Aroostook body discovery / Lewiston shooting response / Supreme Court homelessness case

TODAY’S TOP MAINE STORIES

Families and survivors of Lewiston’s mass shooting say the response from Maine lawmakers fell short. One said the Legislature, which adjourned last week, took a few, but not enough, positive steps. Another criticized legislators for pushing “an agenda” that wouldn’t have stopped the shooter. The Lewiston community plans to honor the victims of Lewiston shootings on the six-month anniversary.

Maine’s homeless advocates are closely following a case now before the Supreme Court.  The question of whether the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, enacted a “cruel and unusual” punishment when it fined and sometimes jailed people for sleeping outside is expected to have national implications.

A body was discovered along a bank of the Aroostook River. The parents of Erik Foote, who has been missing since Jan. 30, said the police should have told them. 

Janet Mills vetoed her own minimum wage proposal for Maine farmworkers. She objected to changes lawmakers made to the bill that would have allowed workers to sue over alleged violations.

Gouldsboro’s former fire chief, accused of forgery and theft, now faces a new charge. Tatum McLean was indicted this month on a felony charge of aggravated criminal invasion of computer privacy.

MAINE IN PICTURES

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

• Janet Mills signs law to protect abortion and transgender care patients in Maine
• Maine Recovery Council close to distributing 1st $9M
• Vaccination of Maine school children hits record high
• How this Mainer proved that wooly mammoths once roamed the state
• Pitbull to return for Bangor concert with T-Pain
• Brewer purchases former Getchell Brothers buildings
• UMaine’s 3D printer, the world’s largest, just got supersized
• Volunteer secures thermal imaging masks for Houlton fire department
• Fort Kent is building a wall to honor its heroes at town park
• Man accused of setting 2 homes ablaze on MDI
• A Mainer proved that wooly mammoths once roamed the state
• State aid for storm-damaged fishing piers won’t arrive until July
• Maine’s highest court upholds sentence of Tennessee trucker who caused deadly 2016 crash
• 3-year-old fell from 3rd-floor window in Lewiston
• Boston man gets 30 years for sex trafficking Maine woman
• Vocal prowess propels Mainer Julia Gagnon into ‘American Idol’ top 10
• An early glimpse of how coastal Mainers are adapting to a rising sea
• Hermon rides pitching to win over Old Town in baseball season opener
• Wilcox paces Hermon softball past Old Town in battle of B North contenders

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

A continual source of controversy in Maine is Red’s Eats, the long-running seafood shack on Route 1 in Wiscasset, just before the bridge to the town of Edgecomb. We want to know: How do you really feel about Red’s Eats? Is it a beloved part of a Maine summer? Does it snarl traffic on already-busy Route 1? Do you think it gets an undeserved bad rep? Does it really have the best lobster roll in Maine? Send us your thoughts at [email protected]. 

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

“We continue in the struggle to understand how increasing the distance that some mail deliveries will have to travel, particularly from and then back to northern Maine, will somehow increase efficiency.”

Editorial: Proposed Postal Service ‘modernization’ should be returned to sender

LIFE IN MAINE

Whether money is tight or you just don’t want to part with a well-loved pair of work pants, some simple, inexpensive mending skills can help.

If you’re itching to get out fishing, try trolling. Spring trolling can be fun for fly-fishing snobs and new fishermen alike.

When Aidan Connelly saw something in the road while on Interstate 295 on April 13, he initially thought it was a piece of trash. It turned out to be a disgruntled bald eagle.