maine Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Facebook page is urging folks to use caution before heading out on the ice.

A Fairfield man is dead after a domestic violence attack in which he set the home of his estranged wife on fire while she was inside. According to centralmaine.com before fatally cutting himself with a knife in front of police.

From the Associated Press:

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage says he believes "a lot of votes" were cast unlawfully in Maine and around the country. The Republican governor told WGAN-FM radio on Thursday he'll ask Secretary of State Matt Dunlap to investigate and ensure voters followed state law. WCSH-TV reports Dunlap says the state's elections have been proven to be clean.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — GOP Gov. Paul LePage's administration says Bangor will be the home of a new secure psychiatric facility for patients in state custody who no longer need hospital care.Democratic and Republican lawmakers had agreed to hold hearings in January but LePage said lawmakers were playing political games and stalling efforts to free needed psychiatric beds.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Bedbugs have been detected at three Augusta buildings months after an infestation at a pair of boarding houses prompted city officials to adopt an emergency bedbug ordinance and later pass a permanent law. The Kennebec Journal reports that in the most recent incident, the biting bug was found inside a DVD case at Lithgow Public Library.

BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) — Maine Technology Institute is giving seven grants worth more than $33,000 to entrepreneurs around the state to develop new products in sectors such as biotechnology and composite materials. MTI president Brian Whitney says the grants are "small, yet foundational investments." They are designed to help companies acquire information about the economic potential of new products and ideas.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — State utility regulators say they are leaving Maine's solar energy rules alone for now. The Maine Public Utilities Commission's move this week means existing billing rules are still in place for solar generators. GOP Gov. Paul LePage has said the current system means ratepayers are subsidizing those who own solar-generating systems.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is questioning the effectiveness of the United Nations, days after it voted to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Trump wrote on Twitter Monday that the U.N. has "such great potential," but it has become "just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time." The Obama administration decided to abstain from Friday's U.N. vote.

BEACHWOOD, Ohio (AP) — Fights have been breaking out at malls around the country, sending shoppers who were looking for post-holiday deals, scrambling for the exits. No one has been seriously injured. There were some false reports of gunfire. Police used pepper spread to break up a large crowd following a fight at an upscale mall near Cleveland. At a mall in Memphis, Tennessee, police say somebody yelled 'gun!' and young people stampeded through the mall.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's defense ministry says rescue teams have found a flight recorder from the plane that crashed into the Black Sea on Sunday. The ministry says the recorder was found a mile from the shore early Tuesday. All 92 people aboard the Russian military jet are believed to have died when it crashed two minutes after taking off from the Russian city of Sochi. The plane was headed for Syria and carried members of Russia's world-famous military choir.