QUOTE OF THE DAY
— Stephen King told the Bangor Daily News in 1977. This year marks 50 since King’s first big hit “Carrie” was published.
TODAY’S TOP MAINE STORIES
Maine isn’t prepared for a huge threat to its fishing industry. Help has been slow to arrive for working waterfronts damaged by severe coastal storms that are expected to become more common with climate change.
Eleven-year-old Connor Sawtelle has undergone more than a dozen brain and spine surgeries. His next surgery costs $788K, but MaineCare doesn’t cover it.
More than a fifth of Maine’s mobile home parks are owned by out-of-state investors. It is part of a national trend that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and the housing affordability crisis that followed.
Orono wants to repurpose the property that used to house the public works department. Town officials see many possibilities for the property.
Size, versatility headline this year’s 47th BDN All-Maine Schoolgirl Basketball Team. This year’s teams include 12 seniors and three juniors with elite versatility skills and experience, as chosen by Maine coaches and the BDN. Read the full list of players here.
MAINE IN PICTURES
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE
- A new community center is opening for homeless people in Bangor
- Maine program to recruit young construction workers already expanding
- Eclipse strengthens ties between one Houlton and another in England
- Woman and 2 kids seriously injured in Dixmont crash
- One dead after car crashes into water in Carroll
- A Maine startup serves locally sourced meal kits for time-crunched cooks
- Bowdoin student found dead in Topsham parking lot
- Leeds man charged with killing missing Windham farmer
- Portland experiences record wet March, prepares for warmer April
INSIDE THE NEWSROOM
A few weeks ago, I traveled to Wiscasset to check out two mobile home parks where residents complained of high lot rents and poor living conditions. While there, we saw washed-out roads, and clogged culverts, but also noted some signs of repair work — a couple ditches had been dug out near the park entrance.
Driving around, we flagged down a young man in a truck, and discovered the repairs were his handiwork. This 19-year-old had been out in the rain all Sunday digging ditches on his own dime. He cheekily admitted that while he was doing this for his grandmother, a park resident, it was also for the sake of his precious truck, which had been damaged by the shoddy roads.
— Zara Norman
FROM THE OPINION PAGES
“The Republican playbook seems to be: Help cause a problem, then complain about the problem you helped create. And it works. The type of crime that people worry most about is violent gun crimes. Republicans are undermining the agencies that enforce our gun laws, consequently making it easier for people who are prohibited from purchasing and owning guns to obtain them.”
Opinion: The fallacy of Republicans’ anti-crime rhetoric
LIFE IN MAINE
Friday marks 50 years since King’s debut novel was published on April 5, 1974. Here was a newly minted literary superstar that we could call our own.
More than half of pet owners don’t believe in vaccinating their animals. It’s leaving veterinarians in Maine frustrated by clients who refuse the important medical care for their pets.
Between the severe storms that battered Maine in December and January and our warmer-than-normal temperatures, it was a tough winter for snowmobiling. That’s reflected in fewer people registering their snowmobiles.
