Our thoughts and prayers go out to Las Vegas, now the site of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
You’ve undoubtedly seen the headlines in whatever news feed you follow throughout your work day, but here are some of the more pertinent ones in a single spot:
- Gunman opens fire on country music festival, kills nearly 60 and wounds more than 500
- The alleged shooter’s father was a notorious bank robber, but Stephen Paddock himself lived in a quiet neighborhood and had no reported run-ins with the police
- Brother of Las Vegas shooter says he’s “completely dumbfounded”
- President Trump calls shooting “an act of pure evil”
- Pope calls shooting a “senseless tragedy”
- Terrorist group claims responsibility, but police say there’s no tie
- Here are a few of the fake news stories and hoaxes relating in the incident to be wary of on social media
- Gun manufacturers’ stocks predictably rise in the aftermath of the latest mass shooting
With that tragedy weighing heavily on our minds, we will give you the latest in Maine and Greater Portland news as well.
What we’re talking about
Two months after Mayor Ethan Strimling and City Manager Jon Jennings took their long boiling feud into a public airing of the grievances in the City Council chambers, their relationship has taken a noticeable turn for the better, the Portland Press Herald’s Randy Billings is reporting. Strimling and Jennings are now meeting at least weekly and both men described their interactions as collaborative, open and respectful. Click here to remind yourself what all the fuss was about.
The first woman to be named the national commander of the American Legion visited several posts in southern Maine over the weekend, The York Weekly reported. Denise Rohan said that nearly 40 years ago, a Legion official came to her Wisconsin home to recruit her husband. Upon hearing Denise was an Army veteran as well, he told her to join the American Legion Auxiliary instead. “It’s strange to go from not being welcome to becoming the national commander,” she said during her Maine visit.
Portland resident Lucas St. Clair, the man behind the once controversial Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, announced he plans to move to Hampden and run in the 2nd Congressional District against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin. St. Clair was born and raised in the 2nd District, not that you’re legally required to live in the district you’re running in. He’s one of six Democrats in the race so far.
A transgender Maine teen who said he was kicked out of the New Hampshire Christian school he’d been attending since kindergarten told Foster’s Daily Democrat he was the school’s top biblical scholar and that “God wants me to do this.” Stiles Zuschlag now attends Noble High School in North Berwick and said the southern Maine school has welcomed him openly.
In his weekly series on Portland history, the BDN’s Troy R. Bennett recalls the life of John Brown Russwurm, one of the first black men to graduate college in the U.S. and a founder of the nation’s first African-American-owned newspaper. Russwurm’s biggest supporter was his stepmother, a Portland woman named Susan Blanchard.
A Westbrook man will spend six years in prison for the April 2016 crash that claimed the life of local teacher Adam Perron, WGME, CBS 13, is reporting. Joshua McNally had pled guilty to manslaughter and causing a death while driving without a license. The crash took place on Route 302 in Casco about 17 months ago. Perron’s widow said during the sentencing today that she replays “that day constantly in my head, but nothing can be changed now.”
Fifty-five percent of likely Portland voters support a plan to borrow $64 million to renovate, Longfellow, Lyseth, Presumpscot and Reiche elementary schools, while only 35 percent support a competing $32 million plan for work at latter two. That’s according to a poll conducted earlier this month by Public Policy Polling and released today by Protect Our Neighborhood Schools, a local group advocating for the larger measure. The poll was conducted earlier this month and has a margin of error of 4.9 percent, suggesting that either only the larger bond proposal or neither will be approved when voters head to the polls in November. The Forecaster’s David Harry has a roundup of where the various City Council candidates stand on the question.
Tweet of the day
From U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, expressing feelings shared by many Americans today:
The Big Idea
Smithsonian magazine lists the pros and cons of winning a Nobel Prize, as former University of Maine Professor Jeffrey Hall has now done. Hall learned this morning around 5 a.m. he won the prize as part of a team that researched the biological clocks of fruit flies while at Brandeis University two decades ago. As Smithsonian reports, that may mean there will now be pesky and time-consuming requests for Hall to take on speaking engagements, but on the plus side, he’ll always have a free parking space if he’s ever at the University of California at Berkeley.
Got any interesting story ideas, suggestions or links to share? Email us at jbleiberg@bangordailynews.com or skoenig@bangordailynews.com, or tweet @JZBleiberg or @SethKoenig.
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