{"id":1630,"date":"2026-06-19T05:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/?p=1630"},"modified":"2026-06-19T05:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:06:11","slug":"local-news-june-19-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/local-news-june-19-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Local News – June 19, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ranked Choice Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(Augusta) \u2013 We now know who will be on November\u2019s ballot in Maine\u2019s Gubernatorial and 2nd<\/sup> Congressional District elections.\u00a0 The Secretary of State\u2019s office took until a little after 2-AM to release the final ranked choice results.\u00a0 Republican front-runner Bobby Charles held onto the lead and edges out Ben Midgely for the primary win.\u00a0 Democrat Hannah Pingree came from 2nd<\/sup> place in the ranked choice eliminations and surpassed initial top vote getter Dr. Nirav Shah for the nomination.\u00a0 And former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap came from behind on ranked choice votes and knocked out Joseph Baldacci for the 2nd<\/sup> Congressional District nomination.<\/p>\n

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Ellsworth Fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(Ellsworth) \u2013 Fire destroyed a home in Ellsworth early this morning.\u00a0 Firefighters from several communities responded to 30-Tamarac Road shortly after 1-o\u2019clock this morning and found the single story house engulfed in flames.\u00a0 Dispatch records indicate at least one person was taken to the hospital.\u00a0 The occupant reported pet cats were trapped inside the house.\u00a0 The fire marshal\u2019s office was called in to investigate the cause.\u00a0 The 9-1-1 caller said the fire started in the living room.\u00a0 Tax records show the home is owned by a South Portland couple.<\/p>\n

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Ellsworth Accident Closes Route 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(Ellsworth) \u2013 Police in Ellsworth closed down the Bucksport Road and diverted traffic around the scene of a serious vehicle accident yesterday afternoon.\u00a0 9-1-1 calls came in around 12:30 of a head on crash near Woodland Road and Hagan\u2019s Elbow.\u00a0 State police closed down the road, for several hours while officers reconstructed the crash.\u00a0 No names or the extent of injuries were immediately available.<\/p>\n

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Planet Fitness<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(Ellsworth) \u2013 A nationally known exercise gym plans to locate at the Maine Coast Mall in Ellsworth.\u00a0 The city\u2019s Code Enforcement Officer tells Star 97.7 Planet Fitness has applied for a permit to locate in the center portion of the mall.\u00a0 Robert Grant says three current tenants will move out to make room, including the city\u2019s Water Department.\u00a0 No word on when the gym plans to open.<\/p>\n

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Belfast Bust<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(Belfast) \u2013 An 80-year old Waldo County man faces drug charges after a bust in Swanville.\u00a0 The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency reports to Star 97.7 Larry Metcalf is accused of giving out of state drug dealers rides to local homes to sell illegal drugs.\u00a0 Agents set up a stakeout at the Belfast bus station and observed a 21-year old Boston man get off the bus and into Metcalf\u2019s vehicle.\u00a0 When they stopped that vehicle they seized 55 grams of Fentanyl and 250-grams of cocaine from Eduin Chala-Ramirez.\u00a0 He and Metcalf are charged with aggravated drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

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Sheriff Candidate on Ballot<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(Augusta) \u2013 An independent candidate will be included on the ballot for Sheriff in Knox County following a hearing before the Secretary of State\u2019s office.\u00a0 Albert Joy had gathered enough signatures, but Daniel Landers filed a written challenge saying the Joy did not meet statutory requirements for the office.\u00a0 After a hearing, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows determined that the challenge did not meet the burden of proof to disqualify Joy, who will go on the ballot.<\/p>\n

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SCAM Warning<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(Belfast) \u2013 Police in Belfast have issued a warning about what they call the Gold Courier Scam.\u00a0 In a post on Facebook, they department says scammers contact their targets via phone, text or a computer pop-up message and impersonate tech support, bank fraud investigators or the FBI.\u00a0 They claim bank accounts are compromised and instruct victims to liquidate savings or take out cash to convert into gold bars, then send a courier to your home to collect the gold for safekeeping.\u00a0 Police advise anyone who is contacted or handed over assets to contact local law enforcement immediately.<\/p>\n

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Track closed<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(Ellsworth) \u2013 The track and soccer field next to the Ellsworth Elementary \/ Middle School is closed to the public for much of the summer.\u00a0 Athletic Director Josh Frost advises that the track replacement project is under way and will last until mid-August.\u00a0 He\u2019s asking the public to stay off the track and the grass infield until the project is completed and the facility reopens.<\/p>\n

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Acadia Signage<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(Bar Harbor) \u2013 Some of the signs removed from Acadia National Park following a presidential order last fall will go back up.\u00a0 Maine Public reports the signs displayed information about climate change and indigenous history.\u00a0 A judge ordered the signs restored following a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration in February.\u00a0 Judge Angel Kelley ordered the removed displays to be put back up by July 3rd<\/sup>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ranked Choice Results   (Augusta) \u2013 We now know who will be on November\u2019s ballot in Maine\u2019s Gubernatorial and 2nd Congressional District elections.\u00a0 The Secretary of State\u2019s office took until a little after 2-AM to release the final ranked choice results.\u00a0 Republican front-runner Bobby Charles held onto the lead and edges out Ben Midgely for […]<\/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],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1630","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=1630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}