Things You Need to Know: Safety Review After Two Buggy Crashes in Whitefield
Here are the things you need to know today......
An Auburn woman was tied up at gunpoint in her home yesterday by a pair of masked men who made off with her SUV and motorcycle. She free herself and call police. It was the second reported burglary that day in that neighborhood.
Dozens of people gathered for Skowhegan vigil against domestic violence. According to centralmaine.com Maine ranked ninth-highest for homicides that men committed against women.
Whitefield, Lincoln County and Maine officials are working to horse drawn buggies and vehicles after a couple of recent crashes. Centralmaine.com reports the selectmen are being proactive to make the community safer for the Amish residents.
The Greater Augusta Utility District overflow tank that has been proposed is part of a system to help stop any overflows of sewage into the Kennebec River. According to centralmaine.com the are looking at a spot near the east side boat landing and work to make the tank as visually pleasing as possible.
From the Associated Press:
Republican Sen. Susan Collins is set to announce whether she will stay in the U.S. Senate or run for governor of her home state of Maine. The 64-year-old Collins plans to announce her decision on Friday at an event in Rockport. The moderate Republican was first elected in 1996 and has played a pivotal role in the Senate in recent debates about health care policy.
Maine's largest city has reached a tentative agreement with its police unions on a contract that would require officers to start wearing body cameras. The Portland Press Herald reports Democratic Mayor Ethan Strimling called for use of body cameras after a Portland officer shot and killed a man in February. The City Council is scheduled to take an initial vote on the agreement at a meeting on Monday night.
Two of three boys charged with setting a fire that destroyed an abandoned mill in Maine have pleaded guilty to reduced charges. The Journal Tribune reports they pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor criminal mischief and were sentenced to a year of probation and if they stay out of trouble then a felony arson charge will be dismissed in the new year. It took more than 100 firefighters from Maine and New Hampshire to contain the blaze at the Stenton Trust Mill building in Sanford in June.
Maine's blue mussels are beloved by seafood fans near and far, but the size of the annual harvest has dipped in recent years. Harvesters collected less than 1.8 million pounds of mussel meat in 2016. That's the lowest since 1976. The state Department of Marine Resources says one of the factors influencing the decline is shellfish poison events that necessitate harvesting closures. There was one such event just last month.
Congressional Democratic leaders say it will be an act of "vast, pointless sabotage" if President Donald Trump halts payments to insurers under "Obamacare." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi reacted Thursday night to news reports that Trump planned to stop the cost-sharing payments.
This week has become the deadliest week of California wildfires in state history. Blazes in Northern California have killed at least 31 people. In 1933, the Griffith Park fire killed 29 people. Many of the flames are still burning out of control, and the fires have grown to more than 300 square miles. A forecast for gusty winds and dry air is threatening to fan the wildfires further.
Reports have surfaced this year that U.S. Embassy workers in Havana were being harmed by some mysterious sort of attack, but public evidence has been lacking. Now The Associated Press has released a recording of what some of the workers heard as they were attacked by what investigators initially believed was a sonic weapon. The recording of a high-pitched noise is one of many taken in Cuba since attacks started last year.
President Donald Trump plans to declare that the landmark Iran nuclear deal is not in America's national security interests. In a broad and harsh critique of Iran, he plans to outline specific faults he finds in the 2015 accord but also focus on an array of Iran's troubling non-nuclear activities. That word comes from U.S. officials and outside advisers speaking ahead of Trump's speech from the White House on Friday.
The wife and husband who were held hostage for five years in Afghanistan are being described as adventure-seekers who wanted to see areas of the world infrequently traveled by Westerners. U.S. officials say Pakistan had secured the release of Caitlan Coleman, Joshua Boyle and their three children, who were born in captivity. Friends and neighbors say Coleman focused on helping the poor and loved to travel off the beaten path.
More From 92 Moose
