Maine to celebrate blueberry crop on second August weekend
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine will celebrate its wild blueberry crop with a new weekend of events in early August. Maine is home to the only commercial-scale wild blueberry producers in the U.S., and the wild blueberry is the official state berry. Gov. Janet Mills said Friday the first annual Wild Blueberry Weekend will take place on Aug. 7 and 8. The weekend will include farm tours at 15 wild blueberry farms in the state.
Maine health officials not alarmed by COVID-19 increase yet
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The number of new coronavirus cases has ticked up in Maine in recent weeks, but state health officials say they aren’t sounding the alarm about it yet. The state’s daily caseload had dwindled in early summer, with less than 20 new cases reported on some days in June and early July. That trend has reversed in mid-July as the coronavirus counts have ticked up all over the country. Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah told the Portland Press Herald the rate of increase is less in Maine than it is in much of the country.
MAINE GUARD-BORDER
Maine National Guard soldiers to deploy to southern border
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — About 125 Maine National Guard members are going to deploy this fall to the Mexican border, replacing others who’s already deployed. The soldiers will provide support for Customers and Border Patrol agents for a year, much like the 262nd Engineer Company that returns this fall. The soldiers will not serve in a law enforcement capacity.
MAINE HOME SALES
Prices for Maine homes jumped again last month
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The pace and price of home sales in Maine increased again last month as the state’s housing market stayed hot. The Maine Association of Realtors says the statewide median sales price increased by $5,000 to $310,000 in June. The number of home sales rose from 1,613 in May to 1,973 in June. Aaron Bolster, president of realtors association, said Thursday that homes in the state are going under contract swiftly, often with multiple offers. He says homes are spending about six days on the market, which is less than half the number last year or in 2019.
NEW ENGLAND DROUGHT
July rainfall puts a dent in drought in northern New England
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The drought is receding in northern New England, but part of western Maine and a sliver of northern New Hampshire continue to be in the “severe drought” category. The latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor on Thursday indicates virtually all of Maine’s coast is now in the normal range. The region has seen heavy rainfall this month. The National Weather Service says it’s already the rainiest July on record in Concord, New Hampshire, and the fourth-wettest in Portland, Maine.
ROOMMATE KILLING
40-year sentence upheld for man who killed his roommate
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s supreme court has upheld a 40-year prison sentence imposed on a man who killed his roommate. Dustan Bentley pleaded guilty to murder in the death of 65-year-old William Popplewell in Old Ochard Beach in March 2019. Police arrested him as he was attempting to ratchet Popplewell’s body into the trunk of his car, which was lined with a shower curtain. An autopsy revealed the victim had been beaten, strangled and stabbed up to 30 times. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled there was no evidence that the judge deviated from established sentencing principles.
DAM REMOVAL
NOAA to support Maine dam removal project to help salmon
FARMINGTON, Maine (AP) — The federal government is going to help fund a dam removal project in Maine that conservationists have said is critical to restoring fish habitat. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is giving more than $300,000 toward the Walton’s Mill Dam removal project. The project would remove the only dam on Temple Stream, which is located in the Kennebec River watershed in Maine’s western mountains. NOAA said the removal of the dam would restore access to more than 50 river miles. That would be helpful to endangered Atlantic salmon, which return to Maine rivers to spawn.