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Racist graffiti / COVID-19 politics / School masking

Leela Stockley
Aug 24, 2021 06:50 am


Today is Tuesday. Temperatures will be in the low 80s throughout the state, with clouds giving way to mostly sunny skies. 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 will report the latest coronavirus cases and deaths from the weekend by 9:30 a.m. today. Check out our COVID-19 Tracker for more information.

The Food and Drug Administration has granted full authorization for the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccination.

COVID-19 hospitalizations have reached the highest level in three months, as the delta virus continues to surge throughout the state. An increased number of hospitalizations at the Northern Light AR Gould hospital in Presque Isle have been more severe and among younger people.

Maine school boards bear brunt of COVID-19 politics with few mandates to guide them

Schools across Maine are making difficult decisions as students return to the classroom under worse COVID-19 conditions than a year ago.

PLUS: We have compiled a growing list of districts statewide and their mask policies. You can explore that here.

Brewer schools will now require masks instead of making them optional

That reverses course on a policy from earlier in the summer that made them optional.

PLUS: Hermon schools reverse masking rules amid pool testing issues

Policy making masks optional in Hampden-area schools passed because of tabulation error

The error awarded more weight than normal to two board members’ votes, meaning the policy to make masks optional would have narrowly failed.

Maine EMS regulator votes to give workers 2 more weeks to meet vaccine mandate

Emergency medical services workers will have more time to comply with Maine’s new vaccine requirement for health care workers, and dispatchers will be exempt after a state regulator voted on Monday to slightly rein in Gov. Janet Mills’ mandate.

COVID outbreak forces Aroostook school to become 1st in Maine this year to go remote

The school has only been in session for three days, one of which was cut short due to a heat advisory, and already is grappling with the impact of even one COVID-19 case.

GOP lawmaker says wife who died of COVID-19 didn’t get vaccine due to ‘conflicting information’

Rep. Chris Johansen made the comment on Facebook in an apparent response to widespread news reports that he had attended last week’s rally shortly after the passing of his wife, Cindy Johansen.

Even as teams shrink to 8-man ranks, Maine kids just happy to be playing tackle football again

They are just happy to be blocking and tackling anyone besides their teammates for the first time in 21 months.

Bangor victim of racist graffiti tells culprits: ‘Be better as human beings’

He’d experienced racism in Bangor, but nothing like what was spray-painted on his car

Few Washington County towns saw their populations grow over the last decade

Washington County, long one of the poorest counties in Maine, continues to struggle to retain residents after its population fell by more than 5 percent over the past decade.

Construction of boutique Rockport hotel moving forward amid legal challenges

The Rockport Harbor Hotel has faced pushback from a group of residents since the project was proposed in 2019.

In other Maine news

Lewiston crematorium accused in lawsuit of letting bodies decompose

Houlton community mourns passing of McDonald’s franchise owner of restaurants in 4 towns

Maine housing market shows signs of cooling with July sales down 5 percent

Hampden asks voters to approve $4.5 million fiber optic network

Presque Isle man sentenced to 27 years for plans to distribute drugs in northern and central Maine

UMaine quarterback on national list of players to watch in 2021

Mysterious giant rubber duck has left Belfast Harbor

Greenbush teen is missing

5 private Maine islands you can own for less than $1 million

Janet Mills appoints housing advocate to focus on affordable units


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