Things You Need to Know: Election Day + 3500 Mainers Still Without Power
Here are the things you need to know today......
Outage information Central Maine Power and Emera Maine
It has been over a week and still there are thousands of Mainers without power. Early this morning that total was almost 3500 with the bulk of them in the CMP service area in Lincon and Waldo counties. Crews will continue working on the problems today and the companies reassure Mainers they have not been forgotten.
Election Day in Maine for State and any local issues. More on voting issue and poll locations from the Bangor Daily News.
From the Associated Press:
Voters in Maine are headed to the polls Tuesday to decide if they want to join 31 other states and expand Medicaid under former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. It's the first time since the law took effect that the expansion question has been put before voters. It comes after Maine's Republican governor vetoed five attempts to expand the program. It also acts as a bookend to a year in which President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans tried and failed to repeal the law.
Maine voters will decide Tuesday whether the state should have a third casino. An out-of-state gambling entrepreneur bankrolled the campaign to create a casino in York County. He would be the one to operate the casino if it's approved. Supporters say it would create jobs, boost education and help veterans, seniors and others. Critics include Republican Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who has called it another case of "big-money, out-of-state interests using Maine voters to get a sweet deal."
The Maine Legislature is upholding Republican Gov. Paul LePage's veto of a bill to regulate and tax the sale of marijuana in the state. Lawmakers met on Monday evening needing a two-thirds majority to override the veto and fell short. The result means lawmakers will have to go back to the drawing board in January to craft rules about legal pot in Maine.
A bill to delay ranked-choice voting has become law without the signature of Maine Gov. Paul LePage. A spokeswoman for the Republican governor confirmed Monday that LePage did not sign the bill that delays the new law until at least 2021. The law would be repealed then unless the Maine Constitution is amended to explicitly allow ranked-choice voting.
Police say a driver was killed in a head-on collision in Norridgewock, Maine. Deputies say 83-year-old Lazlo Kakuk was pronounced dead at the scene after his SUV was struck by a pickup truck that crossed the center line. The pickup driver, 30-year-old Eric Hatfield of Anson, was flown via LifeFlight helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center with serious injuries. Somerset County Chief Deputy James Ross says the crash is in the early stages of investigation but that speed and improper passing may be factors. He said a Maine State Police accident reconstruction team is assisting in the investigation.
The gunman who killed 26 people at a small town Texas church was able to buy weapons because the Air Force did not submit his criminal history to the FBI as required by military rules. The Air Force acknowledged Monday that if the past offenses by Devin Patrick Kelley had been properly shared, they would have prevented him from buying a gun. Authorities say Kelley fired at least 450 rounds of ammunition at worshippers in Sunday's attack at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.
The shooter's name was missing from a news conference on the killings at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and authorities there say it will stay that way. The Texas Department of Public Safety and the FBI said at the Monday press briefing that while they have released the name, they'll refrain from saying it again. They say it's an effort not to glorify the killer of 26 people, and to discourage copycats. Many academics and victims' families are encouraging media outlets to do the same.
President Donald Trump says North Korea will be "front and center" in his talks with South Korea's leader. Trump is meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at Blue House on Tuesday. On North Korea, Trump says, "hopefully something's going to be very successfully worked out on that."
South Korean police are on high alert in Seoul to monitor protests by both critics and supporters of President Donald Trump as the U.S. leader arrived in the country amid public concerns over North Korea's nuclear threats. Under the close watch of police, dozens of anti-Trump protesters rallied near the presidential office on Tuesday, holding signs that read "Trump, NOT welcomed!" and "Say no to Trump, say no to war."
A former foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign told Congress in testimony last week that he had contact with a high-level Russian official while on a trip to Russia last year. In a transcript released Monday by the House intelligence committee, Carter Page told the panel in an interview Thursday that he "briefly said hello to" Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich when he traveled to Russia for a speech.
More From B98.5
