Friday, July 12, 2024

Quote of the Day

“Now, every year I get a picture of a bunch of second graders in Michigan trying our red snappers.”

— Sean Smith, general manager and director of sales for Bangor-based W.A. Bean & Sons, Maine’s last producer of red snapper hot dogs

Today’s Top Maine Stories

Janet Mills recruited an ex-Republican to run for her former legislative seat. The race for the Farmington-based seat is an odd example of Maine’s cordial brand of local politics.

Maine’s last red snapper hot dog maker has seen demand soar to 700,000 pounds a year. While plenty of companies suffered during the pandemic, demand for this Maine cookout favorite appeared to never wane.

Jared Golden didn’t have private White House meetings with Joe Biden as ad claims. The 30-second video clip says says Golden “met privately” and “witnessed Biden’s mental failures up close.”

The endless summer traffic along Route 1A in Holden convinced a bakery to open a new location there. Sweet Cheeks Bakery’s original location on Verona Island doesn’t get much drive-by traffic and instead relies on people who know it’s there.

The University of Maine System is close to selling off its Belfast center. The sale of the Hutchinson Center is part of a larger effort to dispose of underused resources and put the proceeds towards keeping other programs affordable.

Maine in Pictures

More News from Around the State

• Army medical contractor defies subpoena from Lewiston shooting investigators

• More details emerge in death of 1-year-old on Vinalhaven

• Algae bloom kills salmon at Maine aquaculture site

• Flash flooding washes out northern Maine roads

• Maine Air National Guard could get $50M for a new Bangor hangar

• Belfast child care facility moving to new location

• Organization deletes social media post falsely stating Maine athlete had died

• Can-Am sled dog race officials say new CDC rules threaten future events

• Driver in fatal Gray crash charged with manslaughter

• Body of Maine man missing from West Gardiner found

• Brunswick man shot in leg in Wiscasset

• Jared Golden says he needs assurances on Joe Biden’s health before securing his vote

• Kennebec County DA’s office seriously damaged in Wednesday storm

• Teenager wins Maine Amateur golf title by shooting final round 71

• These Mainers may be the 1st to use a new law to purchase their mobile home park

• ​​Bangor llama on the loose returns home on its own

• ESPN says Cooper Flagg could revitalize NCAA viewership

Things to Do This Weekend

On Friday, check out improv comedy troupe The Focus Group at the Bangor Arts Exchange, the Orono Arts Fest at various locations throughout Orono, or the last weekend of “Little Shop of Horrors” at Penobscot Theatre. On Saturday, Dirty Heads and Slightly Stoopid play at the Maine Savings Amphitheater. Feeling outdoorsy? On Friday evening there’s an evening guided paddle for loon lovers at 6 p.m. at Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden. On Saturday morning, Bangor Land Trust hosts a naturalist-guided walk through the Northeast Penjajawoc Reserve, leaving from the Kittredge Road parking lot at 10 a.m. And on Sunday morning, the Spiral Goddess Collective hosts a pay-what-you-will hiking yoga session, beginning at its facility at 16 State St. at 9:15 a.m. and continuing throughout downtown Bangor.

From Opinion

Life in Maine

The remnants of Hurricane Beryl could carry potato blight to Maine. Potatoes are Maine’s most valuable crop and brought in $291.5 million last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Bob Duchesne climbed a mountain and had his mind boggled by a one-in-a-lifetime encounter with rare Bicknell’s thrushes.

Comedian Tom Segura got a lift to the airport from a Bangor cop when he was in town last month. He and his crew filmed the ride.

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