Canada begins allowing vaccinated US citizens to visit again
Canada is lifting its prohibition on Americans crossing the border to shop, vacation or visit, but the United States is keeping similar restrictions in place for Canadians. The reopening Monday is part of a bumpy return to normalcy from COVID-19 travel bans. The border has been closed to nonessential travel since March 2020 to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The U.S. has said it will extend its closure to Canadians making nonessential trips until at least Aug. 21, which also applies to the Mexican border. The lopsided rules on one of the world’s longest and busiest land borders is unsurprisingly being met with cheers and jeers.
Maine: Largest school district to keep masks; daily cases up
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s largest school district is planning to require universal masking for all students in the coming year. Portland Public Schools also plan to make masking optional for vaccinated staff in indoor settings that only involve adults. Superintendent Xavier Botana said in a letter to parents that staff who are not vaccinated will be expected to wear a mask at all times. The Portland Board of Public Education is scheduled to vote on the rules on Aug. 17. Also Monday, the number of daily coronavirus cases in the state rose to about 120 after sitting at about 61 two weeks ago.
Herring fishing off Maine to shut down for about 2 months
ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — Commercial fishing for herring will all but shut down in the inshore Gulf of Maine for about two months to help conserve the species. Atlantic herring are an important bait fish that are harvested extensively off New England. The fishery has been limited by new restrictions in recent years because of concerns about the health of the fish’s population. Interstate regulators said herring fishing will essentially be shut down in inshore areas off Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire until Sept. 30. They said that’s because fishermen are approaching their limits for the quota of the fish.
River Dave’ grateful for help after fire ravaged his home
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 for 27 years says he’s grateful and overwhelmed by fundraising efforts and offers for a place to live. Eighty-one-year-old David Lidstone said Sunday he feels about as good as he has in his life. He said he lived in the woods because he liked being alone, so he’s not used to all the publicity. Fire destroyed the cabin on Wednesday, hours after Lidstone defended himself during a court hearing. The state fire marshal’s office is investigating.
Maine senator wants government to use only US-grown flowers
BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) — Maine’s independent senator is joining a push to call on the federal government to only procure flowers grown in the United States. Sen. Angus King said the “American Grown Act” would require the office of the president as well as the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of State to only procure cut flowers and cut greens grown in America. King said the “vast majority” of flowers currently purchased by the government are foreign grown. King said the bill would be helpful in part because the U.S. flower industry was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-RECKLESS DRIVERS
Pandemic set off deadly rise in speeding that hasn’t stopped
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Motorists have felt the need to speed during the pandemic, a worrisome trend as roads get busier with the final stretch of summer travel. The number of highway deaths in 2020 was the greatest in more than a decade even though cars and trucks drove fewer miles during the pandemic, and motorists are continuing to speed, tailgate and zigzag through traffic. Tickets by the California Highway Patrol for speeding in excess of 100 mph from January to June were nearly double pre-pandemic levels. New York State Police say both the percentage of fatalities for which speeding was a primary factor and the number of speeding tickets were up in the same period.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW ENGLAND
Some Boston eateries require vaccines, NH gets school funds
In the absence of state or city mandates, a small but growing number of Boston-area restaurant owners are devising their own plans to make indoor dining safer. Acting Mayor Kim Janey has said she doesn’t support requiring diners to show proof of vaccination before eating indoors. But some local restaurants are implementing mandates. Elsewhere in New England, New Hampshire has received its final $116 million to help schools operate safely during the pandemic, and a lack of court security is forcing the Vermont court system to reduce in-person services at one of its superior courts. In Connecticut, some are concerned that allowing towns to decide on mask mandates could produce spikes in infections where vaccination rates lag.
WHITEWATER-SKOWHEGAN
Whitewater recreation idea moving forward in Skowhegan
SKOWHEGAN, Maine (AP) — Some residents of Skowhegan are uneasy about a whitewater recreation area, but the proposal is moving forward. The Morning Sentinel reports that more than $1.7 million has been raised through grants, private donors and foundations for the Run of River project. Kristina Cannon, executive director of Main Street Skowhegan, told residents the Run of River will not be an amusement park but a whitewater recreation area.
HIKER DEATH
Maryland woman dies while hiking in Maine
STOW, Maine (AP) — A volunteer searcher with the Maine Warden Service has discovered the body of a missing 78-year-old Maryland woman who disappeared while hiking Blueberry Mountain in Stow. Officials say Barbara Goldberg, of Potomac, Maryland, had spoken to her partner via walkie talkie at 11 a.m. Friday, telling him she was almost at the summit. After a lengthy search, a dog found Goldberg’s walkie talkie Friday night near a ledge and around 3 a.m. Saturday, a volunteer found the body at the base of the ledges by calling her phone and following the faint sound.
BAKED BEANS-SMOKESTACK
B&M baked beans smokestack removed, molasses scent endures
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A brick smokestack that pumped out molasses-scented steam for decades in Portland is coming down. Visible from Interstate 295, the nearly 150-foot smokestack long has been a symbol of the B&M baked beans factory, but it hasn’t been used for more than 20 years. The Portland Press Herald reports that crews began removing it on Friday, and the rest is expected to come down by the end of the month. Burnham & Morrill Co. opened in Portland in 1867 as a food cannery. The trademark smell of molasses from the cooking beans now emerges from an exhaust stack on the other side of the factory.