Central Maine News: February 3, 2016

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

(AP) — Parts of the southeast are surveying tornado damage as some plains states dig out from more than foot of snow from a winter storm system moving across the country. Tornadoes touched down in eastern Mississippi and western Alabama Tuesday night. The twisters caused damage, but no one was seriously hurt. Parts of Colorado and Nebraska were hit with heavy snow that's now making its way to the Upper Midwest.

(AP) — Public health advocates and lawmakers say Maine needs to move quicker to implement stricter lead poisoning standards that became law last year. The change calls for Maine to match the federal blood-level standard for lead poisoning of 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood. The current standard in the state is 15 micrograms per deciliter.Advocates say the lead poisoning crisis in Flint, Michigan, should motivate Maine to act faster. The latest data say there were 169 children with blood-lead levels between 5 and 9 micrograms per deciliter in Maine in 2013. A state spokesman says Maine is working on implementing the new standards.

(AP) — Officials say a small earthquake has shaken an area of rural eastern Maine. The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded just before 7 a.m. Tuesday about 6 miles northeast of Eastport, Maine. The Washington County sheriff's department says there have been no reports of damage. The largest earthquake recorded in Maine, with a magnitude of 5.1, happened in 1904. The largest quake in the state over the last 40 years was a 4.0 magnitude tremblor about 3 miles west of Hollis Center in 2012.

(AP) — Young women named Hard Dash, Kill Any and Betty B. Tough are putting the squeeze on Maine lawmakers to make it easier for them to expand the sport of roller derby. Roller derby advocates on Tuesday told a legislative panel that an old statute that prohibits skaters from hitting each other is prohibiting them from building a new rink. Two women testified wearing skates and their roller derby uniforms.  Alyssa Bergeron said the sport is increasingly popular in Maine and the United States. She says Maine skaters have been forced to break the law for the last 10 years and now want to play their sport legally. Committee members said it seemed unfair that hockey players are allowed to check each other but derby skaters can't.

(WCSH) -- Lewiston police plan to summon to court a woman whose alleged abandonment of a dog led to the animal’s death when it was hit by a car. According to WCSH police plan to issue the woman a court summons in the next couple days. Police are working with the Androscoggin District Attorney’s Office to determine the appropriate charges. According to Maine law, abandonment of an animal that results in the animal’s death is a Class C crime, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Police would release no additional details about the case saying it remains under investigation.

(WABI) -- A report from the Augusta Police Department says there is counterfeit cash circulating around businesses in the Augusta area. They say three different investigations led them to find counterfeit twenties paid to local shops. According to WABI, if you suspect someone is passing a counterfeit bill, contact the Police Department at 626-2370. Police ask you to try and take note of the person’s appearance, as well as the vehicle and license plate, if they have one.

(KJ) – Waterville City councilors voted to sell part of The Concourse downtown to Colby College for $300,000 so Colby can build a dormitory there for students, faculty and staff. According to the KJ, the unanimous vote followed a long discussion in a packed council chamber where Colby and city officials, downtown business owners and others debated the merits of selling the property as part of a revitalization effort. The council must take another vote to finalize the sale, and that vote is expected in two weeks. Councilors also voted 7-0 to adopt a downtown revitalization strategy developed at meetings of Colby and city officials, business leaders and others, held over six months last year. Waterville has already started a study on traffic and parking.

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