Things You Need to Know: Snow on the Way for Wednesday

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

~Zone forecast from Maine.gov~

Winter Weather Advisory for Central Maine with snow falling over night Tuesday through Wednesday with total accumulation about 3-6 inches.

The Kennebec river flood waters are dropping but there is still concerns about the ice jam that caused the flooding. According to Newscenter the jam is in Farmingdale that caused the flooding in Hallowell and Augusta.

The Bangor Daily News reports 50 U.S. senators, 49 Democrats and Republican Susan Collins, have now backed a measure to overturn the FCC's decision to deregulate the broad band industry and 'net neutrality'.

From the Associated Press:

—Maine's secretary of state is warning residents to be aware of for-profit websites that offer services provided by the state for free. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap says such websites might heighten their activity with the start of a new year because many residents are looking to access state services such as vehicle registration renewal online. He says state residents should only attempt to access state services via the www.maine.gov website. Dunlap says other websites might have incorrect information or might direct users to pay for services that the state either doesn't require or does not charge. He says example include for-profit websites that charge people for Bureau of Motor Vehicles services that the state provides for free. He says that's "not necessarily illegal, but it sure is misleading."

—Gov. Paul LePage is going to deliver his final State of the State address next month. His office confirmed that he'll address a joint session of the Legislature on Feb. 13. That's the date proposed by Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon and Republican Senate President Mike Thibodeau.

— The school board in Presque Isle is deciding whether to become the latest to abandon the fall break for the potato harvest. A school district survey indicates only about 15 percent of Presque Isle High School students contributed to harvest work during the break last year.

— The University of Maine System says it has met its goal of purchasing more than 20 percent of its food locally. The university system and food services company Sodexo set a goal of exceeding 20 percent local food by 2020 and say they've already reached 23 percent. The system says it's on pace to spend about $1.5 million this fiscal year on purchases from local food vendors.

— The FairPoint name is going away. Consolidated Communications is going to begin rebranding with its own logo for trucks, gear and buildings early in the new year, providing the most visible change for its customers in northern New England since it bought FairPoint last summer. The company says several hundred thousand residential consumers will see faster broadband speeds as the company seeks to attract and retain customers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

— President Donald Trump is blaming the Democrat in the room where immigration talks with lawmakers took a famously coarse turn last week. Trump says Sen. Dick Durbin misrepresented what he had said about African nations and Haiti and, in the process, undermined the trust needed to make a deal. Several who were at the meeting or familiar with it said Trump disparaged those countries in vulgar, racially tinged terms.

— A 17-year-old girl called police after escaping from her family's home where she and her 12 brothers and sisters were locked up in filthy conditions, some so malnourished officers at first believed all were children even though seven are adults. Police went to the family home in Perris, about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles on Sunday. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department says deputies found several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks. The parents are in custody.

— Secretary of State Rex Tillerson huddles Tuesday with nations that fought on America's side in the Korean War, looking to tighten the economic noose around North Korea over its nuclear weapons even as hopes rise for diplomacy. The 20-nation gathering in the west coast Canadian city of Vancouver comes days after a mistaken missile alert caused panic on Hawaii, a stark reminder of the fears of conflict with the North after a year of escalating tension.

— Pope Francis will be under pressure Tuesday to confront Chile's sex abuse scandal during his first full day in Chile, an Andean nation where the majority identifies as Roman Catholic but strong currents of skepticism and even contempt for the church are increasingly present. Many Chileans are still furious over his 2015 decision to appoint a bishop close to the Rev. Fernando Karadima, a priest found guilty by the Vatican in 2011 of abusing dozens of minors over decades.

— An attempt to oust President Donald Trump's hotel business from managing a luxury hotel in Panama has turned bitter, with accusations of financial misconduct. Trump Hotels is contesting its firing, and two people told The Associated Press that Trump's staff ran off a team of Marriott executives invited last month to visit the property during a search for a new hotel operator.