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Central and western Maine have a flood watch in effect for the weekend.  The National Weather Service says the warmer temperatures will trigger more melting and we are expecting some rain this weekend.

Centralmaine.com says the Hathaway Creative Center in Waterville has been sold for about $20M. The former mill has new life as offices and apartment space.

Some heavy snow caused damage on the renovated part of Lithgow Library this past weekend. Centralmaine.com reports it caused some damage on the outside but not the interior and when it come down no one was injured.

From the Associated Press:

Lawmakers are expected to vote on a statewide budget request that could expand access to drug treatment. A legislative committee on Friday is expected to consider a supplementary budget that fills budgetary holes until June. The legislators will consider a proposal using $4.8 million in state and federal funds to expand medication-assisted treatment to 400 individuals.

A trio of Maine transportation projects is on a wish list that governors have sent to Republican President Donald Trump. The Sun Journal reports that Maine is seeking $460 million worth of projects to improve bridges and rail lines and build a barge service between Portland and mid-Atlantic ports.

Interstate regulators are holding a pair of meetings to determine how to manage New England's depleted shrimp fishery in the future. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has been considering new ways to manage Northern shrimp, which have declined as waters have warmed. The fishery is currently shut down.

Business leaders and politicians in a small community are opposing the Maine Republican governor's plan to save $5 million by closing a nearby prison. Maine Public reports that employers in the sparsely populated community increasingly depend on the labor provided by incarcerated and released individuals.

Vice President Mike Pence says the United States has what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to install conservative solutions to the nation's problems. Pence told the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in Maryland that the administration will repeal and replace the health care law, saying the nation's "Obamacare nightmare is about to end."

Caitlyn Jenner is taking President Donald Trump to task for his administration's reversal of a directive on transgender access to public school bathrooms. In a video posted on Twitter, Jenner says, "From one Republican to another, this is a disaster." The former Olympic champion tells Trump: "You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me."

Federal and state workers are joining farmers in round-the-clock repairs to levees in California's saturated Central Valley. The wet winter weather has dams and waterways near or past capacity. Authorities fear that a single levee failure could trigger a chain reaction of levee breaks.

A California lawmaker was removed from the state Senate floor Thursday after she refused to stop delivering a speech. Republican Janet Nguyen was criticizing late state Sen. Tom Hayden for his leadership role in the anti-Vietnam War movement of the 1960s. Nguyen lived in South Vietnam as a child and fled with her family when its U.S.-backed government fell.

Two Iraqi officials say that after a day of fierce fighting, Iraqi forces have secured half of Mosul's airport and most of a sprawling military base next to it on the city's southwestern edge. The officials say Iraqi forces have also secured key infrastructure as they push forward to rout the Islamic State group from western Mosul.

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