Good morning. Temperatures will be in the 40s, with overcast skies and rain throughout the state and a chance for snow at higher elevations.
Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.
Belfast’s controversial mayor believes that she and other elected officials deserve more pay
–Samantha Paradis, whose annual stipend is $2,500, recently participated in a Twitter town hall in which elected officials made the case for higher pay. But she realizes change won’t come immediately, especially in a position that is largely ceremonial. “I am not advocating for an increase in council member or mayoral salary this year as the city is currently experiencing a budget crunch,” the mayor, who explained that she was too busy for a standard interview, wrote in an email.
Maine schools restrained and secluded students 20,000 times last year
–Restraint and seclusion in Maine have been on the rise since 2014, according to a new report by the statewide advocacy organization Disability Rights Maine. Schools used these practices — which are only meant to be used in emergencies when children pose threats to their own or others’ safety — more than 20,000 times during the 2017-18 school year. More than half of the total incidents happen at special education schools.
An MDI man will let bugs eat dead whale’s flesh. Then he’ll salvage the skeleton.
–Dan DenDanto is one of the few people around who is well experienced in reassembling — or rearticulating, as it’s called — whales’ bones. His latest project is Vector, a humpback whale who washed ashore in Cape Cod on May 6. This past weekend, after assisting in the necropsy and then getting federal approval to preserve Vector’s skeleton, DenDanto drove three trailer loads of the whale’s dissected body from Cape Cod to a private site on MDI that he uses to compost dead marine mammals. “Typically, I let them compost for two years,” he said.
Property tax increases and layoffs appear to be unavoidable for a midcoast school district
–The five towns that make up Regional School Unit 13 in the Rockland area will each see property tax increases as a result of a proposed school budget that is 7 percent higher than last year. The proposed spending plan — which includes repayment of a state aid overpayment — also would result in the elimination of about 20 positions throughout the district.
Do this: Top 6 Acadia carriage road loop hikes for end of mud season
–The carriage roads are great for walking, especially as some of the historic vistas are being restored by the park. The Acadia carriage road loop hikes we suggest include some of these vistas, as well as carriage road bridges and short sections along hiking trails for a little variety.
In other news …
Maine
What got rural young people in New Hampshire to want to return home later in life
What to expect for this year’s tick season in Maine
Bangor
‘I just wanted to protect my friends’: Brewer man recounts downtown Bangor shooting
Bangor to ban single-use foam containers 1 year before statewide ban
Maine’s faith communities grapple with responding to opioid epidemic
Business
Belfast company gets another grant to make less toxic insulation at former Madison paper mill
Maine joins multi-state lawsuit that alleges price fixing by drug makers
British clothing company pays $610,000 to settle suit over ducking import fees
Politics
How Maine’s political parties have fared in picking presidential nominees
William Barr launches probe into origins of Russia investigation, source says
As new leaders take over Maine’s child welfare system, caseworkers say they’re still ‘drowning’
Opinion
Logging bill can help correct a long history of injustice in Maine woods
We must make sure the abortion ‘gag rule’ never takes effect
The real threat from Trump’s trade bluster isn’t a trade war but a global recession
Sports
Freshman guard from Turkey leaves UMaine women’s basketball team
Former UMaine players agree to deals with NFL teams
Portland Sea Dogs beat Hartford
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