Friday, Dec. 6, 2024

Quote of the Day

“We have a housing shortage and it’s not good for the city to have a whole whole bunch of vacant residential buildings.”

— Bangor City Solicitor David Szewczyk. The city has 76 known vacant properties, including one that burned Tuesday.

Today’s Top Maine Stories

The owner of a vacant Bangor house damaged in a recent fire owes $73,000 in back taxes. James Butler Jr., of Hampden, owns five buildings and an empty plot of land in Bangor.

Bangor’s retiring city manager has advice for her successor. During her short tenure in the manager’s post, Debbie Laurie has had to address chronic challenges, including rising housing prices, a swelling homeless population and rampant opioid use.

Court documents revealed new details in grisly midcoast killing. At the home of one man, detectives allegedly found parts of a shotgun and firearm cases, brain matter on the television and track marks suggesting a body had been dragged into the yard.

An Aroostook County community is planning a vigil for Stefanie Damron, who has been missing since September. The 14-year-old girl’s disappearance has prompted community search groups and investigations by the Maine State Police and FBI.

A former lawmaker and brewery owner has been picked to be Maine’s ratepayer watchdog. Heather Sanborn will succeed Public Advocate Bill Harwood after he retires next month.

News from Around the State

• Susan Collins has ‘excellent meeting’ with Elon Musk that avoided talk of specific cuts

• Maine finalizes rules for paid family and medical leave program

• How much snow fell across Maine during Thursday’s storm

• Annual loon count finds ‘healthy’ population of iconic Maine bird

• Aroostook man pleads guilty to manslaughter in death of infant son

• Firefighters battle two-story structure fire in Caribou

• Former Maine lawyer gets 14 months for stealing $190K from client’s estate

• Ellsworth board approves 83-room hotel for High Street

• Ellsworth firefighters short on engines after 1 rolls down hill and smashes into tree

• Man accused of threatening Stonington woman with gun

• Car dangles from utility lines after snowy crash in Bowdoin

• Scaled-back midcoast Maine assisted-care facility gets planning board approval

• Man found stabbed in Portland apartment

• Texan gets 11 years in prison for attempting to sexually exploit Maine children

• Bangor High girls basketball team will have new look this season

Maine in Pictures

A snowman braved the elements in a Lincoln backyard on Thursday. The state saw nearly a foot of snow in some areas, while much of central, southern and eastern Maine received scattered rainfall. Credit: Leela Stockley / BDN

From the Opinion Pages

Life in Maine

You can make this balsam poplar salve that is touted as an old-time “universal cure” with many uses. It just takes some foraging skills and patience.

Bob Duchesne expects to see more raptors and fewer finches in the Bangor area during a birding trip in February. Maine has seen more owls in the state than usual this year.

Maine added three species to its “special concern” list. The list puts people on notice that the species may be on the decline. The next step is the endangered species list.

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