MARIJUANA SALES
Marijuana sales continue to surge higher in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Sales of marijuana in Maine are continuing an upward trend since the product finally reached stores. Maine voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2016, but legal sales in stores didn’t start until last October. The Maine Office of Marijuana Policy reported nearly $2.5 million in sales in January. The state reported nearly $2 million in sales in December, which was the most successful month to that point. Customers are also spending more per sale. The Portland Press Herald reports the average customer spent about $74 per sale in January, which was $8 more than the first month.
UMAINE-ATHLETICS
UMaine announces $110M for athletic facility upgrades
ORONO, Maine (AP) — The University of Maine plans to spend $110 million to modernize athletic facilities over the next decade with a new basketball building, three new outdoor artificial turf fields and two new domed facilities. Also included are major upgrades to Alfond Arena where the hockey team plays and the Black Bear football stadium. UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy said Wednesday that the facilities will also be used by “students and youth from all over the state.” The project is fueled primarily by $90 million from the Harold Alfond Foundation. The athletic department will raise the remaining $20 million through private donations.
GUNPOWDER EXPLOSION-SENTENCE
Owner of gunpowder plant where 2 died denied early release
LANCASTER, N.H. (AP) — A former gunpowder plant owner imprisoned over a deadly 2010 explosion has been denied a request for an early release. Seventy-one-year-old Craig Sanborn, of Maidstone, Vermont, was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison on manslaughter counts in the explosion that killed two workers at the Black Mag plant in Colebrook, New Hampshire. Sanborn’s minimum release date is November 2023, when he’ll be 74. The Caledonian-Record reports his attorney sought to suspend the rest of the sentence. A judge denied that request last month.