Things You Need to Know: Augusta Councilors to Talk About Statler Site
Here are the things you need to know today......
The Maine Veterans Home is looking at building a nursing home across from MaineGeneral in Augusta. According to centramaine.com it would replace the Cony Road facility.
The Augusta City Councilors will talk about the redevelopment of the old Statler site on Thursday. Centralmaine.com reports they are talking about finding a developer to help create the space.
From the Associated Press:
Interstate fishing regulators are getting ready to vote on whether to send a plan about the future of the imperiled Maine shrimp fishery to the public. Regulators shut down the fishery in 2013 amid declining populations of shrimp, and say environmental conditions off New England are poor for the recovery of the stock. A vote is scheduled for Thursday.
Falling temperatures could lead to icy conditions on roads and sidewalks across the Northeast following a late-season storm that plastered the region with sleet and snow. The powerful nor'easter paralyzed much of the Washington-to-Boston corridor, but fell short of predicted snowfall totals in New York, Boston and Philadelphia.
A blind woman from Maine says she and her service dog were kicked off an American Airlines flight after she requested a different seat. Franklin resident Sue Martin says she, her husband, and her guide dog, Quan, were removed from the plane at Reagan National Airport on March 1. An American Airlines spokeswoman says the airline is investigating the allegations.
A new state report is praising and also raising questions about a tax credit program that directed millions of dollars to a paper mill that shut down within 14 months. The Legislature's Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability says the capital investment program spurs $21.67 of value for every $1 in tax credits. The program provides a 39 percent tax credit over seven years for investors who make certain investments in low-income community businesses.
The White House says the publishing of President Donald Trump's income tax information is illegal. The White House has released a statement saying, "You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago." Records show that in 2005, Trump earned $153 million and paid $36.5 million in income taxes. The information was obtained by journalist David Cay Johnston, who runs a website called DCReport.org.
A reporter from the conservative-leaning website Independent Journal Review is the only media representative accompanying Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on his trip to Asia this week. Tillerson had said he was not taking journalists with him because he was traveling on a smaller plane. A number of Washington-based correspondents will meet up with Tillerson at his stops in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing. The State Department Correspondents Association said in a statement that it was "disappointed" in the decision for Tillerson to bring only one reporter on the trip.
Prosecutors in South Korea say they plan to summon and question ousted President Park Geun-hye next week over a corruption scandal that removed her from office. Park lost her presidential immunity from prosecution after the Constitutional Court ruled Friday to formally end her rule over allegations that she colluded with a longtime confidante to extort money from businesses and allowed her pull government strings from the shadows.
Falling temperatures could lead to icy roads and sidewalks across the Northeast following a late-season storm that plastered the region with sleet and snow. The powerful nor'easter paralyzed much of the Washington-to-Boston corridor, but fell short of predicted snowfall totals in New York, Boston and Philadelphia. The storm dumped 1 to 2 feet in many places, grounded more than 6,000 flights and knocked out power to nearly a quarter-million customers from Virginia northward.