Crime/Public Safety

Home Heating Safety 

(Undated)  Officials statewide urge Mainers as the cold weather arrives to put safety first and use common sense when heating their homes this winter.  First, they say, make sure every room has a working smoke detector.  If you heat with a woodstove, make sure you have your chimney cleaned and inspected annually.  If you use a space heater, they say plug it directly into a wall receptacle – don’t use  an extension cord; and, of course, keep combustibles far from all heating sources.  Also, they say, in case of a power outage, be sure to use generators according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Maine State Police Launch Cold Case Deck of Cards

(Augusta)  Maine State Police are launching an initiative called “Cold Case Deck of Cards” to spark new investigative leads in unsolved homicides and suspicious missing-person cases. Public Information Officer Shannon Moss tells Downeast Digest the 52-card deck will be distributed in Maine correctional facilities, following a model that has helped solve cases in other states, including multiple homicides.  MSP currently has 69 unsolved homicides and 38 long-term suspicious missing-person cases, with investigations dating back several decades.  The project is funded through a grant from Season of Justice, a nonprofit that provides financial support for cold-case investigations.

North Street Resident Dealing with Rats

(Ellsworth)  A North Street resident in Ellsworth says she’s being forced from the home she’s lived in for 40 years … because of rats.  The Ellsworth American reports Janis Garland renovated the house herself in the 1980’s while raising her family.  But across the street at 66 North Street, a property teems with trash.  City records show that property was previously owned by Carlene Parsons, but was repossessed after a fire deemed it uninhabitable, although Parson’s son reportedly still lives at the property.  The City has been responsive, but legal issues have delayed action.  Garland said she’s spent a small fortune in traps and poison, but is fighting a losing battle with the rats already damaging the walls and keeping her awake nights.  She plans to move across town into a mobile home, but says it’s heartbreaking to leave the home she planned to live in for the rest of her days.  

CEI Launches Scam Smarts

(Brunswick)  Scams targeting older adults continue to be on the rise.  In response, Coastal Enterprises has launched Scam Smarts, a free workshop series that includes an online video and a downloadable toolkit.  The Pen Bay Pilot reports the program is designed to educate seniors on how scams happen, how to spot warning signs, and on ways to prevent fraud before it happens.  CEI says the program is made possible with support from the Maine Community Foundation.  The program is available free at c e i maine dot org.

Mold Report Adds Urgency to Relocating Rockland Police Department

(Rockland)  A couple of weeks ago, Eastern Mold Remediation did an assessment of the Rockland Police Station. The results were alarming, and added urgency to the need for the department to relocate.  The Pen Bay Pilot reports the basement condo was designated a Condition 3  Level 2 in microbial growth such as mold – the highest level.  Signs of mild to moderate growth were found in every space except the patrol room and central hallway.  The building is susceptible to leaks, often leading to soaked carpets and walls.  A measure for funds to build a new station was defeated in the November election. The City hopes to begin offering public meetings in January to look at possible solutions.

Economy

Heating Funds Released

(Washington, DC)  The state’s Energy Crisis Intervention Program opened Wednesday, providing one-time heating fuel deliveries of up to $500 to Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program-eligible households that have fully or nearly run out.  The assistance was funded after the US Department of Health and Human Services released more than $39M in low-income heating assistance – funds usually released the first of November but that were delayed by the government shutdown.

Area Wood Banks Warm Those in Need

(Maine)  Speaking of warmth, area wood banks are a growing lifeline for those who struggle to afford the resources necessary to fuel the fires in their woodstoves.  It began locally with the creation of the Waldo County Woodshed in early 2015. Founder and Belfast resident Bob MacGregor says he was inspired by an article by University of Maine researchers that described how wood banks could benefit those in need.  In their first season, they gave away 20 quarter-cords of wood.  A decade later, they continue to help keep countless Mainers warm when in crisis. Surry-based Downeast WoodBank was started in 2020 by Tom Mathews and has since grown to serve not only the residents of the Blue Hill Peninsula, but now Ellsworth, Trenton, and Lamoine, as well.  The newest nonprofit – the MDI Woodbank in Bar Harbor, is in its first winter season, having been founded by Andrew Flanagan last March.  All three rely on volunteers to help split, stack, and support them financially. You can follow all of them on FB to find out how to get involved.

