Things You Need to Know: Still No State Budget Deal; Shutdown Could Happen Early July
Here are the things you need to know today......
Maine lawmakers still don't have a budget deal. According to WABI, if an agreement is not reached soon, a state government shutdown could begin in early July. The six-member legislative panel working on the budget will meet again this week.
The city of Auburn is still trying to find a solution to the issue farm animal on smaller in town lots. The Sun Journal reports the city is trying to correct a mistake that was made and make sure something like it does not happen again. A family had city permission to have two small goats, but later it was discovered there is a second conflicting ordnance that prohibits it.
From the Associated Press:
A bill to prohibit employers from seeking information about a prospective employee's prior wage history faces an uncertain future after passing the Maine House and Senate. The Democratic-controlled House on Monday voted 79-68 in favor of Democratic Sen. Cathy Breen's bill in an initial round of votes. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 22-13 against a motion to kill the bill. A two-thirds majority is needed to override a veto by Republican Gov. Paul LePage.
Maine Attorney General Janet Mills is joining an effort by state attorneys general in multiple states to investigate the practices of opioid manufacturers. Mills says the vast majority of people arrested for possession of heroin or fentanyl say the substance abuse disorder began with painkillers. She says the attorneys general want to know what role drug makers may have played in creating or prolonging the epidemic.
The acting director of the Maine Audubon is going to be taking the role permanently. Maine Audubon trustees selected Andy Beahm to serve as executive director of the 174-year-old wildlife conservation organization. He stepped up as acting director after Ole Amundsen III resigned in January.
The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for most of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Forecasters say heavy rains that could drop 1 to 2 inches of rain per hour are expected as showers and thunderstorms move into the region. The weather service said up to 3 inches of rain had fallen by Monday afternoon in eastern Windham County in southern Vermont.
The family of an American college student who died days after being released from North Korea in a coma says the 22-year-old "has completed his journey home." Relatives say Otto Warmbier died Monday. They did not cite a specific cause of death. Warmbier arrived in Ohio on June 13. He was sentenced in March 2016 to 15 years in prison with hard labor after being accused of trying to steal a propaganda banner.
President Donald Trump has directed his legal team to be as combative as he is. That tactic has manifested itself in aggressively worded written statements and television appearances by Trump's personal lawyers and proxies. They seem aimed as much at convincing the American public that the president isn't in jeopardy as at warding off any legal threat from prosecutors. But the lawyers face a challenge against seasoned prosecutors working under a tight-lipped ex-FBI director.
The United States says it "strongly condemns" an attack near a mosque in London and that the attack appears to have targeted Muslim worshippers. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert says the U.S. stands with the U.K. and is ready to provide any help that British officials would find helpful.
Authorities say a Muslim teen who disappeared while walking with her friends to her mosque died of blunt force trauma to the upper body. Police in Virginia say "road rage" prompted the killing 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen. Police have charged 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres with murder. Police say they believe Martinez Torres acted alone and say they are not looking for other suspects.
Russia is retaliating following the U.S. military's shooting down of a Syrian warplane. Moscow on Monday threatened aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition in Syrian-controlled airspace and has suspended a hotline intended to avoid collisions. The U.S. says it downed the Syrian jet on Sunday after it dropped bombs near U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces conducting operations against the Islamic State group.
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