Things You Need to Know: Augusta Farmers’ Market Vendors Asking for Public Support
Here are the things you need to know today......
Some of the vendors at the Augusta Farmers Market want to use the old church at the corner of State and Oak as a winter home but it needs a zoning change. Centralmaine.com reports they would need the planning board to ok that and the vendors need supports to come to the planning board meeting Tuesday night to support the idea.
Gov. LePage withdrew the nominations of five judicial reappointments just before the scheduled confirmation during a special session of the Legislature. According to centralmaine.com no explanations were given.
From the Associated Press:
A legislative committee is set to consider a Democratic lawmaker's bill to allow municipalities to create microgrids. Democratic Rep. Michael Devin says the goal of his conceptual bill is to create a legal framework allowing municipalities to create electricity distribution systems that can be operated while independent of the main power network. Devin has said the bill could help municipalities become energy self-sufficient.
The Maine moose hunt is back open for a few days in the far northern part of the state. The moose hunt begins in September, lasts until late November and is broken up into four stretches. The third stretch begins on Monday and lasts until Oct. 28.
Lawmakers are returning to Augusta for a special session. Republican Gov. Paul LePage ordered lawmakers to return Monday to fix problems in the food sovereignty law and to restore funding for the Maine Office of Geographic Information System. Lawmakers are also expected to consider the future of a new voter-approved system that allows voters to rank candidates.
A recent college graduate charged with fatally beating his mother, grandparents and their caretaker with a baseball bat in Massachusetts has been found competent to stand trial. Twenty-two-year-old Orion Krause has completed a 40-day mental health evaluation, but he will remain at Bridgewater State Hospital. He is charged with four counts of murder and has pleaded not guilty.
A Maine high school will review its "Warriors" nickname and a logo featuring a Native American in a feathered headdress after a complaint of racist behavior at a recent football game. Amelia Tuplin tells the Portland Press Herald that students at Wells High School wore face paint, pounded buckets as if mimicking American Indian drumming and performed mock dances and chants. The superintendent of the district says an investigation found that no fans intentionally engaged in offensive behavior.
A Maine high school varsity football coach has been dismissed after he allegedly instructed his players to taunt an opposing player for having two mothers as parents. The parents, Lynn and Stephanie Eckersley-Ray say Gray-New Gloucester coach Duane Greaton told his players to taunt their son every time he was tackled during a game last Friday by saying, "Who's your daddy?" Superintendent Craig King said Thursday that Greaton no longer works for the district. Greaton has not commented.
A Maine pharmacy professor is receiving a grant of $375,000 for an early detection innovation in the breast cancer research field. University of New England College of Pharmacy assistant professor Srinidi Mohan is receiving the grant from the Maine Cancer Foundation. Mohan received a patent for an early detection, disease monitoring method that uses a marker in the blood to detect the presence of aggressive tumors.
A Maine university is receiving more than $1.3 million in federal money to develop methods for the U.S. to become a leader at utilizing seaweed for uses such as energy. The U.S. Department of Energy is giving the money to the University of New England over three years. The award is part of a program called Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources, or "MARINER."
President Donald Trump says it'll be a political failure for the Republicans and a disappointment for the country if lawmakers fail to pass his tax overhaul plan. A Trump aide says the president told House Republicans that the party would have a steep price to pay in next year's midterm elections if the plan doesn't pass. The plan would double the standard deduction used by most average Americans but also would get rid of the federal deduction for state and local taxes.
The Philippines defense secretary says the defeat of pro-Islamic State group militants in Marawi helps prevent the spread of extremism in Asia. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana declared the last militants who had laid siege to the southern city "finished" after the last group of gunmen were found dead. He spoke at a meeting of Southeast Asian defense ministers in Clark, Philippines, saying the achievement shows how regional cooperation can advance against the spread of terrorism.
The U.S.-led coalition in Syria says the Islamic State group's oil production has been reduced to less than $4 million per month. That's from a peak of approximately $50 million per month since the coalition began operations against IS in 2014. The statement to the AP came Sunday, when U.S.-backed fighters captured Syria's largest oil field from IS militants. The Al-Omar oil field was a major source of income for the militant group and is considered one Syria's most productive.
Brazil's "boom" decade is eroding, with millions of its people returning to poverty amid fallout from the country's worst recession in decades, corruption scandals that have shaken several industries and cuts to social welfare programs. That confluence of factors is raising the specter that the continent-sized nation with one of the world's largest economies has lost its way in addressing vast inequalities that go back to colonial times.
Japan's leader has pledged to tackle what he called Japan's two national crises, the military threat from North Korea and an aging and shrinking population. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a post-election news conference Monday that he would pursue "strong diplomacy" to pressure North Korea to halt its missile and nuclear weapons development.
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