Winter Weather
(Augusta) – Maine’s rivers are back below flood stage after Saturday’s heavy rains and snow melt. The Kennebec River flooded in Augusta and Hallowell, ruining cars and damaging some businesses along the waterfront. Ice jams created by the warm temperatures following weeks of bitter cold caused the water to back up. Meanwhile, the state is bracing for snowfall starting overnight. When it’s done, about 7-inches of new snow will be on the ground after tomorrow. Most of the snowfall, especially along the coast, melted away in Saturday’s storm.
Island Middle School
(Bar Harbor) – The four towns on Mt. Desert Island may explore a single middle school for children in grades 6-through-8. Currently Bar Harbor, Mt. Desert, Southwest Harbor and Tremont all have separate schools for Kindergarten through 8th graders. The Mt. Desert Islander reports the superintendent of schools polled various education communities and found overwhelming support for a single middle school idea, along with a pre-kindergarten education program.
KW&W Meeting
(E. Millinocket) The National Park Service will host a public meeting to discuss winter use within the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The meeting is aimed at helping the NPS better understand the variety of opportunities and concerns related to winter activities, and to help shape the development of a management plan for the newly created national monument. The public meeting is Wednesday, January 24th at 6PM at the Katahdin Region Higher Education Center in East Millinocket.
Mutual Aid Cost
(Rockland) – When neighboring communities in Knox County call on Rockland for an ambulance assist, they get a bill. That bill is going up soon. Village Soup dot-com reports city councilors in Rockland voted unanimously to increase fees for EMS mutual aid calls. Fire Chief Chris Whytock says the increase covers the actual cost of providing aid for neighboring towns.
Not Guilty Plea
(Wiscasset) – A judge ordered a 43-year old Wiscasset woman held in jail on a quarter million dollars bail after she allegedly beat a 4-year old girl to death. Shawna Gatto entered a not guilty plea late last week. She’s accused of hitting 4-year old Kendall Chick so hard that the little girl died on December 8th. The fatal blow to the abdomen wasn’t the only one – the autopsy showed the girl suffered previous injuries. The 4-year old lived with her grandfather who is Gatto’s boyfriend.
UMaine Menu
(Orono) The University of Maine System says it has met its goal of purchasing more than 20-percent of its food locally. The university system and food services company Sodexo set a goal of exceeding 20-percent local food by 2020 and say they’ve already reached 23-percent. The system says it’s on pace to spend about $1.5 million-dollars this fiscal year on purchases from local food vendors.
Fairpoint Name Change
(Portland) The FairPoint name is going away. Consolidated Communications begins rebranding with its own logo for trucks, gear and buildings early this year, providing the most visible change for its customers in northern New England since it bought FairPoint last summer. The company says several hundred thousand residential consumers will see faster broadband speeds as the company tries to attract and retain customers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Sports
- Dallas Stars 3 Boston Bruins 2 (Overtime)
- College Basketball: Vermont Men 83 Maine 62; Maine Women 64 Vermont 55
- The Tennessee Titans have parted ways with coach Mike Mularkey after losing to the Patriots.
- The Indianapolis Colts may hire Patriots’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as their new head coach.
High School Basketball
Boys
Ellsworth 70, Belfast Area 53
Mount Desert Island 60, Orono 37
Sumner Memorial 69, Narraguagus 65
George Stevens 75, Calais 26
Bucksport 66, Deer Isle-Stonington 44
Bangor 66, Windham 64
Hermon 68, Washington Academy 40
Nokomis Regional 60, Brewer 41
Foxcroft Academy 66, Caribou 50
Girls
Mount Desert Island 39, Orono 30
Ellsworth 49, Belfast Area 32
Calais 64, George Stevens 32
Deer Isle-Stonington 44, Bucksport 39
Hermon 62, Washington Academy 14
Schenck 52, Machias 19
Shead 70, Highview Christian Academy 24
Brewer 52, Nokomis Regional 40
Windham 51, Bangor 44
