Cash for Vax: Maine town offers $200 to get fully vaccinated
SOUTH THOMASTON, Maine (AP) — A Maine town is offering $200 to entice residents to become fully vaccinated, doubling the president’s recommendation for financial incentives. South Thomaston is the first known community in the state to dangle financial incentives, offering cash to unvaccinated residents, nonresident employees, seasonal residents and other “frequent visitors.” South Thomaston Select Board Chair John Spear tells the Portland Press Herald that there’s a fear that the delta variant of the coronavirus will create another wave of turmoil if residents don’t get ahead of it. Also Friday, the federal authorities said seven of the state’s 16 counties had high or substantial transmission of coronavirus.
The number of daily coronavirus infections continues to rise in Maine.
There there were another 145 infections but no deaths reported on Friday, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The state hasn’t recorded a COVID-19 death since Monday.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Maine has risen over the past two weeks from 58 new cases per day on July 21 to 105 new cases per day on Aug. 4.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said six counties in the state are the site of substantial transmission of coronavirus and one county, Waldo, is the site of high transmission of the virus. The state is recommending indoor mask use in those counties.
EXCAVATOR DEATH
Man killed when excavator overturns during pool installation
AUBURN, Maine (AP) — Officials say a 21-year-old worker was killed when an excavator overturned while a crew was installing an in-ground pool in Auburn, Maine. Police said co-workers were performing CPR when first responders arrived late Thursday morning. Police say a crew from Prestige Pools was digging when the excavator overturned. The victim became trapped underneath the boom, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Auburn Police and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration are investigating.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MAINE
Worker shortage stymies vaccine mandates at nursing homes
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Several Maine health care systems and hospitals are mandating COVID-19 vaccines for employees. But staffing shortages in many nursing homes may prevent them from following suit. The Bangor Daily News reports that more than 40 nursing homes want to require staff to be vaccinated but longstanding shortages of workers make them wary of implementing requirements. That’s based on a survey from the Maine Medical Directors Association. Over the past week, Northern Light Health and MaineHealth announced vaccine requirements for employees. Also in Maine, the average number of daily cases of the virus has doubled over the course of the last two weeks.
HERMIT EVICTED-FIRE
Offers flooding in after woodland hermit’s cabin burns down
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — An off-the-grid New Hampshire hermit known to locals as “River Dave” whose cabin burned down on wooded property where he was squatting has been inundated with offers from as far away as California for a new place to live. Eighty-one-year-old David Lidstone lived in the woods along the Merrimack River. He was jailed on July 15 on a civil contempt sanction and was told he’d be released if he agreed to leave the cabin, which is on property owned by a Vermont man. He was released Thursday, after a judge ruled the Lidstone would have less incentive to return to the property now that the cabin is gone.
LEGIONNAIRES’ DISEASE-MAINE
Maine CDC investigating 4 cases of Legionnaires’ disease
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — The Maine Center for Disease Control is trying to determine if four cases of Legionnaires’ disease are connected in the Bangor area. The Maine CDC said Thursday that it alerted health care providers after learning of four cases in which patients were hospitalized for Legionella. The Legionella bacteria, which is found naturally in lakes and streams, becomes a problem when it grows and spreads in air conditioning systems, hot tubs, fountains and large plumbing systems. Legionnaires’ disease, which is a type of pneumonia, may result when individuals breathe in droplets of water that contain the bacteria. It’s treated with antibiotics.
WRONG WAY DRIVER-FATAL CRASH
Police: Wrong-way driver killed in Maine Turnpike crash
KITTERY, Maine (AP) — State police in Maine are investigating a fatal highway crash that appeared to involve a wrong-way driver. Police said the crash happened in the early morning hours of Thursday in Kittery when a passenger car and tractor-trailer truck collided on the Maine Turnpike. They say the crash killed 29-year-old Caleb Ewing of Caribou. He was the driver of the car. Police say the driver of the tractor-trailer was uninjured. They say an initial investigation showed Ewing entered the turnpike in Kittery and traveled in the wrong direction, going northbound in the southbound lane.
COUNTY OFFICIAL-ARREST
Penobscot official charged with child porn, asked to resign
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — The Maine Republican Party chair is calling for the resignation of a county treasurer and city school committee member arrested for possession of child pornography. Demi Kouzounas said the defendant, John Hiatt of Bangor, will have his day in court but that he “should do what is best for his community and resign” immediately from all political posts. Hiatt, who’s a member of the Republican State Committee, was already charged for allegedly stalking and harassing a woman before he was arrested Tuesday for possession of sexually explicit material of children under 12. He didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.