Environment

Record Breaking Cold

(WaPo)  Temperature records from the 1800’s are expected to be broken today and Friday in dozens of locations, from Nebraska to Maine, as an air mass from Nunavut, Canada sweeps into the Midwest and Northeast.  The frigid pattern follows a sudden stratospheric warming event that disturbed the polar vortex miles above the North Pole – unusual for late fall, according to the Washington Post.  Low temperature records may fall across 14 states over the next week, including in southern Maine. 

Education

Versant Power Planetarium Offers Programs for Cold Winter Nights

(Orono)  Looking for something indoors on those cold winter days or nights?  Look no further than the Versant Power Astronomy Center on the University of Maine campus in Orono!  Director Shawn Laatsch tells Downeast Digest they have a variety of new shows this year.  Friday night programming this month takes you on a journey through the Milky Way.  Sunday afternoon at 2 – a look at the Christmas Star, the Star of Bethlehem. This family-friendly program explores a variety of scientific explanations for the phenomenon.  Sunday afternoons at 4, bring the family to “Let It Snow!”, a holiday music journey, featuring your favorite festive classics.  And next Tuesday, bring the young ones to explore the night sky with their favorite friends from Sesame Street!  For information on all the planetarium’s programming, visit astro dot u maine dot e d u.

Health

Common Vaccine Could Ward Off Dementia

(Undated)  A common vaccine meant to ward off shingles may be doing something even more extraordinary – protecting the brain.  According to a study cited in The Washington Post, researchers reported the shingles vaccine cuts the risk of developing dementia by 20 percent over a seven-year period.  A large follow-up study found it may protect against risks at different stages of the debilitating condition – including for people already diagnosed.  The research, published this week in the journal Cell, found that cognitively healthy people who received the vaccine were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment, an early symptomatic phase before dementia.  

Human Interest

Taylor Swift “Otter” Love Maine Children’s Author 

(Undated)  Music phenom Taylor Swift “otter” love Camden children’s book author, Chris Van Dusen.  Van Dusen long ago created the image of two otters lounging in the water, which Swift made famous this fall when she wore a t-shirt with the image in a film promoting her latest album.  According to The Portland Press Herald, Liberty Graphics in the Midcoast town of Liberty owns the design and began reissuing it shortly after the singer made it famous.  It may be a bit controversial here in lobster country, as the shirt was originally printed to raise money for the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, which red-listed Maine lobster, linking the industry to right whale deaths.  The Maine Lobstermen’s Association later sued the Foundation over the designation, citing economic harm.

National News

Costco Sues Trump Administration Over Tariffs

(Undated)  Costco is taking the Trump White House to court over the President’s tariff policy.  The retailer argues the President’s tariff binge was not only bad for the economy, but was patently illegal and another attempt to circumvent the Constitution.  Costco is asking for a full refund on the import duties paid and a guarantee it will get its money back if the Supreme Court strikes down the policy.  The company is also asking the courts to stop customs from locking in such charges while the Supreme Court weighs its legality.

Mass Killings Down 

(Undated)  While the number of mass killings across the U.S.  is down this year, criminologists warn that overall gun violence remains very high compared to other developed nations.  The most recent incident – a shooting at a child’s birthday party in Stockton, California that left four dead – brought this year’s total number of mass killings to 17, the lowest annual total since 2006.  A mass killing is considered one in which four or more people, excluding the perpetrator, are killed in a 24-hour period.

Voyager I to Reach Impressive Milestone

(Undated)  Late next year, NASA’s Voyager I spacecraft will cross an impressive milestone – the first spacecraft to reach a distance of one light day from our planet.  The intrepid traveler is already the first human spacecraft to reach interstellar space and the farthest human-made object from earth. The new milestone will be reached when it takes 24 hours for radio signals – essentially light – to reach the spacecraft.  Scientists say the destination will have taken almost 50 years, Voyager I having been launched way back in 1977.

Trump Administration to Block SNAP Management Funds for Blue States

(Washington, DC)  Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins this week said officials won’t send money to administer food stamps to states that don’t share information about benefits recipients with the Federal Government.  According to The Washington Post, the Trump administration plans to block Democratic-contolled states from accessing billions of dollars needed to run their food stamp programs unless governors turn over benefits rolls.  As of Tuesday, just 29 states and territories had provided that data.  Those holding out, including Maine, cite privacy concerns.  It’s unclear if Rollins or the White House has the authority to cut SNAP funding to states that refuse to share data. 

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