Things You Need to Know: Maine Moving Ahead with 5-cent Nip Deposit
Here are the things you need to know today......
Waldo County felt a small earthquake Wednesday. WGME reported Mainers say they heard noises that sounded like an explosion. Officials say the 2.1 magnitude quake hit in the Town of Monroe
Maine will require a 5-cent deposit “nip” bottles of liquor. WGME says the House and now Senate overrode the governor’s veto of a bill that originally mandated a 15-cent deposit. LePage has threatened to “delist” nips, so they would not be sold in Maine.
Winthrop was remembering Kelsey Stone-ton. Kelsey died in 2014 after collapsing from a pulmonary embolism while playing field hockey. WCSH says the field where she played field hockey has been named the Kelsey Anne Stoneton Memorial Field Hockey Field.
Sen. Angus King had a tense few minutes with President Trump’s top intelligence officials. WCSH reports they refused to answer questions during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.
From the Associated Press:
Former first lady Barbara Bush is celebrating her 92nd birthday on the Maine coast. She and former President George H.W. Bush are planning a low-key day in Kennebunkport, where they spend their summers. A family spokesman says several family members are with them at Walker's Point. George H.W. Bush turns 93 on Monday.
Maine's senior U.S. senator says the U.S. Navy should improve the capacity of public shipyard dry docks to accommodate more ships. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, is a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. Her state includes Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. She says the work is needed, and that shipyard infrastructure in the country at large needs improvement.
Muslim student athletes at one U.S. high school no longer have to be slowed down by worries that their headscarves might fall off. Deering High School in Portland, Maine, is providing sport hijabs with the goal of making Muslim girls comfortable. The co-captains of the school's tennis team raised more than $800 online to buy the sporty hijabs for their Muslim teammates. The high school is believed to be the first in the U.S. to provide hijabs for Muslim athletes.
A Maine police officer who was critically hurt during the attempted rescue of a canoeist on Memorial Day weekend has died. Twenty-year-old Fryeburg Officer Nathan Desjardins was injured along with another officer when they responded to reports of a missing canoeist. The Maine Warden Service said the officers' boat hit something.
The Republican National Committee is providing talking points to backers of President Donald Trump in advance of an anxiously-awaited Senate hearing where fired FBI Director James Comey on Thursday will give his take on contacts with the chief executive. One of the principal arguments supporters are being given is that Trump knew dismissing Comey would be "detrimental to his presidency" but believed it was the right thing to do for the country.
Some U.S. states are reviewing their election systems for signs of intrusion after a leaked NSA report describes a hacking effort by Russian military intelligence. Presidential battleground states Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia were among those using software from the compromised contractor. There's no indication that voting or ballot counting in any states were affected.
Iran's foreign minister is rejecting U.S. statements about the attacks on Iran's parliament and the tomb of its revolutionary leader. Mohammad Javad Zarif in a tweet on Thursday called the comments on the attack in Tehran a day earlier "repugnant" and accused the U.S. of supporting terror. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which authorities on Thursday said killed 13.
Qatar has released an initial report into the alleged hack of its state-run news agency, an incident which helped spark a diplomatic crisis between the energy-rich country and Arab nations. The Qatari Interior Ministry said the website of the Qatar News Agency was initially hacked in April with "high techniques and innovative methods."
Polling stations have opened across Britain in an election to choose a new government. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (0600GMT to 2100GMT) Thursday as voters choose 650 lawmakers for the House of Commons. Prime Minister Theresa May called the snap election in hopes of increasing the slim majority her Conservative Party held before the election.
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