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

The heavy rain storm last week left behind a couple of large washouts along the Kennebec River Rail Trail in Farmingdale. According to the KJ, there is a plan for fixing the washouts. But until the work is done, the sections have been cordoned off with barricades to prevent people from falling into the holes. The plan to fix the erosion will require coordination with the state because the railroad tracks in the area also were affected. The washouts occurred in Farmingdale, between mile markers 4 and 5.  (centralmaine.com)

Gov. LePage has ordered flags on all public buildings and grounds to be lowered to half-staff for a day in honor of the victims of the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The flags will be at half-staff from Monday evening until Tuesday afternoon. LePage says the shootings are a wake-up call to politicians to address the problem of people with mental illness getting access to guns. He says blaming guns is not the solution to curbing mass shootings and gun violence. Faculty, staff and some students returned to Umpqua Community College on Monday for the first time since a gunman killed nine people last week. (AP)

Lawmakers and state agencies in Maine have submitted more than 400 requests for bills for the upcoming legislative session. The proposals include efforts to fight the state's heroin and opiate epidemic, altering gun laws and protecting popular land conservation programs currently frozen by Gov. LePage. The full details of the requests are not yet public and many of the bills are unlikely to receive approval from legislative leadership. But the bills that advance to the upcoming session are likely to be contentious, setting the stage for the 2016 legislative elections. The deadline to submit bill titles was Sept. 25. The Legislative Information Office published a full list of bill requests by lawmakers and agencies on Friday. (AP)

Two members of the LePage administration are declining to appear before a legislative panel that's reviewing allegations Gov. Paul LePage threatened to withhold funding for a private school that tried to hire a political opponent. Cynthia Montgomery, the governor's chief legal counsel, said she and another aide, Aaron Chadbourne, must "respectfully decline" an invitation to appear before Government Oversight Committee because of a pending lawsuit. Committee members criticized the decision. Republican Sen. Roger Katz, committee co-chairman, expressed disappointment, saying "transparency ought to be everyone's goal." And Democratic Sen. Bill Diamond said their cooperation "is important to get the complete truth." A fact-finding report concluded that the LePage administration withheld money after learning that Good Will-Hinkley hired House Speaker Mark Eves. The school's board later rescinded Eves' job offer. (AP)

A Farmington police officer will head to trial on charges of excessive force in the 2011 shooting of an Army veteran outside the town police station. The Morning Sentinel reports that a federal judge has cleared the town and Police Chief Jack Peck. But Officer Ryan Rosie will be tried in the death of 28-year-old Justin Crowley-Smilek. The court decision on the requests for summary judgment was handed down September 30th by U.S. Magistrate Judge John Rich following dueling lawsuits filed a year and a half ago. Rosie shot Crowley-Smilek several times outside the Farmington municipal offices. Police have said Crowley-Smilek had a knife and acted in a threatening way toward Rosie. Crowley-Smilek was suffering from post-traumatic stress from duty in Afghanistan. (AP)

Gas prices in Maine have fallen nearly 2 cents per gallon in the past week. Gasbuddy.com, which surveyed 1,228 gas stations in the state, says the average retail gasoline price in Maine is $2.25 a gallon. The national average increased half a cent, to $2.29 a gallon. The price in Maine was $1.13 less per gallon than a year ago, and 12.3 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average decreased 11.4 cents per gallon during the last month and is 99.5 cents lower than a year ago. (AP)

The Coast Guard said Monday that a U.S. cargo ship carrying 33 people, at least 4 of them Mainers, that has been missing since it encountered high winds and heavy seas from Hurricane Joaquin sank, but that planes and ships will continue searching for the missing crew. The El Faro departed from Jacksonville, Florida, on Sept. 29, when Joaquin was still a tropical storm. The ship was on a regular cargo supply run when it ran into trouble. It was being battered by winds of more than 130 mph and waves of up to 30 feet Contact was lost early Thursday. (AP)

Lewiston schools will have a new option for dealing with the tough Maine winters this school year. Monday, members of the school committee voted to change the district’s snow policy to allow delayed starts on snowy days. According to WMTW, school officials had been trying to decide whether to allow delayed starts and early dismissals for several months. Officials agreed that delayed starts would be a safer option for students to travel, while allowing them to continue their school day. The committee chose not to add early dismissal to the policy. Officials plan to revisit the policy next summer to evaluate how it worked. (WMTW)

Should President Barack Obama reduce the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from its current level of about 9,800 to about 1,000 after 2016 according to plan? That's what lawmakers on Capitol Hill will be asking the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan today following recent heavy fighting in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz (KUHN'-dooz). The Taliban's seized the city for three days last week and a U.S. airstrike killed 22 people. Gen. John F. Campbell will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee. (AP)

There's no word on deaths or injuries following three blasts in Yemen's southern port city of Aden (AY'-duhn). Security officials say one blast struck a hotel where Yemen's prime minister and other government officials reside. Officials say there are casualties, but they've given no details. The two other blasts hit the residence and headquarters of troops from the United Arab Emirates. (AP)

A 11 crewmembers of a Dutch cargo ship have been rescued after it sank off the Belgian coast. The ship had collided with a gas tanker early today. There are no reports of major environmental damage. (AP)

General Mills is recalling 1.8 million boxes of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios, saying the cereal is labeled gluten-free but actually contains wheat. The recall affects Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios that were made in July at the company's Lodi, California plant. General Mills says wheat flour was inadvertently used in a gluten-free oat flour system. People with conditions like wheat allergies or celiac disease who eat the gluten might experience an allergic reaction or discomfort. (AP)

A granite monument of the Ten Commandments has quietly been removed from the Oklahoma Capitol grounds. A contractor hired by the state began removing it late Monday, under the cover of darkness, to keep protesters away while heavy equipment was being used. The Ten Commandments monument has sparked controversy since it was erected in 2012, and the state Supreme Court decided in June that it violated Oklahoma's constitution. (AP)

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