{"id":1159,"date":"2026-02-19T06:49:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/?p=1159"},"modified":"2026-02-19T06:49:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:49:37","slug":"local-news-february-19-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/19\/local-news-february-19-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Local News – February 19, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cannabis Permit Denied<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Ellsworth) \u2013 A proposed transfer of ownership in a marijuana dispensary in Downtown Ellsworth has resulted in a license denial from city councilors.\u00a0 The Bangor Daily News reports the council turned down the application from cannabis chain Marijuanaville, a Waterville based company that was behind the first ever warning issued by the State about pesticides in its products.\u00a0 The company purchased the business from Boss Lady Genetics which had a license to dispense medical marijuana.\u00a0 City councilors changed some of the performance standards prior to the decision earlier this week.<\/p>\n

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Ambulance Contract Increase<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Belfast) \u2013 Five towns that contract with the City of Belfast for ambulance service will have to pay a lot more for that service if they want to continue.\u00a0 This week the City Council approved a nearly 400-percent increase in contract fees for Northport, Belmont, Swanville, Morrill and Waldo.\u00a0 Fire Chief Patrick Richards said the new rates reflect what it actually costs to provide ambulance service to the rural communities.\u00a0 Northport for example would see its cost rise from $23-thousand dollars currently to $90-thousand in two years.<\/p>\n

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Measles<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Augusta) \u2013 Maine now has five confirmed measles cases, with four reported this week in Penobscot County.\u00a0 Maine\u2019s Center for Disease control says there are no new exposure risks to the public, but it classifies three or more measles cases in unrelated households as an outbreak. The release from the CDC says the state does not have an outbreak.\u00a0 The release from the CDC says if one person contracts the measles virus, 90-percent of people who are exposed and not immune will likely become infected.<\/p>\n

Knox County Policing<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Camden) \u2013 Changes in police departments for Camden and Rockport are moving forward.\u00a0 For the past 10-years the two towns have shared a police chief.\u00a0 Randy Gagne is retiring today and the Pen Bay Pilot reports that Rockport has appointed Lt. Chris Young as its new chief, while Camden has appointed the Knox County Sheriff as the police chief.\u00a0 County Commissioners in Knox County have approved that appointment. Sheriff Patrick Polky will serve as the interim chief in Camden while the town searches for a permanent chief.<\/p>\n

Mill Worker ID\u2019d<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Bailyeville) \u2013 The second worker who died after exposure to a toxic gas at the Woodland Pulp Mill in Baileyville last month is identified as a 26-year-old engineer who was hired last September.\u00a0 The mill identified the victim as Allen Hornberger.\u00a0 He and an intern from the University of Maine were overcome by hydrogen sulfide gas at the mill in late January linked to a chemical mixture in a sewer pipe at the Washington County mill.<\/p>\n

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Tremont Deer Hunt<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>(Tremont) \u2013 Select Board members in Tremont will push forward with a plan to allow deer hunting in the Mt. Desert Island community within the town for the next three Novembers.\u00a0 If the limited hunt succeeds, voters will decide if the hunting season will become a regular occurrence.\u00a0 The Mt. Desert Islander reports a couple dozen people showed up at a public hearing this week.\u00a0\u00a0 State lawmakers did not pass a bill to allow hunting on MDI last year.\u00a0 Hunting has not been allowed on MDI since 1931, and deer have become a nuisance to gardeners and motorists for the past few decades.<\/p>\n

High School Tournament<\/strong><\/p>\n

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At the Northern Maine Basketball tournament today, the George Stevens girls look to advance to the regional finals as they meet Foxcroft Academy.\u00a0 The Washington Academy boys meet Caribou this afternoon in the Class \u201cC\u201d semi finals. Both the Ellsworth boys and girls teams were eliminated in the Class \u201cB\u201d Semi finals yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cannabis Permit Denied (Ellsworth) \u2013 A proposed transfer of ownership in a marijuana dispensary in Downtown Ellsworth has resulted in a license denial from city councilors.\u00a0 The Bangor Daily News reports the council turned down the application from cannabis chain Marijuanaville, a Waterville based company that was behind the first ever warning issued by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1159\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}