Things You Need to Know: Augusta City Council Divided on Marijuana Moratorium
Here are the things you need to know today......
A bill that was submitted to have Maine student learn cursive was not included in the bills for the January session. WGME reports the sponsor has said he will rework the bill and try again.
Maine officials still have no clues on who or what caused $3 million in damage by cracking a highway overpass at exit 109A in Augusta. According to the BDN, if found, officials want the person responsible to pay the millions needed for repairs.
The Augusta City Council was divided on a marijuana moratorium. Centralmaine.com reports they are expected to vote next week on drafting rules in the absence of state regulations.
Augusta Community Warming Center is open for the winter in the lower level of St Marks . It will be open daily 9 to 4 from now until the end of March.
From the Associated Press:
Gov. LePage has asked for federal disaster declaration to repair damage caused by the windstorm at the end of October. Lepage said there was nearly $5 in infrastructure damage in 13 counties. A business declaration and agriculture request are also in the works.
Maine fishermen are heading out on the water to participate in the state's rebuilt scallop fishery, which targets one of the most lucrative seafood species in the country. Scallop fishing begins on Friday in Maine and lasts until mid-April. The specifications for the season are very similar to the previous year.
A Maine woman is accused of threatening a dog walker with a BB gun. Franklin County deputies responded to a report of a gun being brandished on Tuesday in the town of Eustis and arrested 65-year-old Marcia Higgins. Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. tells the Sun Journal that the woman accused the man of allowing his dog to get into bird feed tossed on the ground. Higgins was charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon. It's unclear if she has a lawyer.
A Maine man who's been convicted of exposing himself more than a dozen times is in prison. Prosecutors say 60-year-old Robert Demmons, of Warren, exposed himself in the parking lot of a Rockland store over the summer and faced three counts of indecent conduct. The Bangor Daily News reports that a judge imposed a sentenced this month of two years and six months in four separate cases. Charges included indecent conduct and violating conditions of release.
The founder of the Dead Poets Society of America is getting a tombstone inspired by his visits to the gravesites of bards across the country. Walter Skold says he commissioned John Updike's son to carve his tombstone that's inspired by his research project. The stone will eventually reside at his own gravesite in York, Pennsylvania.
As allegations of sexual misconduct against powerful lawmakers roil Congress, House Democrats are calling on Michigan congressman John Conyers to resign. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi characterizes the multiple accusations against Conyers as "serious, disappointing and very credible." She says he should quit. In the Senate, a Senate ethics panel is opening a preliminary inquiry into allegations against Minnesota Sen. Al Franken.
Details of alleged sexual assaults by famous figures are now widely known in part because several accusers did something they promised in writing never to do: They talked publicly about their allegations and broke nondisclosure agreements _ contractual pledges not to discuss what happened. In doing so, they helped start a national discussion about sexual misconduct and showed that the agreements do not necessarily offer ironclad protection to the rich and powerful.
President Donald Trump says there was a "disgraceful verdict" after a Mexican man was found not guilty of murder in a high-profile killing that touched off a fierce immigration debate. Trump's tweet comes three hours after Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was found not guilty in the killing of Kate Steinle. Jurors did convict him of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Senate Republicans were making major changes to their tax cut bill, including one that would roll back some of the tax cuts after six years to appease deficit hawks. GOP leaders also were struggling to placate Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who wanted an increase in the deduction for business income. They've increased the deduction from 17.4 percent, but Johnson said that isn't enough.
Senior U.S. officials say President Donald Trump is considering ousting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replacing him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo following less than a year on the job. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders didn't deny that's what Trump has been thinking of doing. But she suggested that no move was imminent, saying the president and Tillerson planned to work together to close out the year.
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