More than 500 people received letters from MaineHealth expressing condolences and providing estate instructions
Maine’s largest healthcare system accidentally sent condolence letters to more than 500 living patients in effect informing them that they had died.
MaineHealth attributed the blunder to a computer system error and apologized.
Continue reading...Verdict delivered in favor of Lyndsey Sutherland over death of daughter ‘Jazzy’ after doctors failed to identify condition
A civil jury in Maine has awarded $25m to a woman whose teenage daughter died from leukemia after being misdiagnosed with a condition linked to steroid-using men.
The hefty verdict delivered in favor of Lyndsey Sutherland on Thursday called for her to receive $10m for the wrongful 2021 death of 15-year-old Jasmine “Jazzy” Vincent as well as $15m for pain and suffering, said her attorney, Meryl Poulin.
Continue reading...US army accused of ‘repeatedly violating its own policies’ over 2023 shooting by reservist that left 18 people dead
Survivors and family members of victims of the 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, are suing the US government, alleging that the US army could have stopped the attack carried out by an army reservist but failed to intervene.
The suit, filed on Wednesday in Maine district court, alleges that despite decades of knowledge about the risks posed by soldiers in crisis, the policies and procedures the army has developed around dealing with service members who are struggling with severe mental health challenges were not used to disarm the shooter, a sergeant with a 21-year history in the army reserve. Eighteen people were killed in the attack.
Continue reading...Rallies from Alaska to Hawaii will highlight cuts to wages, unions and social safety nets under Trump policies
Nearly 1,000 “worker over billionaire” protests are being planned in all 50 states starting this weekend as part of a Labor Day week of action organized by labor unions and advocacy groups in opposition to the Trump administration’s policies.
The actions include marches and rallies in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, a Labor Day parade in New York City, rallies in Palmer, Alaska, Freeport, Maine, and a planned protest at the state capitol in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Continue reading...Jon Luke Evans had been employed by local police after federal database confirmed his eligibility to work
A Maine police officer arrested by immigration authorities has agreed to voluntarily leave the country, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) said on Monday.
Ice arrested the Old Orchard Beach police department reserve officer Jon Luke Evans, of Jamaica, on 25 July, as part of the agency’s effort to step up immigration enforcement. Officials with the town and police department have said federal authorities previously told them Evans was legally authorized to work in the US.
Continue reading...Temperatures at or above 100F expected as extreme hot air and humidity are trapped in atmosphere
Scores of millions of people across the central and eastern US will swelter under the summer’s first “heat dome” beginning this weekend and extending through the end of next week as extreme hot air and humidity get trapped in the atmosphere.
The arrival of the heatwave coincides with Friday’s first day of summer and will bring temperatures at or above 100F (37.7C) to numerous cities as it moves to the east of the US in the coming days, forecasters say.
Continue reading...Officials in New York, New Jersey, Iowa, New Hampshire and Maine issued alerts due to smoke from fires in Canada
Smoke from wildfires in Canada is spreading across multiple states in the US including the eastern seaboard, prompting multiple states to issue air-quality alerts.
The poor air quality stretching across the US came as a result of dozens of wildfires burning across Canada as the country’s annual wildfire season roars into destructive action.
Continue reading...Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to get back control of the lower chamber – here’s what to keep an eye on
Much attention has been paid to the historic race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, but the results of down-ballot elections will determine whether the new president will actually be able to implement a legislative agenda next year.
With Republicans defending a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to wrest back control of the lower chamber, and both parties are going all out to win.
Continue reading...Democratic top elections officials are concerned about inflammatory and AI-generated content
A group of Democratic secretaries of state are calling on social media companies to detail their plans to moderate inflammatory content and artificial intelligence on their platforms during and after election day.
Seven secretaries of state – representing Maine, Rhode Island, Illinois, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and New Mexico – sent the letters to Google, X and Meta on Friday. Secretaries of state typically play some role in overseeing elections in their states.
Continue reading...Labrador Lucy laid down on owner Pamela Helmstadter, 72, to protect her from cold after husband John, 82, fell and died
A dog may have saved a woman from dying alongside her husband after the couple – the animal’s owners – became lost for four frigid nights while on a walk in the woods in Maine, according to authorities.
John Helmstadter, 82, and Pamela Helmstadter, 72, of Alexander, Maine, left their home on Sunday 13 October, to go for a walk with their one-year-old black labrador, Lucy, officials said.
Continue reading...Moderate conservative from Maine says she wanted Nikki Haley to win and will write her name on November ballot
US senator Susan Collins didn’t vote for her fellow Republican Donald Trump for president in 2016 or 2020 – and the third time will not be the charm.
The longtime moderate conservative from Maine told reporters on Friday that she intended to write in former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley’s name on the ballot in November. The move recalls 2016, when Collins said she wrote in then-US House speaker Paul Ryan for president over Trump, who won the White House before losing to Democratic rival Joe Biden in 2020.
Continue reading...Tropical storm due to form in Gulf of Mexico, adding to extreme weather as north-east and midwest bake
Potential Tropical Cyclone One – a slow churning system of low atmospheric pressure in the Gulf of Mexico – was badgering the Texas coast but had not fully developed, meteorologists said on Wednesday.
