Things You Need to Know: Flooding Fears Continue Along the Kennebec in Augusta/Hallowell Area
Here are the things you need to know today......
Flooding fears for the Kennebec in Hallowell and Augusta continue. Centralmaine.com reports Coast Guard Cutters are expected the break the ice in Gardiner this week, hoping that will help break up the ice jam in Farmingdale.
A woman, 9 months pregnant, died yesterday on her way the hospital to be induced when her SUV crashed in Skowhegan. Centralmaine.com reports the baby was delivered by C-section at EMMC.
From the Associated Press:
JACKMAN, Maine (AP) — Officials in a rural Maine community are planning to meet with their town manager, who has publicly espoused white separatist views. Jackman Town Manager Tom Kawczynski has made comments bashing Islam and called for the preservation of white European heritage in northern New England. He also operates a website that touts racial segregation. Town lawyer Warren Shay has said town officials will meet with Kawczynski on Tuesday morning about his future.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine is taking stock of homelessness with an annual count. The point-in-time count is set for Tuesday night. The number will serve as a benchmark to determine how many homeless there are in the United States.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A Maine Democratic lawmaker's bill would allow trained police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians to provide life-saving first aid to the canines that also respond to emergencies. South Portland Officer Shane Stephenson told lawmakers that he and canine partner Zak have tracked down half a million dollars' worth of heroin during one stop. He says Zak wears a ballistic and stab resistant vest but says the bill would provide the best chance to save Zak.
UNDATED (AP) — The latest storm to sweep through New England is bringing a bit of everything: Rain, ice, snow and even the possibility of flooding. Officials say that up to a foot of snow could fall in far northern Maine before the storm ends Tuesday evening, while rain and ice jams are raising concerns of flooding closer to the coast.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Lawmakers are again considering lowering the drinking age in New Hampshire. The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee is holding a public hearing Tuesday on a bill that would lower the legal age for alcohol possession from 21 to 20.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Gas prices are still on the rise in northern New England. GasBuddy's daily survey of gas outlets says the price has risen 2.3 cents per gallon in New Hampshire in the last week, averaging $2.49. The price in Maine went up 1.9 cents to an average of $2.56 a gallon. Vermont's price also increased 1.3 cents, to $2.60 a gallon. The national average was unchanged the last week at $2.53 a gallon. It's 8.8 cents per gallon higher than last month, and 22.7 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are expected to return to work now that Congress has agreed on temporary funding for the government and President Donald Trump has signed the bill into law. Democrats reluctantly voted to temporarily pay for resumed operations, relenting in return for Republican assurances that the Senate will soon take up the plight of young immigrant "dreamers" and other contentious issues.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The end of a government shutdown is good news for federal workers, but some worry they could find themselves in limbo again in just a few weeks. Congress approved a bipartisan agreement to reopen the federal government that set the stage for hundreds of thousands of federal workers to return to their jobs Tuesday. President Donald Trump quickly signed the bill later in the evening.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Drawing strength from one another, scores of women and girls continue to step forward to confront Larry Nassar at the sports doctor's sentencing in Michigan for sexually abusing young female athletes. Originally, fewer than 90 accusers were expected to give statements. But by Monday, the number had grown to more than 140. The judge is praising the women, calling them "sister survivors."
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bill Cosby says he made his first public performance since a sex abuse scandal embroiled him in 2015 because he wanted to enjoy being with his friends and the people who turned out to see him. The 80-year-old entertainer took the stage Monday at a hometown Philadelphia jazz club in his first show since May 2015 and joked about how he "used to be a comedian." After the show he declined to talk about his upcoming retrial in a sexual assault case.
KASUR, Pakistan (AP) — The brutal rape and killing of Zainab Ansari, a 7-year-old girl whose body was left in a garbage dump, has unleashed a wave of revulsion around Pakistan and revealed a string of child killings by a suspected serial predator. In a nascent Pakistani version of #me_too movement, a number of prominent women have come forward with their stories of sexual abuse, saying they want to change the culture of silence in Pakistan that abets predators and encourages police to ignore such crimes.
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