Things You Need to Know: MEMA to Verify Wind Storm Damage for Possible Federal Aid
Here are the things you need to know today......
Spurwink School in Chelsea is getting an expansion. Centralmaine.com reports the new space will be a kitchen, a dining area, offices and 16 bedrooms. It should be done by next summer.
From the Associated Press:
The Maine Emergency Management Agency is sending teams into the field to verify damage from a wind storm to give Republican Gov. Paul LePage the data he needs to decide whether to ask for federal aid. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and local and county representatives are participating in the effort on Thursday and Friday. MEMA spokeswoman Susan Faloon says the assessment will continue into next week if necessary.
Authorities in Maine say a 17-year-old boy has died in a multi-vehicle crash. Police say the crash happened around 7:23 a.m. Wednesday in Turner. Authorities say a car driven by 17-year-old Alan Coffin was struck by a pickup truck towing a trailer as he crossed state Route 4. Police say both vehicles then hit a second pickup truck. Coffin died at the scene of the crash. The drivers of both trucks involved in the crash were not injured. An investigation continues.
Federal fishing regulators are soliciting public comments about possible changes to lobster fishing in southern New England. The National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking the feedback about changes that could include restricting the number of lobster traps or permits an individual or a business would be allowed to own. The agency is taking comments through Dec. 15.
Portland is ready to continue its annual tradition of using a tree donated by a local resident for its downtown Christmas display. The city scoured the Portland area for the best tree, and found it outside the home of Janice Laflamme, of Westbrook. Laflamme has donated a 40-foot-tall fir tree that will serve as the centerpiece of the Monument Square display. City officials say the tree will be installed around 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The tree will be lit on Nov. 24 at 5 p.m.
Maine's largest city is going to have arena football in addition to hockey next year. The National Arena League says Portland will host one of three expansion teams in the 2018 season. The others are Worcester, Massachusetts, and Greensboro, North Carolina.
Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore's campaign website has added a form for people to report "inappropriate news organization contact." The form asks for a description of the events and urges users to fill it out to "get a quick response from our team."
President Donald Trump says North Korea must eliminate its nuclear weapons in exchange for concessions, not just freeze its nuclear weapons program. And Trump says that China now agrees with the U.S. position. China and Russia have suggested that the North could just freeze its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for the U.S. and South Korea stopping regular military drills. And China has not publicly disavowed that proposal.
A new tax break for businesses that give their workers paid family leave has been put into the Senate Republican tax bill now moving toward approval. The proposal by Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., was included in a late revision to the bill. The family leave provision would give employers a tax credit equivalent to a percentage of the wages paid to employees while on family or medical leave.
Dozens of people from a tiny Northern California community came out despite rain and cold to honor the victims of a gunman who killed five people and injured several more. Clergy there led prayers, including some for 6-year-old Alejandro Hernandez, who had the most serious injuries at a school the gunman tried to enter. His aunt, Rosa Monroy, said he's at a hospital awaiting foot surgery. It's not clear when they will operate on the more serious wound to his chest and arm.
Zimbabwe's state broadcaster has interrupted its programming to air an apology by the ruling party's youth leader to army commanders for "denigrating" them. Kudzanai Chipanga says the statement he made earlier attacking the military did not originate with him. He also said he was making his public apology without coercion. He says that "by this big mistake we have learned a lot." Zimbabwe's army early Wednesday announced that President Robert Mugabe and his family were under house arrest.
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