Things You Need to Know: Flu Cases on the Rise in Maine; 1,700+ Cases + 22 Deaths
Here are the things you need to know today......
Four Maine towns could be added to the Downeaster's schedule this summer on the weekends. WGME reports Bath, Wiscasset, Newcastle and Rockland could soon be stops.
The Coast Guard sent two of its cutters to the Kennebec River Wednesday morning. According to Newscenter two other cutters are on the way to help open the river and help with the flooding concerns.
Maine health officials say the number of influenza cases this season is over 1,700 and 22 deaths, all adults. According to WMTW the majority of the cases are the H3N2 version. Confirmed flu cases were mostly seen in York and Penobscot counties.
Major projects on state roadways in Belgrade are schedule to get underway this spring. Centralmaine.com reports one is Main Street in the heart of the village, the second is a three mile stretch of Rt 11.
From the Associated Press:
EASTPORT, Maine (AP) — Maine fishing regulators say they have shut down a few areas to scallop fishing, including parts of the state's most fertile scalloping ground. The Maine Department of Marine Resources says it has shut down Johnson Bay and Eastport Breakwater in the Cobscook Bay area. Cobscook Bay is the most important fishing area for Maine scallopers.
HARRISON, Maine (AP) — An earthquake has been recorded in Maine for the fifth time in a week's span. The United States Geological Survey confirms a magnitude 2.3 earthquake struck around 2 a.m. Wednesday near Harrison, with multiple residents reporting shaking. The agency says 2.6 magnitude quake struck Dresden on Jan. 17 with two minor quakes following. Then a 1.7 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Fairfield two days after that.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Critics of wind power projects in rural New England are hailing Maine Gov. Paul LePage's announcement that he will halt new wind turbine permits, while renewable energy advocates are voicing concern. The Republican governor on Wednesday issued an executive order that he says would halt new wind turbines being built in Maine until a new wind energy advisory commission studies the impact on tourism. Currently, the state has no wind generation turbine applications pending.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine fishing regulators say they have awarded the right to fish for valuable baby eels via a lottery system for the first time in five years. The Maine Department of Marine Resources says on Wednesday that more than 3,000 people applied for 11 licenses. The baby eels, called elvers, are valuable because they are used as seed stock by Asian aquaculture companies to be raised to maturity for use as food.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he's more than willing to answer questions under oath as part of the special counsel's Russia investigation. When asked by reporters about being questioned by Robert Mueller, the president said he's "looking forward to it, actually." Mueller is investigating Russian election interference and Trump's possible obstruction in the firing of the FBI director.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has a simple message for the world's economic leaders: America is open for business. Trump is also ready to argue that global cooperation can be part of his "America First" agenda. It's a pitch he's preparing to make at the World Economic Forum when he arrives Thursday in Davos, Switzerland. The annual gathering attracts free-trade-loving political and business elites, who might be surprised that the protectionist-leaning American president will be in their midst.
XIANGYANG, China (AP) — Apple Inc. and Ivanka Trump's brand both rely on Chinese suppliers that have been criticized for workplace abuses. But they've taken contrasting approaches to dealing with supply chain problems. When Apple learned student workers at an iPhone supplier had been underpaid, it helped get them their money. After three men investigating labor abuses at factories that made Ivanka Trump shoes were arrested, neither Ivanka Trump nor her brand spoke.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Once-renowned gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar listened silently as a prosecutor deemed him "possibly the most prolific serial child sex abuser in history." A judge sentenced Nassar on Wednesday to decades in prison for molesting some of the sport's top athletes. It capped an extraordinary hearing during which more than 150 women and girls described his abuse. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina told Nassar, who was sentenced to 40 to 175 years, that she just signed his "death warrant."
KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh (AP) — A high-ranking United Nations official says attacks on Rohingya Muslims appear to be continuing in Myanmar and it is not yet safe for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh to begin returning to their homes. During a Wednesday visit to the immense Kutupalong refugee camp, Justin Forsyth, the deputy executive director of UNICEF, said that many Rohingya want to return eventually to their villages in Myanmar but the situation isn't safe for them yet.
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