Central Maine News: Oct 8, 2015

These are some of the stories central Maine is talking about today.

Portland city councilors have decided not to appeal a federal court ruling that struck down the city's panhandling ordinance last year. Portland will remain focused on reviewing ways to "address this public safety issue." Opponents of the ordinance contended that it was too broad and the city exaggerated the public safety hazards to justify the ban. The legal director for the Maine American Civil Liberties Union, applauds the decision and says the city faced long odds of having the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court if it went through with an appeal. (AP)

Maine Attorney General Janet Mills says more than 12,000 Maine residents who use T-Mobile wireless may have had personal data exposed in a recent breach. Mills says an unauthorized party was able to gain access to an Experian server that contained the personal information of more than 15 million T-Mobile users. She says her office plans to work with attorneys general across the country about the breach. Mills is advising affected customers to contact Experian for free credit monitoring. The breach compromised data that was used by T-Mobile in connection with credit checks of individuals who applied for T-Mobile services between Sept. 1, 2013, and Sept. 16, 2015. (AP)

Police say a Canton man has been indicted on charges that he grabbed the steering wheel and intentionally forced a vehicle he and his wife were riding in to crash into a rock wall. 32 year old Dale Doughty and his wife were both seriously injured in the crash. A grand jury indicted Doughty on domestic violence charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Police say the Aug. 2 crash took place along Route 108 near the border of Canton and Livermore. Doughty's wife was driving the vehicle at the time while Doughty sat in the front passenger seat. Both have since been released from the hospital. (AP)

Gov. Paul LePage says a state investigation into whether he pressed a charter school operator not to hire Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves is a "witch hunt" initiated by a member of his own party. LePage says he thinks Government Oversight Committee co-chairman Sen. Roger Katz initiated the investigation. LePage and Katz are both Republicans. Katz is a moderate from Augusta who frequently challenges the governor on policy issues. Katz said the request to investigate the governor came from four other lawmakers. He says the lawmakers included two Democrats, a Republican and an independent. Katz and other legislators expressed concern earlier this year that LePage may have overstepped his authority by wading into Good Will-Hinckley's decision to hire Eves. This story has been corrected to show that the last name of the House Speaker is Eves, not Eaves. (AP)

The U.S. Coast Guard announced that they will suspend the search for the missing El Faro crew members Wednesday night at sunset.  According to WGME they said they did all they could to locate the missing 33 El Faro crew members, which includes four Mainers, but they found no survivors. The cargo ship sank last week off the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin, a Category 4 storm with 140 mph winds that was producing 50-foot waves. Officials said the ship's captain had plans to go around the storm as he headed from Jacksonville, Florida, to Puerto Rico, but the El Faro suffered unexplained engine failure that left it unable to avoid the storm. (WGME)

The Gardiner City Council approved a waiver of property taxes for a landlord who proposes to rent space to a tattoo studio that lost its previous space when a fire burned the downtown building in which it was located. According to the KJ, Touch of Grey Tattoo Studio, pushed out of its Water Street space in July when fire destroyed the space it occupied as well as three others, was returning to Gardiner. The new space was offered by the studio’s original landlord. The only hitch in the plan was a Gardiner city requirement for property owners to be current on taxes before it will issue permits. The landlord is behind on taxes because of uninsured fire/water damage at 247 and 249 Water St. and loss of rent income. (centralmaine.com)

It could be the end of the week before the threat of flooding eases in South Carolina. The state's governor, Nikki Haley, on Wednesday, visited the coast, which she said would still be in danger for another 24 to 48 hours. Storm water from days of heavy rains has been making its way from inland areas to the Atlantic Ocean, bringing a second round of flooding downstream. (AP)

A week after the Oregon college shooting, which focused renewed attention on firearms deaths, Senate Democrats are getting ready to push legislation to curb guns. It's a move that has little chance of success -- but it could keep the issue alive during next year's elections, and complicate the re-election campaigns of Republican senators in some closely-divided states. (AP)

An Israeli government official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has barred all Cabinet ministers and Jewish lawmakers from visiting a sensitive Jerusalem holy site. The official says Netanyahu imposed the ban because of concerns that any high profile visits there could spark further violence. Many Palestinians believe Israel is trying to expand Jewish presence at the site, a claim Israel adamantly denies. (AP)

A California agency is expected to consider a $100 million proposal by SeaWorld for a major expansion of the tanks its uses to hold killer whales in San Diego. The plan is opposed by animal rights activists who say breeding the animals in captivity is cruel. It is set to be reviewed today by the California Coastal Commission, which has been flooded by tens of thousands of emails against the project. (AP)