Things You Need to Know Today: Man Killed on Rt 3 in Augusta

Here are the things you need to  know today......

Dangerous levels of lead have been found at Benton Elementary School. According to centalmaine.com the school has shut down the school's water fountains and Poland Spring has donated bottled water and bubblers. Since they are not sure of the cause, they will be looking at a number of different places the lead could be coming from.

A New Hampshire man was killed early yesterday in Augusta.  Centralmaine.com reports he was hit by a van as he was walking in the middle of Route 3 and was wearing dark clothes.

From the Associated Press:

Republican Gov. Paul LePage's administration is dismissing as politics concerns raised by the Democratic state auditor that a state agency directed millions of federal dollars meant for needy kids to the elderly. Auditor Pola Buckley this week notified LePage and other state leaders that the Department of Health and Human Services "improperly managed" funding. Mary Mayhew, who heads the department, called the report politically motivated.

More than a year after Maine legislators passed a law regulating the use of drones by law enforcement, most police departments in the state still aren't utilizing the technology. An informal survey conducted by the Portland Press Herald found that many police officials cited those regulations as the reason for not using unmanned aircrafts in the field.

The Maine Governor's Energy Office says heating prices have risen in the state over the last week and will likely continue to rise. The office says the average price for heating oil rose 4 cents over the past week to $2.01 per gallon.

Donald Trump is refusing to say that he'll accept the results of next month's election if he loses to Hillary Clinton. At Wednesday night's presidential debate in Las Vegas, Trump said "I'll keep you in suspense." Clinton called Trump's response "horrifying." Trump has been warning voters that the election could be "rigged."

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of backing her Republican rival Donald Trump, saying that Putin would "rather have a puppet as president of the United States." At Wednesday night's presidential debate, Trump denied any relationship with Putin and said he would condemn any foreign interference in the election. But Trump also declined to back the intelligence community's assessment that Russia was involved in the hacking of Democratic organizations.

Turkey's state-run news agency is reporting that Turkish jets have struck 18 Syrian Kurdish militia targets north of the embattled city of Aleppo, killing as many as 200. The Anadolu Agency says the raids happened Wednesday night. The United States considers the Kurdish militia to be the most effective force in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria. Turkey says the group is an extension of its own outlawed Kurdish militants.

The Iraqi government's mission to retake the Islamic State-controlled city of Mosul has intensified, with Iraqi special forces moving in on the nearby town of Bartella, also controlled by militants. The addition of elite troops is significant in the fight for Iraq's second-largest city. The massive operation is in its fourth day.

Super Typhoon Haima has blown into the South China Sea after smashing into the northern Philippines with ferocious winds and rains. The storm has flooded towns and left several villages without power. At least five people were killed. There are no immediate reports of any major damage, but several areas are cut off from government aid.