Ammo shortage / Old Town mill spill / Absentee ballots

Today is Thursday. Temperatures will be in the low 50s to low 60s from north to south, with partly sunny skies throughout the state. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.

Here’s the latest on the coronavirus and Maine

Another 50 coronavirus cases were reported in Maine on Wednesday, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It was the largest single-day increase in new cases since Sept. 29, when 50 cases were also reported. There are 637 active confirmed and “probable” cases in the state and the death toll is remains at 146. Check out our COVID-19 Tracker for more information.

The outbreak associated with Brooks Pentecostal Church and its Lighthouse Christian Academy now involves at least 46 cases, up from 42 on Tuesday and 17 over the weekend.

Old Town paper mill spills 30,000 gallons of pulping chemicals into Penobscot River

The mill suspended production after discovering that chemicals were spilling into the river through a ruptured underground sewer line and a failed floor drain on Oct. 7.

Local sporting stores feeling crunch of nationwide ammunition shortage

If you’re a hunter or recreational shooter who’s been struggling to find ammunition, you’re not alone.

Maine secretary of state floats crackdown on confusing ‘blizzard’ of absentee ballot mailers

A deluge of mailers urging Mainers to request absentee ballots —even although a record share already have voted that way in the 2020 election — is annoying or confusing many in the run-up to the 2020 election reshaped by the coronavirus.

Maine soccer community mourns loss of former Mount Desert Island coach

The Maine soccer community suffered a blow on Oct. 12 when former Mount Desert Island High School coach Tom Savage died from a work-related accident on Route 102. He was 46.

Trump again pushes trade and economy in Maine as coronavirus dominates race with Biden

President Donald Trump is banking on trade policy, defense and the economy in the last two weeks of his fight to retain Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, testing whether his message has the same resonance amid the coronavirus pandemic as it did four years ago.

Old votes on guns, taxes dominate 2nd debate between Jared Golden, Dale Crafts

U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a freshman Democrat, and former state Rep. Dale Crafts, R-Lisbon, broke little ground on topics such as health care and federal coronavirus relief that have been top ones in a relatively sedate race that Golden has led handily this year after narrowly beating a Republican incumbent in the most expensive race in state history to that point.

A Bangor Halloween destination is telling trick-or-treaters to stay away

People who have never been to a Halloween on Maple Street in Bangor might not believe it when they’re told that each year, thousands of people crowd the residential street on the city’s East Side. This year, however, the majority of Maple Street residents are asking the hordes of trick-or-treaters who descend on the neighborhood to please, just this year, stay away.

That cute chick someone got last spring may be the abandoned rooster you see this fall

There’s nothing wrong with not wanting roosters in your henhouse, but it is illegal to simply abandon or dump them on the side of the road.

In other Maine news …

Watch Maine astronaut Christopher Cassidy’s journey back to Earth

Southwest Harbor upgrades obsolete culvert to address sewage violations

Orono man accused of defacing LGBTQ flag barriers pleads not guilty

Union says Portland Museum Of Art employees are being prevented from organizing

Jackson Lab expects to complete $74M phase of Ellsworth expansion this month