Crime/Public Safety/Drugs

Fire Displaces Seven Tenants at Belfast Apartment Complex

(Belfast)  At least seven tenants were displaced Saturday due a fire at an apartment complex on Bluebird Circle in Belfast.  Authorities tell Downeast Digest, firefighters were called to the scene shortly after 5 p.m. and discovered flames on the building’s exterior.  Suppression efforts prevented the blaze from spreading to the interior apartments.  Investigators determined the fire was accidental, caused by improper disposal of smoking materials.

Fires in Presque Isle, West Bath

(Presque Isle)  Two other fires kept first responders busy on Halloween, as well.  In Presque Isle, firefighters responded to a multi-unit apartment building that also housed a commercial business.  The blaze was called in about 2:30 a.m.  All occupants were able to escape safely.  The fire was determined to be linked to an ash bucket located in an attached shed.  The container held discarded ashes that weren’t fully cooled.  And a fire in West Bath destroyed two small outbuildings on Abby Lane. That fire reported just after 10 p.m. Saturday. Investigators say the West Bath blaze most likely originated near a portable generator that was supplying electricity to one of the outbuildings and that was housed in a makeshift enclosure.

Local Politics

Election Day

(Maine)  It’s Election Day across the country.  Across Maine, there’s been heavy turnout for early voting, in effect October 5th through the 29th.  As of yesterday, nearly 300K early and absentee ballots had been returned and accepted, surpassing the early vote turnout from the 2022 midterm election by more than 50K votes.  If you’re heading to vote in person today, polls must be open no earlier than 6 a.m. and no later than 8 except in municipalities with a population of less than 500.  In those cases, polls must be open no later than 10 a.m.  Polls must be closed at 8 p.m. on Election Day, except in municipalities of less than 100, in which case polls can close after all registered voters have voted.  If you’re unsure about your polling location, you can enter your address at maine.vote.  And if you need a ride to the polls, check with your municipality – many have volunteers standing by.

Voting in Maine

(Maine)  It’s Election Day.  You can register right at the polls today if needed, as long as you’re 18 years old and a citizen of the United States.  You’ll need ID to register, showing you have established and maintain a voting residency in the municipality in which you’re voting. No ID is needed at the polls if you’re already registered.  Ballots tell you how to mark your choices.  If you make a mistake, fold your ballot and give it to an election official, who will give you another ballot.  While the Department of Justice is reportedly sending two people to monitor elections here in Maine, they aren’t allowed to interact with or interfere with voters in any way.  Federal law prohibits armed federal agents such as Immigrations and Customs, or ICE, officials from being at polling locations.  Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said having reps from the DOJ is nothing new and she welcomes their watchful eye.  Election workers and law enforcement officials have been trained on how to respond to potential disruptions at polling locations.

NY Times Ranks States by Gerrymandering

(NYT)  Gerrymandering – the process of redrawing districts to give one party an advantage in elections.  Recently, the NY Times ranked all 44 states with more than one district by the fairness of their congressional maps.  The rankings were based on the results of thousands of computer simulations that draw compact districts without consideration of partisanship or race.  The ranking looked at how many more seats the map gives one party and how aggressive the gerrymander is.  At the top – Texas, whose gerrymandering earned them six Republican seats and a 73/99 for aggressiveness.  At number 2, California, with five seats gained for Democrats and a 73/99 as well.  Maine came in at number 21, with just a tenth of a seat gained for Republicans when the map was last drawn in 2021, and 45/99 for aggressiveness.  Check out all the states’ rankings at nytimes.com.

Candidate Signs

(Maine)  (Sfx, sign, sign)  While voting is a welcome part of the Democratic process, political signs have taken over corners and curbs like invasive weeds growing thicker by the day.  In a state where billboards are largely prohibited, the signs have become an eyesore. In Maine, signs must be taken down within one week after the election if in a public right of way.  Though rarely enforced, the penalty for leaving signs up past the take-down deadline is $100.  Signs must contain information about who to contact for removal.  Most signs are laminated and cannot be recycled, but the wire stakes can be reused or dropped into a scrap metal bin at your local transfer station.  Another thing that should go away after today – those annoying text messages.  We’ll keep you updated on results on our social media pages as they come in tonight.

Ranked Choice Voting

(Augusta)  In state races here in Maine, such as the race for Governor, Maine uses a Ranked Choice Voting system, which allows voters to choose their candidates in order of preference.  According to maine.gov, votes are tabulated in rounds, with the lowest ranked candidates eliminated in each round until there are only two candidates left.  The one determined to have a majority of the votes (more than 50%) in the final round is declared the winner.  If you only want to vote for one candidate in a ranked choice race, the ballot instructs you to mark only the first choice oval for your candidate.  However, you can mark the ovals for your candidate all the way across, resulting in your vote for your candidate being counted throughout all the rounds, unless or until he or she is eliminated from the race.

