Aroostook potato surplus / Health care vaccine mandate / Corridor referendum

Today is Friday. Temperatures will be in the low 60s, with cloudy skies and a chance for scattered showers across the state. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.

The latest on the coronavirus in Maine

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 799 more COVID-19 cases on Thursday, along with five more deaths. The statewide death toll stands at 1,088.

As of Thursday, 111 Maine schools were experiencing coronavirus outbreaks, down from 113 last week. Over the past 30 days, 518 schools have reported positive COVID-19 cases.

The Maine Department of Labor announced on Thursday that health care workers who do not get vaccinated before Gov. Janet Mills’ mandate begins to be enforced will not qualify for unemployment benefits.

A Lincoln nursing home is among the latest to slash services due to funding and staffing issues, and will pivot towards long-term care with fewer residence openings.

The University of Maine System has reached 91 percent vaccination compliance among the student population. Those who have not confirmed their vaccination status or filed for an exemption face mandatory withdrawal from enrollment.

Providers serving Mainers with intellectual disabilities may lose 1 in 10 workers to mandate

“Those are numbers we cannot absorb. We cannot consolidate and move people around and still preserve care.”

Aroostook’s potato crop is so bountiful farmers need airplane hangars to store it

While the yield is largely good news, the sheer size of the 2021 harvest is creating new problems for some farmers.

Colby College bans discrimination based on caste

That makes Colby the second school in the nation to ban discrimination based on class, following Brandeis University.

We answer your biggest questions about the CMP corridor referendum

To help voters make an informed choice on the upcoming referendum, the Bangor Daily News asked readers what information they felt they still needed to decide how to vote.

ALSO: Watch: Wednesday’s Issue Forum on the CMP transmission line referendum

David Flanagan, CMP executive known for reviving businesses, dies at 74

As CEO at Central Maine Power Co. from 1994 to 2000, he is known for restoring power during the 1998 ice storm, closing the Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant and keeping rate increases below the rate of inflation.

UMaine field hockey is 1 win away from hosting the America East tournament

The University of Maine’s surging field hockey team could clinch the top seed among America East’s six eastern schools on Friday.

The fall migration is the right time for hunting woodcock

Under the right conditions, those plump, short-legged birds with long, straight bills, can provide some action. 

Bar Harbor voters to decide whether to spend $3M to design major K-8 school expansion

The Conners building dates from the early 1950s and currently houses younger students.

In other Maine news …

Man killed during armed confrontation with Augusta police

State troopers acted in self-defense in fatal shooting during 2020 Hiram standoff

Dixmont passes temporary ban on solar arrays

Holden police charge 3 men with theft after recovering a dozen stolen road signs

Rockland will now be responsible for maintaining its iconic lighthouse

Police say man carrying a gun on Edgemont Drive was a bird hunter

Maine man sentenced to 30 years for killing mother dies

New tool to allow Mainers to window shop for health coverage

Portland school employee arrested for multiple sex crimes