Central Maine News: Dec 21, 2015

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

(AP) — A government report shows drug overdose deaths surged in 14 states last year. Rates went up in Maine as well as Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, , Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the report Friday. The highest overdose rates were in West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Ohio. For the nation, overdose deaths last year surpassed 47,000 — up 7 percent from the previous year. That's the most reported in the nation since at least 1970, according to CDC records.

(AP) — Maine's unemployment rate is at its lowest point since 2002 after dipping to 4.1 percent in November. The state Department of Labor says the preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell slightly from 4.3 percent in October and is also down from 5.5 percent a year ago. The department says the number of unemployed declined 10,500 over the course of the year to 27,900.

(AP) — A woman is in custody following a car crash on the Las Vegas strip that killed one person and critically injured six. A total of 37 people were taken to the hospital when police say the vehicle drove up onto a sidewalk Sunday in front of the Paris Hotel & Casino and struck pedestrians. The vehicle continued and was found at a hotel. Neither the driver nor a 3-year-old in her vehicle was hurt.

(AP) — Maine wildlife regulators say 2016 hunting and fishing licenses are now available online or at more than 800 agents around the state. The state has different hunting seasons throughout the year, with the fall moose, deer and bear hunts among the most popular. The spring and fall seasons for wild turkey are also very popular. The state has more than 17 million acres of forests and 32,000 miles of rivers and streams. State officials say the proceeds from hunting and fishing licenses all stay with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

(WGME) - All public schools in Nashua, New Hampshire, will be closed Monday because of what school leaders call "a detailed threat of violence to harm students and staff at both high schools."  They are working with police on the matter and the school superintendent said he expects the schools to reopen on Tuesday, according to an announcement on the district's website.

(AP) — The CEO of Air France says a suspicious item that forced one of the airline's planes to make an emergency landing in Kenya Sunday turned out to be a fake explosive rigged with cardboard, sheets of paper and a household timer. He says it's the fourth bomb hoax against Air France in recent weeks. The fake device was discovered in a lavatory cabinet on the plane during its roughly 11-hour flight from Mauritius to Paris.

(AP) — Rescuers in southern China are searching for at least 91 people missing a day after a landslide buried dozens of buildings in an industrial park. China's official Xinhua News Agency says a mountain of excavated soil and construction waste in Shenzhen buried or damage 33 buildings Sunday. Just seven people were rescued overnight.

(AP) — Police in Irving, Texas say there's no apparent reason for an attack on an 83-year-old woman, who died the next day. Police say three brothers punched, kicked and stomped Dessie Hancock outside a neighbor's home. She was found unconscious Saturday afternoon, and lying on the ground. She died Sunday night. The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Thomas, Edward and Jesse Perkins, ages 18 to 20, were initially charged with aggravated assault.