Economy

King Pushes for VISAs for Foreign Seasonal Workers

(Washington, DC)  Ahead of Maine’s busy winter tourism and skiing season, Independent Senator Angus King is leading a bipartisan effort to secure the maximum number of additional H-2B visas for the current fiscal year.  In a letter to the Secretary of Labor, King said chronic labor shortages have evolved into a permanent structural challenge to the American workforce.  MaineBiz reports Maine ranks ninth nationally in demand for H-2B workers, who fill temporary jobs when local workers are unavailable.  The Maine Ski Association said those visas are critical to the success of the state’s larger ski areas.

Tour Company Sues Over Fees for International Visitors

(Maine)  An Arizona tour company has sued the federal government over increased fees for international visitors to national parks, including Acadia.  The Portland Press Herald reports the National Park Service implemented the new pricing structure at the beginning of this year.  An America the Beautiful annual digital park pass remains at $80 for U.S. residents, but jumped to $250 for nonresidents, and international visitors age 16 and older without such a pass must now pay $100 per day on top of the standard entrance fee at Acadia and ten other busy parks such as The Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.  In its lawsuit, Arizona Tours contends the administration overreached its authority, and they cite a sharp drop in bookings, with dozens of international customers declining or canceling tours, due to the added costs.

Energy Crisis Intervention Program Opens

(Avec)  The Energy Crisis Intervention Program is now open for eligible households experiencing a heating emergency.  Avec Community Action says in order to qualify, you must be HEAP eligible (and must have completed a HEAP appointment) and have an emergent heating need – for example, being at or below a quarter tank of oil or kerosene.  Our mild days have so far given us a respite; but the cold will be here soon enough.  Avec reminds folks they’re processing applications in the order received and are working as rapidly as possible to get through them.

Education

Surry School Board to Join Coastal League

(Surry)  The Surry School Board has voted unanimously to join the Coastal League, a move they say could happen as early as basketball season.  According to the Weekly Packet, The Coastal League includes the Blue Hill Consolidated School and many schools from the Mount Desert Island area.  In explaining the decision, Surry School Superintendent Derek Perkins cited factors such as differing student numbers, transportation costs, and opportunities to revive athletic relationships the school enjoyed when Surry was part of Union 92.

Infrastructure

Franklin Street Parklet in Ellsworth Closes for the Season

(Ellsworth)  Beginning this Friday, the City of Ellsworth’s Parks and Recreation team will start dismantling the Franklin Street Parklet and prepping the area to reopen for traffic and parking.  Weather permitting, the parklet should reopen by the weekend.  During the summer, the parklet was alive with people sharing lunches, reading a good book, dancing to concerts by talented musicians and enjoying movies.  A big thanks to Black Moon Public House and Wallace Events for their partnership that helped turn the small thruway into a community gathering space.

Human Interest

Mushroom Week at EPL

(Ellsworth)  Mushroom Week continues at the Ellsworth Public Library!  Once you’ve done your civic duty, head over to the library for tonight’s 5 p.m. showing of the 2019 documentary “Fantastic Fungi”.  Narrated by Brie Lason, the film explores the ecological, medicinal, and conscious-shifting world of fungi through spellbinding time-lapse cinematography.  On Wednesday, it’s Mushroom Hygge Night – bring your embroidery, cards, a good book, or just come to sit with others and socialize as the dark days of winter set in.  Thursday is a mushroom identification walk, and the week wraps up Friday with a 3 p.m. Mushroom Cloche Diorama workshop.  To learn more or register for any of these events, visit ellsworthlibrary.net.

National News Headlines 11/03/26

In National News Headlines:

• A horrific plane crash in Boca Raton, Florida Sunday killed all nine people on board.  The private jet was traveling to the Bahamas from Texas when it encountered a storm and plummeted into a neighborhood like a missile at 20K feet per minute, leaving a gaping crater.  One of the pilots was a 20 year old aviator who earned her license while still in high school and who had logged 1300 hours of flight time.
• And AI giant Anthropic on Monday said its quarterly revenue swelled to $17B, but the company still posted a net loss for the latest three months in an updated IPO filing.  The document shows the company’s revenue is still growing, but profit is elusive.

• The Trump Administration on Monday appealed to the Supreme Court to sideline 20K disputed California mail ballots.  The emergency appeal came after an appeals court rejected the requests to set aside ballots from a list of voters the administration says may not be citizens.  California officials say the Trump administration’s list is highly unreliable and likely includes many people who are US citizens.
• And Iran told the Associated Press Monday it had a two-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks with the United States, shortening a process originally expected to take seven days.

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