Things You Need to Know: Overall-Maine Crime Rate is Down
Here are the things you need to know today......
Overall crime rates dropped for the fifth consecutive year. According to WGME the numbers show an increase in rape and aggravated assault. There was also increase in arsons, but that may because of a new system of reporting of fires.
Gov. LePage hi-lited Maine as a great place for bioenergy executives to make investments. WCSH reports he made the comment at the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference in San Francisco.
Amazon is looking to build a new facility. WMTW reports Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority in Scarborough is making proposal for that.
A Wilton teen is charged with taking $21,000 from the town office. SunJournal reports it was a crime of opportunity and security measures are being reviewed. Almost all of the money has been recovered.
National Geographic Explorer found Portland to be number 24 on their list of the happiest cities in the US. They were looking at 15 areas like walkability, access to nature, eating healthy, vacation time, and even dental checkups.
From the Associated Press:
Former President George H.W. Bush is giving a pair of socks he wore to the Super Bowl LI to a Roman Catholic Diocese in Maine so they can be auctioned off. Bush wore the red, white and blue socks while performing the ceremonial coin toss with his wife Barbara Bush at Super Bowl LI in February. He's donating the socks and an autographed photograph from the coin flip to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.
Peak foliage conditions are arriving in Maine. The state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry says central and coastal Maine are between 70 and 100 percent color change, while far northern Maine is arriving at "past peak" conditions. Maine fall foliage spokeswoman Gale Ross says recent cool weather will help bring the entire state to peak or "near peak" conditions by this weekend.
Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap is calling for President Donald Trump's voter fraud commission to provide him with information about its activities. Dunlap, a Democrat, is one of 12 people on the commission. He says in a letter to the executive director of the commission that he is "sworn to serve" on the panel but is "completely uninformed as to its activities."
A federal aviation official is contradicting the Portland International Jetport's contention that radar malfunctions could be contributing to noise complaints by forcing airliners to fly over residential neighborhoods. The Portland Press Herald reports that a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman says there have been no radar outages that change the direction in which airplanes take off and land at the airport. The jetport's director says the airport is still seeking more information.
Interstate fishing managers are starting a new push to get better data about the lobster fishery. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's lobster board agreed this week to send proposed changes to management rules out for public comment. The commission says the new rules seek to improve reporting of lobster harvesting and biological data collection. The commission says there are deficiencies in reporting requirements in the lobster fishery.
The aunt of an Army sergeant killed in Niger says President Donald Trump showed "disrespect" to the soldier's family as he telephoned them Tuesday to extend condolences. Sgt. La David Johnson was one of four American soldiers killed nearly two weeks ago. The president insists he was not disrespectful to Johnson's family.
More than a half-dozen people whose relatives died in military service since Donald Trump became president say they never got a call from him. The Associated Press contacted relatives of 21 of the 43 people who died in military service since Trump took office after he said this week that he had called "virtually everybody." Nine families say the president reached them by phone or mail.
Authorities say a man with a lengthy criminal past showed up for work at a countertop company as scheduled and started shooting five of his co-workers. Three of them were killed and two critically wounded. Authorities arrested 37-year-old Radee Prince in Delaware.
China's ruling Communist Party is expanding its role in business even as it promises freer markets and support for entrepreneurs on the eve of President Xi Jinping's second five-year term as leader. The conflicting goals raise concerns that leaders might put off changes needed to reinvigorate a cooling economy that faces surging debt and trade tensions with Washington and Europe.
A bipartisan group of governors is urging congressional leaders to support a plan to calm health insurance markets after President Donald Trump blocked federal subsidies to insurers. The letter, signed by 10 governors, says, "Stabilizing insurance markets is one of the primary areas where Congress can take action to ensure that consumers have affordable health care options."