Things You Need to Know: Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages Reconsiders Some Increases

Here are the things you need to  know today......

Zone forecast from Maine.gov

The Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations has reevaluated the decision to increase prices on 'value' spirits no more than a dollar. According to the Bangor Daily News it will not change the price increase for “nips,” which going from 99 cents to $1.49.

RSU  9, the Farmington area schools, $33.9 million budget appeared to have passed.  According to centralmaine.com it was the second budget referendum presented to voters.

A truck driver in Waterville was temporarily stuck in his tractor-trailer  after the rig snagged electrical wires on Maple Street. According to centralmaine.com the driver knew enough to stay in the cab of his until help arrived to get the power turned off and the clean up could begin.

From the Associated Press:

Republican Gov. Paul LePage's administration is officially asking the federal government to impose work and premium requirements on state Medicaid recipients. Maine is one of about a half-dozen GOP-led states trying to tighten eligibility requirements for Medicaid. Maine Public reports Maine Equal Justice Partners says it will file suit if federal regulators approve Maine's plan.

A group of U.S. senators including Maine's Angus King is calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to exercise caution with the expansion of civil forfeiture. The Justice Department last month allowed police departments to resume seizing property and cash with federal help. Civil liberties groups say the move creates an avenue for violations of constitutional rights, while law enforcement groups have supported it.

The house that inspired Stephen King's novel "Pet Sematary" is up for sale in Maine. WCSH-TV reports the 113-year-old, four-bedroom Orrington house is being listed for $255,000. The house sits on three acres about 15 minutes south of Bangor and it's also where King wrote the story.

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell tells The Associated Press that Maine's Republican governor is wrong to criticize the state's two U.S. senators for opposing an Affordable Care Act repeal. Mitchell, a Democrat from Maine, responded to Paul LePage's criticism of Republican Sen. Susan Collins and independent Sen. Angus King on Thursday. He says the senators were representing the interests of Mainers by opposing the repeal, which he says would harm rural residents and the elderly.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has turned to one of the criminal justice system's venerable fixtures _ the grand jury _ in his escalating investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in last year's presidential election. That's according to a person familiar with the probe. Grand juries are commonplace vehicles used to subpoena witnesses and records and to present evidence, though they do not suggest any criminal charges are near or will necessarily be sought.

Lawmakers have scattered for their summer recess, leaving behind a slim record of achievements and a steaming President Donald Trump. The president is angry about what the Republican-led Congress couldn't do _ repeal "Obamacare" _ as well as one of the few things it did: approve a Russia sanctions bill he detests.

A reputation for enjoying undeserved privilege at taxpayers' expense has dogged the oldest son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since he became an adult. The 26-year-old Yair Netanyahu has been portrayed by critics as someone who hobnobs with world leaders and enjoys state-funded security. But his recent behavior, including a crude social media post, has now drawn public rebuke from the children of a former Israeli leader, along with threats of a libel suit.

Dubai says firefighters have brought the blaze that broke out overnight in one of the world's tallest residential towers under control. The blaze engulfed the skyscraper and sent chunks of debris plummeting below. More than 40 floors of the 86-story Torch Tower building were burning on one side of the building and residents could be seen crying. Several said the fire broke out just after 1 a.m. on Friday.

Newly released transcripts show that President Donald Trump had tense talks just after his inauguration with the leaders of Mexico and Australia _ both U.S. allies. The Washington Post published the documents, in which Trump pressures Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (en-REE'-kay PAYN'-yuh nee-EH'-toh) to stop saying his country won't pay for the wall as Trump had promised. The transcripts also show Trump complained to Australian President Malcolm Turnbull about a refugee deal as "crazy."