Maine’s most fertile scalloping grounds closed for season
LUBEC, Maine (AP) — Maine’s most productive scallop fishing grounds are closed for the remaining weeks of the state’s fishing season. Cobscook Bay is home to the most fertile scalloping waters in Maine. The Maine Department of Marine Resources typically closes scalloping grounds early to prevent overfishing. The department decided to close Cobscook for the season on Sunday. Maine’s state scalloping season begins in early winter and runs to early spring. The state’s scallop industry has been strong in recent years. Fishermen harvested more than 650,000 pounds of scallops in 2020.
Maine senators want more seasonal worker visas
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s U.S. senators are joining an effort for more seasonal worker visas to help with summer hiring needs. Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine and Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota are leading the push, and have called on the Biden administration to raise the cap on seasonal worker visas. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is among dozens of other senators involved in the effort. The senators say an increase in the cap is important because small businesses are having difficulty finding employees around the country.
DEPUTY SHERIFF-SNOWMOBILE DEATH
Penobscot County deputy sheriff dies in snowmobile accident
LIMESTONE, Maine (AP) — A Penobscot County deputy sheriff has been killed in a snowmobile accident. Sheriff Troy Morton said Staff Sergeant Bobbie Pelletier died Sunday as the result of the snowmobile accident in Limestone, Maine. Pelletier had worked for the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office since 2008. Pelletier was promoted to corporal in 2015 and then to staff sergeant in 2016. He was assigned as the supervisor of the Hermon deputy program and was well known throughout Penobscot County, Morton said on the agency’s Facebook page. Morton said Pelletier “will be sadly missed by his family, friends and co-workers.”
CURLING-MAINE
Curling is poised for a return to northern Maine
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (AP) — Curling may soon return to northern Maine. The Presque Isle Recreation and Parks Department is working to revive curling that ceased in the 1980s in the city. If so, it would be only the third curling group in the state. Maine’s other established groups are the Belfast Curling Club and the Portland-based Pine Tree Curling Club. Curling is a sport in which teams take turns sliding rocks down a sheet of ice toward a scoring area. Players furiously sweep the ice along the way to help speed up the stone or curl it around an opponent’s stone on its way to the target.
BIRD FLU-MAINE
Avian influenza discovered for 1st time in Maine
A highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected for the first time in a backyard flock in Maine. Federal officials confirmed the avian flu on Sunday and said state officials quarantined property in Knox County and eliminated the birds to prevent the spread of the disease. The virus is often spread to domestic poultry by infected wild birds. U.S. surveillance efforts have identified the virus in a number of states including New Hampshire, where it was found this month in 20 wild ducks.
MISSING CHILD ALERTS
Maine is 1st New England state with alerts for disabled kids
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine has become the first state in New England to create an alert system for missing children with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The Maine Department of Public Safety and supporters of the new system said it addresses a gap in emergency alerts in the state. The new program is part of the state’s silver alert system that was created more than a decade ago to inform the public about missing older residents who suffer from cognitive impairments. Eighteen states around the country have alert systems for children with intellectual and development disabilities.
OFFICER MENTAL HEALTH
Push to help officers, families with mental health struggles
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s Republican senator has joined a push to help families of public safety officers who have suffered mental health challenges or died by suicide. Sen. Susan Collins is part of a bipartisan group of senators that is working to help those families receive public safety officers’ benefits. Those benefits are currently limited to physical injuries. Collins says the program could be changed to provide financial support to families of firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and others who die in the line of duty or are disabled. Collins said it would also allow families of officers who die by trauma-linked suicide to apply for benefits.