Things You Need to Know: Man Kills 2 Cats Because of Allergies Facing Animal Cruelty Charges
Here are the things you need to know today......
State Police are investigating an attempted burglary and an armed robbery. According to centralmaine.com they both happened Sunday and it appears it was the same person in a blue car and wearing a skull mask.
From the Associated Press:
A Greene man who killed two cats because his daughter is allergic to them is facing animal cruelty charges. WMTW-TV reports that 47-year-old Michael Herrmann killed the cats with his bare hands. Herrmann is charged with aggravated cruelty to animals. The cats belonged to a family friend who was staying with Herrmann.
GOP Gov. Paul LePage's administration says welfare recipients aren't showing up for drug tests and that reform is needed. The state Department of Health and Human Services told The Associated Press that since 2015, only 23 people scored high enough on the screening tool to be subjected to testing. That's about 0.01 percent of the total welfare recipients in Maine. Of those, 15 lost benefits.
A Maine lawmaker wants to keep bars open longer to keep tourists happy. Republican Rep. Wayne Parry of Arundel said Monday that pushing back the closing time from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. would help the state complete with Canada and other New England states.
Maine authorities say six tractor trailer cabs were destroyed and two others were damaged in a pair of fires just minutes apart at R.C. Moore trucking locations in Poland and Scarborough. The coordinated arson fires happened Sunday night and involved four trucks at each location.
A new telephone scam is attempting to steal voice recordings of people in Maine. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, says the scam has been reported to the Senate Aging Committee's fraud hotline. The fraudulent callers ask simple questions such as "Are you there?" and "Can you hear me" in the hopes of coaxing a "yes" response from the call recipient. The scammer then records that answer and uses the recording to authorize charges on items such as utility bills, phone bills and stolen credit cards. Collins says residents who receive the call should respond by hanging up immediately. The scam can be reported by calling the aging committee's hotline at 855-303-9470
The intelligence agency in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan says the man behind Monday's deadly bombing on the St. Petersburg subway is a Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen. A bomb blast tore through a subway train under Russia's second-largest city on Monday, killing 11 people and wounding more than 40 people.
One potential bidder on President Donald Trump's border wall with Mexico wanted to know if the government would help if its workers came under "hostile attack." Another asked if employees can carry firearms in states with strict gun control laws and if the government would indemnify them for using deadly force. With bids due Tuesday on the first design contracts, companies are preparing for the worst if they get the potentially lucrative but controversial job.
Chinese President Xi Jinping probably won't give President Donald Trump a round of golf during their first face-to-face meeting this week, but may find it worthwhile to ensure his American counterpart does not feel like he's leaving empty-handed. Some analysts believe Xi might be willing to hand Trump a symbolic victory on trade to put a positive spin on the meeting.
Jordan's King Abdullah II will be able to deliver an Arab consensus on Mideast peace when he meets President Donald Trump this week after a recent Jordan-hosted summit renewed an Arab offer of recognition of Israel in exchange for Palestinian statehood. Some say Trump's stated eagerness to strike a Mideast deal presents an opportunity, despite first impressions that he is biased in Israel's favor.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Democrats' planned filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch is a "new low" but stopped short of saying he will change Senate rules to confirm him. McConnell has strongly indicated _ but hasn't said outright _ that he will change Senate rules so that Gorsuch can be confirmed with a simple majority in the 100-seat chamber. Sixty votes are now required. McConnell has said how Gorsuch is confirmed depends on what Democrats do.
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