The storm, which will be named Tropical Storm Alberto when it forms fully, is set to unleash powerful winds, heavy rain and flood threats across the entire southern US, Mexico and Central America. Storm-force winds, which stretch more than 400 miles (640km) from the storm’s center, are already affecting southern Texas.
This article was amended on 19 June 2024 to correct a quotation from Bill Nye.
Continue reading...Communities in Washington, California and Maine will receive $755,000 under the Infrastructure Act to build climate resilience
This month, three Indigenous American tribes on the west and east coasts will collectively receive nearly $755,000 in federal funding to manage ocean and coastal problems, as well as engage in partnerships to offset the effects of climate crisis in their regions. The tribes’ projects will blend together Indigenous knowledge and scientific data to build innovative strategies around coastal resilience.
On Monday, the federal agency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), and the US Department of Commerce announced that the Makah Tribe in Washington, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians in California and the Penobscot Nation in Maine will be individually awarded between $200,000 and $290,000 for their two-year projects. The funding comes from the Biden administration’s bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which provided Noaa with nearly $3bn to facilitate environmental stewardship, build climate-resilient coasts and support infrastructure around weather forecasting from 2022 to 2026.
Continue reading...Cities expect huge crowds with millions gathering in 115-mile wide ‘path of totality’ for Monday’s exceptionally large and long eclipse
Should the weather gods grant their blessing, a celestial show for the ages will darken the heavens over a large swathe of the US from Texas to Maine on Monday, giving tens of millions of people a grandstand view of a rare phenomenon being billed as “the Great American Eclipse”.
It will be another 20 years until the next total solar eclipse can be viewed anywhere in the contiguous US, lending extra incentive for many who live outside the 115-mile wide “path of totality” to travel in and experience the moments of twilight, stillness and a sudden temperature drop the event will bring.
Continue reading...Before Robert Card killed 18 last year, police had opportunity to seize his guns and place him in custody after several incidents
Law enforcement should have seized a man’s guns and put him in protective custody weeks before he committed Maine’s deadliest mass shooting, a report found Friday.
An independent commission has been reviewing the events that led up to army reservist Robert Card killing 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston on 25 October, as well as the subsequent response.
Continue reading...Donald Trump looks all but certain of Republican presidential nomination as Nikki Haley rejects suggestions of third-party bid and says she may keep fighting
Over at CNN, Ronald Brownstein has an analysis piece which looks a little at the potential weakness of Donald Trump support away from his core base. Brownstein writes:
[Trump’s] performance so far reflects his success at transforming the Republican Party in his image. He’s reshaped the Republicans into a more blue-collar, populist and pugnacious party, focused more on his volatile blend of resentments against elites and cultural and racial change than the Ronald Reagan-era priorities of smaller government and active global leadership that former South Carolina Gov Nikki Haley has stressed.
But while the primaries have underscored Trump’s grip on the GOP, they have also demonstrated continued vulnerability for him in the areas where he has labored since he first announced his candidacy in 2015 – particularly among the white-collar suburban voters who mostly leaned toward the GOP before his emergence. The early 2024 nominating contests have shown that a substantial minority of Republican-leaning voters remain resistant to Trump’s vision.
Continue reading...Meanwhile, Sierra Nevada storm with heavy snow in the west shut down a stretch of interstate and leaves thousands without power
A major winter storm bringing heavy snow and freezing rain to some communities spread across New England on Sunday morning, sending residents scurrying to pull out their shovels and snowblowers to clear sidewalks and driveways.
Winter storm warnings and watches were in effect throughout the north-east, and icy roads made for hazardous travel as far south as North Carolina.
Continue reading...Shenna Bellows is latest politician to be victim of fake emergency call to police with the intent they will show up at a residence
A fake emergency call to police resulted in officers responding Friday night to the home of Maine’s secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, just a day after she removed Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot under the US constitution’s insurrection clause.
She becomes the latest elected politician to become a target of swatting, which involves making a phone call to emergency services with the intent that a large first responder presence, including Swat teams, will show up at a residence.
Continue reading...Court faces pressure to rule on Maine and Colorado’s decisions preventing ex-president from appearing on presidential ballots
A decision by Maine’s secretary of state to prevent former president Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s presidential election ballot will now probably end up before the US supreme court. Maine’s move follows a similar decision in Colorado this month.
There is mounting pressure on the conservative-leaning judicial body to swiftly rule on Maine and Colorado’s application of section 3 of the 14th amendment prohibiting anyone who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. But neither decision will be the last ballot eruption in an already convulsive election which is likely to see a rematch of Trump versus Joe Biden.
Continue reading...Deadly winter storm leaves hundreds of thousands without power and deposits flooding and freezing temperatures in its wake
At least six people were killed and hundreds of thousands were left without power as a deadly winter storm swept across the north-eastern US on Monday, depositing flooding and freezing temperatures in its wake.
Two of the deaths were in Maine in separate cases involving fallen trees, authorities said. Other deaths were reported in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and New York.
Associated Press contributed reporting
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