Today is Wednesday. Temperatures will be in the mid-30s to high 40s from north to south, with cloudy skies throughout the state. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.
Janet Mills delivers her State of the Budget speech on February 23, 2021. Credit: Screenshot
Gov. Janet Mills proposed borrowing at least $111 million to aid Maine’s pandemic recovery in a virtual State of the Budget address on Tuesday as she pushed back against calls to cut or bolster services in the next two-year budget.
People work to stock the newly rebuilt Swan Lake Grocery for its soft reopening, planned for Wednesday, March 3. Credit: Abigail Curtis / BDN
Nearly five months ago, Swan Lake Grocery was a charred, water-damaged husk after a driver veered off the road and hit the building, killing himself and starting a fire.
Abdulkerim Said, the executive director of the New Mainers Public Health Initiative in Lewiston, poses for a photo after getting the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the Scarborough Downs mass vaccination site last week. Credit: Courtesy of Abdulkerim Said
Much of the early vaccine gap likely stems from the state’s eligibility requirements.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, speaks during a confirmation hearing for Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Xavier Becerra before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Credit: Sarah Silbiger / Pool via AP
The nearly $2 trillion stimulus bill is the new president’s first major legislative initiative and includes a range of Democratic priorities, including $1,400 stimulus checks, extended unemployment benefits, funding for state and local governments and money to assist the distributions of coronavirus vaccines.
Houses in Bangor are shown in this June 2017 file photo. The city doesn’t allow short-term rentals, but is starting to consider how to regulate them with an eye toward balancing tourism with housing affordability. Credit: Gabor Degre / BDN
People have been booking short-term rentals using Airbnb and other sites for years, but those rentals aren’t technically allowed in Bangor.
In this May 7, 2020, file photo, Matt LeBeau, a volunteer at the Foodshare distribution center, directs cars in East Hartford, Connecticut, during the coronavirus pandemic. Credit: Mark Lennihan / AP
More Mainers are still out of work than before the pandemic, but many job hunters are looking to work in a different field with higher growth potential or one that simply might offer a much-needed change.
