Things You Need to Know: Driver Who Hit and Killed a 13 Year Old in a Cross Walk in Lewiston Not Facing Criminal Charges
Here are the things you need to know today......
KKK flyers have recently shown up in Skowhegan. Centralmaine.com reporting the sent out a notice saying they will not tolerate hate speech, but that also stirred up the school system still using the Indian mascot.
The woman who hit a hit and killed a 13 year old in a cross walk in Lewiston last fall is not facing criminal charges. According to WGME she will face a 'civil motor violation'.
From the Associated Press:
Maine Sen. Susan Collins says there is no reason for Democrats to filibuster Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, and she believes negotiations between the two parties have stalled. Collins, a moderate Republican, has come out in favor of confirming Gorsuch, and criticized Democrats for holding up the process. Demonstrators on Wednesday called for Collins to oppose a rule change that would allow the Senate to confirm Gorsuch with less than 60 votes.
Lawmakers are considering making changes to a voter-approved minimum wage law that would require employers to pay tipped workers the minimum wage, regardless of how much they make in tips. Restaurant owners and workers supporting and opposing the law testified at the Statehouse on Wednesday.
Two bills would allow Maine doctors to prescribe medication that a patient may self-administer to hasten death. The Legislature's health and human services committee on Wednesday held public hearings on bills sponsored by Republican Sen. Roger Katz and Democratic Rep. Jennifer Parker. Katz unsuccessfully tried to pass a similar bill two years ago. Opponents say the bills would spur elder abuse and exploitation.
A 52-year-old Maine woman who at one time served as Westbrook's tax collector will serve six months behind bars for embezzling $118,000 from the city's coffers. The Portland Press Herald reports the U.S. Attorney's Office announced the sentencing of Ann Marie Williams on Tuesday.
The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers are divided over how to reshape the failed House health care bill. They plan to try again Wednesday, but it's not clear that there's enough support to push the bill through. Congress is likely to recess at the end of this week without taking up any new health care measure.
President Bashar Assad took an enormous gamble if his forces were behind the chemical attack in northern Syria: committing a war crime just as the U.S. and most Western leaders made clear they are no longer seeking his immediate removal. Though Assad can count on the backing of his top allies, Russia and Iran, he has revived international outrage, at a time when the Trump administration is still formulating its policy on Syria.
Many people have been hit hard by Tuesday's chemical attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun. They include a man who buried his 9-month-old twins, his wife and more than 20 relatives. The attack has devastated the small town and deepened the frustration felt by many Syrians in opposition-held areas that repeated scenes of mass death bring no retribution.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley warns the Trump administration will take action against chemical attacks in Syria that bear "all the hallmarks" of President Bashar Assad's government if the U.N. Security Council fails to act. Haley has urged the council at an emergency meeting to approve a draft resolution that condemns and threatens consequences for the use of chemical weapons. Syria's deputy U.N. ambassador Mounzer Mounzer says his government categorically rejects "false claims and accusations."
Republican leaders are preparing to send lawmakers home for a two-week recess without voting on their troubled health care bill. Conservatives and moderates are blaming each other for failure to come to an agreement. Policy experts say the latest Republican health care idea could mean returning to a time when people with medical problems were charged much higher premiums for individual policies.
Afghan government is trying to grab President Donald Trump's attention by dangling its massive, untouched wealth of minerals, including lithium, the silvery metal used in mobile phone and computer batteries considered essential to modern life. But tapping into that wealth, which also includes coal, copper, rare earths and far more, is likely a long way off, with security worsening the past year and Trump's policy on the war still not known.
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