Morning update: What you need to know in Maine today

21 June 2024

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Holy Hannah — there’s a ton of people that remember eating out of that thing. The bones are there. It’s not as bad as it actually looks.”

— Chris Rotta of Ellsworth describing the old English double-decker passenger bus he is restoring. After a first life in public transportation, the bus was resurrected as a food truck in Bangor, then languished in a field for two decades before Rotta took it in.

TODAY’S TOP MAINE STORIES

The FBI claims to have solved the 1996 murder of a Unity College student and her girlfriend. Laura “Lollie” Winans and Julianne “Julie” Williams were murdered at their campsite in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Some of Winans’ former classmates shared their recollections and thoughts on the end of the long-unsolved case.

Is Roger Clemens a hero or villain? A group of Maine kids born after the former Boston Red Sox pitcher and seven-time Cy Young Award winner retired didn’t seem to care one way or the other when he paid them a visit Thursday.

A string quartet and juggling are planned for Orono’s new arts festival. The Orono Arts Fest picks up where the long-running Artsapalooza left off but with a somewhat of a different feel.

An English double-decker bus that was once a Bangor food truck is getting a new life in Ellsworth. Chris Rotta is restoring the structure and appearance of the bus, but it won’t need to be road-ready for its next assignment.

Bangor set a new high temperature record during this week’s heat wave. The previous high was recorded on June 20, 1931.

MAINE IN PICTURES

Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens demonstrates his pitching form for a group of young baseball players at Hadlock Field in Portland on Thursday. The 61-year-old “Rocket” stopped off in the city to work with a group of kids associated with the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital and the Dempsey Center before going to a celebrity golf tournament. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE 

Why most Mainers’ electric bills will increase next month

Recount confirms winner of Democratic primary for Maine Senate seat

Solar eclipse greatly boosted tourism spending in Maine

Bangor home ‘a total loss’ after overnight fire

Aroostook County Jail is unsafe, crowded and not secure, federal experts say

Caribou police shoot man during altercation

18-year-old dies in Burnham crash

Pizza box left on stove may have caused Father’s Day fire in Searsmont

Judge tosses restraining order against former Lewiston principal over false allegations

Police uncover illegal marijuana operation in garage across from Maine day care

Exploding gun cartridge partially detached Mainer’s finger

Mainer was allegedly ‘highly intoxicated’ when he caused chain-reaction crash

WEX laying off around 45 people in Maine

Suspects who fled school bus crash found 5 days later in wall of house

FROM THE OPINION PAGES  

“One would hope that the U.S. Supreme Court would be able to boast air-tight ethics protections that help safeguard the court’s standing as a trusted institution with the American people.”

Editorial: Supreme Court needs much stronger ethics rules and enforcement 

LIFE IN MAINE

Here’s what it means to live in one of Maine’s nuisance bear hotspots.

Thinking of raising livestock for meat? Doing some simple math ahead of time will help you know how much to get.

Bangor City Forest, 650 acres managed for species and age diversity, is the perfect place to discover what birds really want, Bob Duchesne writes.

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