Things You Need to Know: Madison Votes on School Budget + Gardiner PD Investigating Mailbox Vandalism
Here are the things you need to know today......
The Gardiner Police are looking in to a number of 'criminal mischief to mailboxes' on the Marston Rd. Anyone with information is asked the call Officer Quintana at 624-7076.
A veteran with Maine ties who was charged for shooting her service dog in North Carolina was found dead. According to WCSH Marinna Rollins it is an apparent suicide.
Voting on the Madison school budget happens at 7p at the junior high school. According to centralmaine.com $9.8 million budget s up about $217,800 over the current budget.
MaineGeneral is starting a new program this summer that would give it greater flexibility to treat people with opioid addiction. According to centralmaine.com on average one person a day has been dying in Maine because of opioid overdose.
From the Associated Press:
LIHEAP has been saved from elimination in the just-passed federal budget. But the debate about funding for the next heating season won't be known until later this year. In March, President Trump proposed cutting about 10 percent from the current budget. He also proposed entirely eliminating the program for the federal budget that begins Oct. 1. That would include the 2017-2018 heating season. Congress restored funding for this year. The debate about next year is upcoming.
Lawmakers, law enforcement officials and medical professionals have begun their latest dive into the opioid crisis that's leading to the deaths of more than one person a day. The new task force's final report is due in early December. Last year, the Maine Opiate Collaborative issued a wide-ranging 63-page report that recommended more support for people in recovery, from employment to treatment in jail to transportation.
A new report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities shows Maine has a higher number of special education students than the national average. The report finds 9,416 children with specific learning disabilities in the state, with 16 percent of public school students in Maine having received special education in the 2013-2014 school year.
The Interior Department has removed any question over whether it's going to review the creation of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine. The agency announced Friday that it's getting the review rolling by seeking public comments. Public comments are being solicited on monuments around the country, mostly in the western states.
Gov. Paul LePage's recent spate of trips to Washington has sparked speculation about the term-limited governor's next steps. The Associated Press determined from available public information that the Republican governor has been in D.C. at least a week and a half this year. The governor says he makes the trips for the people of Maine.
Maine says there's a continued need for foster homes as more children come into state custody because of parental substance abuse. Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew says there's a particular need for foster families who care for teens, sibling groups and youth with special needs.
It's Trumpcare now, and Republicans have to answer for it. After years of symbolic votes, House Republicans have finally approved detailed legislation to gut President Obama's health care law. Yet some Republicans aren't celebrating. And Democrats are almost giddy about what could be severe political consequences for the other party. The GOP now owns a measure that would curtail, and in some cases take away completely, benefits Americans have embraced.
An Associated Press investigation found that across the U.S., perhaps nowhere is student-on-student sexual assault as dismissed or as camouflaged as in boys' sports. Targeting rookies for humiliating and even risky rituals is not new to sports. But experts say the last 10 to 15 years have seen an escalation into sexual violence on high school and even middle school teams. Records show boys have suffered serious injury and trauma, yet cases often are called 'hazing,' which masks the severity.
Four years after what appeared to be one of the largest single cases of sex assault on US school grounds, it's not clear what happened. Were at least four middle-school students, ages 11 to 14, victimized by as many as 30 kids in a gym bathroom in Estill, South Carolina? The grandmother of two girls insists so and has filed a lawsuit against the school district for failing to keep kids safe from harm. The impoverished district maintains it did nothing wrong.
France's far-right National Front party is gearing up for a name change _ but not a makeover of its ideas _ after its decisive loss to centrist Emmanuel Macron. David Rachline, the campaign director for Marine Le Pen, said the party founded by her father would get a new name as it seeks more supporters in France.
French voters elected as president Emmanuel Macron, who espouses a stronger EU and a tough line in negotiations on Britain's exit from the bloc. But if champagne corks are popping in Brussels, beware of the hangover: Brexit negotiations could go horribly wrong. Italian elections could see an anti-euro movement become the biggest party. Greek finances could wreck the value of the euro. Despite support for Macron across the continent, he remains a political novice, untested on European issues.
The wife of a human rights lawyer under arrest in China has made it to America with her daughters after nearly being forced back to her home country. Chen Guiqiu was detained at a Bangkok jail, with more than a dozen Chinese security agents waiting at the entrance. U.S. diplomats whisked her away and then confronted Chinese officials in an hours-long diplomatic standoff at the airport. One of Chen's daughters is a U.S. citizen, which may be why the U.S. got so involved.