VIRUS OUTBREAK-MAINE
Maine: Senator pushes for restaurant help, new clinic coming
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s independent senator is taking another shot at promoting a $120 billion revitalization fund to help restaurants that have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Sen. Angus King also supported the proposal when it was first proposed last year. King says it would set up the fund to support independent restaurants and small franchises that are under tremendous financial pressure because of the pandemic. Restaurants suffered loses of more than $240 billion last year. Also Monday, officials were close to opening a new community coronavirus vaccination clinic in Portland. It’s slated to open Tuesday.
STOLEN RING-FUNERAL WORKER
DOWN EAST PRISON
Smaller work-release facility takes shape at former prison
A new, smaller work-release facility is being built at the site of a prison that closed over the objections by the local community in Down East Maine. The Downeast Correctional Center housed about 140 inmates before it was abruptly closed by then-Gov. Paul LePage, who sought to cut costs. His administration ignited a firestorm by quietly removing inmates in 2018 despite lawmakers’ pleas to keep it open. The prison will house around 50 low-risk male inmates, who will be eligible to leave to work at jobs each day and then return in the evening.
Funeral home worker charged with taking ring from deceased
ALFRED, Maine (AP) — A Maine funeral home worker has been charged with stealing a wedding ring from the body of a 102-year-old woman after she died in a nursing home. Police say 51-year-old Stuart Weston, of Sanford, stole the ring from Laura Wood, who died at Seal Rock Healthcare in Saco on Jan. 21. Weston, who worked at Autumn Green Funeral Home in Alfred, was arrested on Feb. 23. The Portland Press Herald reports the arrest came after police obtained video evidence that he sold the ring to Maine Gold & Silver in South Portland. A phone listing for Weston was disconnected. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer.
MAINE HOME SALES
Maine home sales and prices continue surge in early 2021
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Home sales have remained brisk in Maine in early 2021, and prices are continuing to climb. The Maine Association of Realtors says the median sales price for a single-family existing home in Maine rose nearly 16% from January 2020 to January 2021. The association says volume of sales also increased more than 18%. The surge in sales and prices comes after a year that was the best in state history for sales volume. The association says the state is now facing historically low for-sale inventory.
ART PROGRAMS
Arts groups around Maine get NEA funding for programs
CAMDEN, Maine (AP) — Organizations around Maine are set to receive nearly $300,000 to promote arts and literature programs. The funding is from the National Endowment for the Arts and is going to organizations and individuals from Portland to Waterville. The largest award is a $45,000 grant to the Portland Museum of Art to support an exhibition of the work of painter David Driskell, who died in 2020. Points North Institute in Camden will receive $20,000 to support the Camden International Film Festival. Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Madison will receive $30,000 to support residencies for emerging artists.
UNSOLVED KILLING
Portland police look for new leads in unsolved 2010 killing
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Police in Maine’s largest city say they’re looking for new information from the public about an unsolved killing that happened 11 years ago. Portland police said Sunday the 2010 killing of Darien Richardson by a masked intruder remains unsolved. Police say the shooting happened in the early morning hours of Jan. 8, and Richardson’s injuries led to her death from a pulmonary embolism caused by a blot clot on Feb. 28. Richardson’s family has offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction stemming from the shooting.