Captain Explosion / Unsolved Aroostook disappearance / Absentee voting

Today is Monday. Temperatures will be in the low 60s to high 50s from north to south, with decreasing clouds across northern and eastern Maine. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.

The latest on the coronavirus in Maine

Two more Mainers have died and another 741 coronavirus cases across the state Saturday, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The statewide death toll now stands at 1,026.

Chinese media outlets have suggested that a November 2019 shipment of Maine lobster was a “Pandora’s box” that unleashed the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The Cumberland County Jail isn’t taking any new prisoners while the facility copes with a rash of COVID-19 cases.

Despite having the highest vaccination rates in the country, there are constant reminders for most New England states of the viciousness of the COVID-19 delta variant.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are down in Bangor

The decline could be a sign of things to come for the rest of the state.

This budding Maine city’s affordable housing draws buyers priced out of Portland

Known decades ago as a mill town that commuters drove through, Westbrook has become increasingly seen as a good place to live and is growing at a faster rate than Portland and many other area suburbs.

Increased costs and pandemic supply shortages slam Maine public works departments

Maine’s public works agencies are the latest witness to pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions, inflation and other problems.

What Mainers need to know about voting absentee in November’s referendum election

Maine has long had a robust system for allowing absentee voting, allowing voters to request an absentee ballot for any reason.

In the wake of a Stockton Springs woman’s death, a secret was discovered in her home

The secret is on the walls — huge murals of a lighthouse, a sponge-painted forest of autumn trees and tidy colonial houses, a sailboat scudding on the bay and more.

Major sewer work needed before businesses can develop on Hampden’s Coldbrook Road

Installing those connections is estimated to cost the town a minimum of $1.8 million.

From planting crops to cutting her hair, this gardener is religiously following the Farmers’ Almanac

Though the guide’s accuracy is disputed, that hasn’t stopped Tammy Ouellette from taking its every word as gospel.

Missing Aroostook County man’s fate remains a mystery 55 years later

Ubald Theriault’s disappearance captured the attention of St. John Valley residents who enjoyed a virtually crime free existence in 1966.

‘Captain Explosion,’ Maine’s own version of Evel Knievel, has died

James Moreau crashed nearly every type of vehicle imaginable and set himself on fire for the entertainment of crowds across the country.

Maine’s biggest tax changes this year and what they mean to you

Some of the potential benefits are small, but they can add up.

In other Maine news …

Canadian company plans to restore ferry service to Maine next year

Midcoast towns are adding electric vehicles to their fleets

Maine to use lottery to give out more scalloping licenses

Destroyer named for Sen. Carl Levin is christened at Bath Iron Works

Janet Mills’ administration applies for federal lease for offshore wind test site

UMaine men’s hockey gets 7-0 exhibition thumping from Quinnipiac

Maine schools getting help to improve internet access

Longtime local racer is now leasing the Unity Raceway