Fatal Mobile Home Fire in Belfast<\/b><\/p>\n
One person and two dogs died following a heavy fire Friday afternoon at a mobile home on Back Searsport Road in Belfast. Firefighters discovered the victim inside while battling intense flames, and the state medical examiner is working to confirm their identity and cause of death. WABI reports the State Fire Marshal\u2019s Office is investigating the blaze, which origin teams traced to a rear porch and laundry area.<\/span> Former Husson Assistant Professor Arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Charges<\/b><\/p>\n Bangor police arrested 33-year-old Jonathan Houck on Friday, charging the former Husson University assistant professor and cross country coach with six counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and four counts of violation of privacy. The investigation began after a Dropbox cybertip flagged sexually explicit uploads of minors, leading detectives to search Houck’s home and campus office in late September. WABI reports Houck is held at the Penobscot County Jail on $50,000 cash bail after students came forward alleging he covertly recorded them during physical assessments.<\/span> Gouldsboro Expands to 24\/7 Paramedic Coverage<\/b><\/p>\n Gouldsboro voters approved a $265,000 supplemental municipal budget increase Thursday night to transition their local emergency medical service to round-the-clock, 24\/7 coverage. The funding expansion allows the department to staff two-person paid crews continuously, eliminating overnight coverage gaps where on-call volunteers had to drive to the station first before responding. The Bangor Daily News reports the measure passed with roughly 70 percent voter support on the Schoodic Peninsula amid broader statewide concerns over collapsing rural ambulance systems.<\/span> Oak Street Pavement Patching in Ellsworth<\/b><\/p>\n Public Works road crews in Ellsworth will conduct pavement patching operations on Oak Street between Church Street and Birch Avenue this Monday, November 2nd. The repair work will run from 8 a.m. to roughly 3 p.m. to smooth out persistent potholes and surface wear along the corridor. The City of Ellsworth reports traffic will be reduced to one lane of alternating travel with flaggers on site, and motorists should anticipate minor delays.<\/span> Postal Service Deploys Extraordinary Measures for Election Mail<\/b><\/p>\n The U.S. Postal Service is implementing extra pickups, special handling, and direct transport to deliver thousands of mail-in ballots before the close of voting on November 3rd. Concerns have grown across rural Maine communities over recent transportation cutbacks and processing delivery delays impacting timely ballot returns. The Ellsworth American reports state election officials urge voters who have not already mailed their absentee ballots to use local municipal drop boxes to ensure their votes arrive before 8 p.m. on Election Day.<\/span> Ellsworth Voting Guidelines for Election Day<\/b><\/p>\n Polling places across Ellsworth will open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3rd, for the statewide general and municipal elections across four designated ward voting locations. City Hall will be open solely for polling operations, meaning all regular municipal service counters and administrative offices will be closed for the day. The City of Ellsworth reports eligible residents can register to vote in person on Election Day, and all completed absentee ballots must be physically received by the clerk by 8 p.m.<\/span> EPA Grants Maine $312,000 for Lead Pipe Testing in Schools<\/b><\/p>\n Maine will receive $312,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency to test for lead contamination and replace aging plumbing fixtures in local schools and daycare facilities. The grant award is part of a nationwide $26 million initiative helping public schools identify and eliminate lead exposure risks in children’s drinking water. WABI reports federal officials estimate the testing program has screened drinking water systems across 51,000 educational and childcare facilities nationwide since 2018.<\/span> Fatal Mobile Home Fire in Belfast One person and two dogs died following a heavy fire Friday afternoon at a mobile home on Back Searsport Road in Belfast. Firefighters discovered the victim inside while battling intense flames, and the state medical examiner is working to confirm their identity and cause of death. WABI reports the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"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-2177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2177","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/star977fm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/span>WABI-TV<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>WABI-TV<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Bangor Daily News<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>City of Ellsworth<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>The Ellsworth American<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>City of Ellsworth<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>WABI-TV<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"