CHILD FATAL
11-year-old killed in collision on US 1 in Washington County
EDMUNDS TOWNSHIP, Maine (AP) — Maine State Police say an 11-year-old was killed when a vehicle skidded across U.S. Route 1 and collided with the vehicle in which the child was a passenger. Troopers say the child was pronounced dead at the scene Wednesday morning in Edmunds Township, and the drivers of the vehicle and the other vehicle were transported to a hospital. The highway was shut down for several hours; the crash remains under investigation.
Rare Tom Brady card from 1st Super Bowl year to be auctioned
SCARBOROUGH, Maine (AP) — One of just 20 special football cards from the year Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl is up for auction. The card was purchased in 2002 by a Maine collector interested in Brady’s Michigan football connection. Troy Thibodeau from Saco River Auction estimates the 2002 Topps Finest X-Fractor card will fetch six figures when it’s auctioned on Jan. 31. No one is hotter in the collectible card industry right now than Brady. A pair of signed rookie football cards sold for $2.25 million and $3.1 million last year.
COUNTERFEIT BAIL ATTEMPT
Arrest after pair tries to bail out inmate with fake money
AUBURN, Maine (AP) — Police in Maine say they found more drugs and guns in an apartment rented by two people who they have also accused of trying to bail out an inmate using counterfeit money. The Sun Journal reports investigators found the drugs and guns in a Bangor apartment. Both people had been previously charged with four counts of aggravated drug trafficking and violating conditions of release based on earlier drug charges. The two people were jailed Wednesday on $100,000 bail. It was unclear if they had hired attorneys.
HYDROPOWER TRANSMISSION CORRIDOR
Hydro-Quebec halts work on its part of hydropower corridor
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Hydro-Quebec is temporarily stopping construction in Canada on its section of a hydropower transmission corridor. Hydro-Quebec advised a regulatory agency that it hopes to be able to resume construction “and remains convinced of the value, merits and importance of the project.” In Maine, environmental regulators suspended a permit for the 145-mile (233-kilometer) portion. The project aims to bring up to 1,200 megawatts of hydropower to the New England power grid.
MAINE LEGISLATURE
Veto stands in proposal to let Maine farm workers unionize
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine lawmakers have upheld the governor’s veto of a bill that would’ve allowed farm workers to unionize. The bill passed narrowly last year and the vote was even closer at 66-67 on Wednesday in the House, failing to muster a two-thirds majority to override the veto. Republicans were united in opposition. The Senate also confirmed the state’s new public advocate, William Harwood. Harwood is a utilities lawyer who served as a senior advisor in Gov. Janet Mills’ energy office.
CHEMICALS FOUND
‘Forever chemicals’ found in wells in Maine town
KITTERY, Maine (AP) — Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection found that testing wells contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl and the chemicals may have traveled through well systems and drinking water. The Portsmouth Herald reports that last month, the DEP said 10 Kittery homes will have to test their wells after routine PFAS testing found the chemicals in three test wells. The DEP recently discovered that one in four homes contained high chemicals levels. An employee for the department’s landfill closure and remediation program said the town has provided bottled drinking water for Kittery residents and will potentially install a water filtration system.