Central Maine News: August 24, 2015

These are some of the stories central Maine is talking about today.

The Farmer's Almanac is warning of another rough winter. A year after New Englandwas hit with one of the with the snowiest winter on record, editors of the The Farmer’s Almanac have dubbed the forecast a "winter deja vu." The almanac, which hits the newsstands this week, predicts cold and snowy weather from Maine to Montana. The 199-year-old publication, not to be confused with the New Hampshire-based Old Farmer's Almanac, uses a secret formula based on sunspots, moon phases and tidal action for its long-range forecasts. (AP)

A late elementary school student made famous for a letter to a Soviet leader seeking peace in 1983 is being honored at the Maine State Museum. An exhibit opening Tuesday will pay tribute to Samantha Smith on the 30th anniversary of the plane crash that took her life. Smith was just 10 years old and a fifth-grader at Manchester Elementary School when she wrote a letter to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov expressing her worry over nuclear war. The letter prompted a reply and invitation from Andropov to visit the Soviet Union on a two-week peace mission in 1983. Museum officials say her message of peace is still relevant today, even without the Soviet Union, and her story is still told to schoolchildren. (AP)

Maine's attorney general says the number of drug overdose deaths in the state is on track to be similar to last year, which was the worst year on record. Attorney General Janet Mills also says deaths related to heroin and fentanyl are climbing. The first half of this year saw 105 people die from drug overdoses in Maine. Thirty-seven of those deaths are primarily attributable to heroin and 26 to fentanyl. Last year, 208 people died of overdoses. Fifty-seven of those were primarily attributable to heroin and 43 primarily to fentanyl. Mills says the statistics show that Maine's drug crisis "continues unabated." (AP)

A Garland man was killed in Afghanistan Saturday. 40 year old Corey Dodge is one of three American contractors killed in a suicide car bombing in Kabul. The attack happened near a private hospital and it killed at least twelve people and wounded 66 others. The contracting company Dodge worked for also issued a statement, saying it extends it’s thoughts and prayers to all involved and to their families and loved ones. (WABI/ Bangor Daily News)

The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department is investigating an armed robbery at the Circle K Irving on Route 202 in Greene. It happened around 3:20 a.m. on Sunday. According to the Sun Journal, police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the people responsible. Police say two suspects were armed with a golf club driver and an aluminum baseball bat. The suspects made off with an undisclosed amount of money.  Anyone with information on this robbery or thinks they may know the suspects are asked to please call the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department at 207-753-2599.  (Sun Journal)

An Augusta Civic Center worker is suing the city, saying it allowed sex and gender discrimination at her workplace despite her objections and repeated reports. According to the KJ Carol Godbout, of Augusta is seeking a permanent injunction preventing retaliation against Godbout and an unspecified amount of damages, including lost wages and benefits. Godbout is still employed by the city at the Augusta Civic Center and is currently on a medical leave of absence. (centralmaine.com)

Diplomacy continues in the border village of Panmunjom where senior officials from North and South Korea have begun a second round of talks to reduce tensions that have led the countries to the brink of military confrontation. At the same time, South Korea's military says it detected unusual troop and submarine movements in North Korea that indicate Pyongyang is strengthening its capacity for a possible strike. (AP)

Authorities in three countries had their eye on the armed man who was tackled by passengers on a train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris. Officials say the 26-year-old Moroccan, Ayoub El-Khazzani, has ties to radical Islam and may have traveled to Syria. A French official says he was known to authorities in France, Belgium and Spain. (AP)

Firefighters in north-central Washington state are facing a daunting task as they continue to battle a complex of large wildfires that's scorched 355 square miles in Okanogan County. The challenge is so great, fire officials are training volunteers with heavy equipment to help the professional crews who are trying to get the fires under control. But diminished winds did allow firefighters to make some headway yesterday. (AP)

A fire department spokesman says two planes have collided in the air at an airshow in northern Switzerland and that at least one of the planes crashed after the impact. Marco Thomas of the Laufental fire department did not have any further information about possible injuries or casualties. Yesterday, seven people died after a military jet participating in an airshow in the UK crashed into a busy road. (AP)

The National Zoo has doubled down on pandas. The zoo says its adult female giant panda, Mei Xiang has given birth to twins. The births happened five hours apart yesterday. Officials say the cubs appear healthy. (AP)