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1+ hour, 5+ min ago (923+ words) Hunter Hopstetter went to Bangor wrestling coach Richie Smith after last season to make his intentions clear for this year. "He said, "Coach, I'm wrestling heavyweight next year," Smith recalled. "I said that we're going to have to kill some cows and get you eating in the offseason to get big. He's embraced the challenge." Hopstetter is doing well so far. The junior who weighed in for Tuesday's Colonial League match against Wilson at 194 pounds, picked up a first-period pin to improve to 12-3 this season. That's five more wins than he had all of last year competing at 172 pounds. "It's been a lot of fun," Hopstetter said. "I'm working hard in the room, learning a lot, pushing myself to be more athletic, stay out of the bottom. Yeah, it's been a blast." Fellow junior Jaxson Kreider also is up a…...

5+ hour, 46+ min ago (134+ words) BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - After what the CDC categorized as a "severe" flu season last year, cases are again starting to increase in Maine. That's according to Sara Lane, manager of Pharmacy Clinical Services at Hannaford. Lane says the timing of this year's flu season is pretty typical, and she hasn't seen any alarming trends. She believes people are on high alert after last year. This year there's a new variant called "subclade k" " and as Lane explains, it's different from what's in the current flu vaccine. Lane says there's still time to get a flu shot before cases start peaking. In addition to getting vaccinated, she says proper hand hygiene, staying hydrated, eating nutritious food, and getting plenty of sleep will also help you fight off sickness....

6+ hour, 25+ min ago (423+ words) Influenza cases have been surging in Maine during the past week, according to a Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention report released Tuesday. Cases jumped from 131 in the week ending on Dec. 6 to 320 last week and flu hospitalizations went from 13 to 27 during the same time period, according to state data. During peak flu season " which varies by season, but often occurs in late January or February " Maine will typically see thousands of cases per week. The state recorded 17,793 influenza cases during the 2024-25 flu season. "It looks like we are on the cusp of the flu really hitting Maine," Dr. Dora Anne Mills, chief health improvement officer for MaineHealth, said Tuesday. Lindsay Hammes, a Maine CDC spokesperson, said the state is "beginning to see an uptick in cases being reported across Maine, as is consistent with this time of year…...

8+ hour, 53+ min ago (253+ words) Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey endorsed Maine Governor Janet Mills in her bid for the US Senate on Tuesday, weighing in on one of the most closely watched races of the 2026 election cycle. Healey is backing Mills in the Democratic primary over Graham Platner, a progressive candidate endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is leading Mills in some recent polling. The winner of the primary is expected to face Republican Senator Susan Collins, who is serving her fifth term and is widely expected to announce a run for a sixth term next year. "I am proud to endorse Janet," said Healey in a video released on X, the social media platform. "She's the only candidate in the race with a proven record of standing up to bullies like Donald Trump." Healey hosted a fundraiser for Mills last week in…...

11+ hour, 14+ min ago (1796+ words) The dirt roads in the northern corner of Oxford County froze early this year, marking the unofficial start of the winter logging season in Maine. The hardened roads make it possible for loggers such as Andy Irish and his Rumford-based company, Irish Family Logging, to drive a fleet of semi-trucks and heavy machinery into the woods without disturbing the underlying soil as much as in the summer. Today's loggers are far more reliant on these hulking pieces of equipment that make logging safer and quicker than when Irish entered the industry in the 1970s. That efficiency comes at a premium, however. Each machine is often imported from Canada or Scandinavia, and can cost more than $500,000, a price that Irish absorbs by selling timber to local sawmills and ND Paper's mill in Rumford. But as Irish prepares to pass the business down…...

12+ hour, 40+ min ago (215+ words) BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - Bangor is on a streak of four state championships in the last five seasons. "We have really good individual parts, and then also it's teamwork. We have really good teamwork. Once you put everyone together, the individual scores and put it together, it just makes us really good," said Emily Murray, sophomore shotputter. The Rams spoke about what keeps them motivated after so much success. "It's okay to have your worst days even on meets. You feel like it's the major one you need to be so great at. It's okay to be down and fail, but always know that you can always succeed," said Alexis Blue, senior distance runner. The Bangor boys and girls teams won the season-opening meet at UMaine on Dec. 6. The Rams spoke about early competition takeaways. "A lot of us had a…...

15+ hour, 28+ min ago (316+ words) A Maine destination has once again been crowned the country's best small town to visit by US News & World Report. The outlet published its annual best vacations rankings on Tuesday, and for the fifth year in a row, Maine's Bar Harbor has topped the list of small towns to visit in the US, which celebrates "places with a population of less than 50,000 people," according to the ranking's description online. The scenic, Pine Tree State locale is one of five New England destinations featured on this year's list. Camden, Maine, which was previously ranked No. 8 on America's best small towns to visit list drops to No. 18, while Stowe, Vt., jumps up to No. 12 after ranking No. 14 last year. A pair of popular Massachusetts islands also made the list, with Nantucket dropping a spot to No. 11 (it was previously ranked No. 10), while…...

16+ hour, 14+ min ago (666+ words) Lights Up Production's community theater is scheduled to stage "A Christmas Carol Every Mano Has the Power to Do Good" at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Skowhegan Opera House, 225 Water St., Skowhegan. The play is an adaptation by James Hutchison and is directed by Jeralyn Shattuck. In this expanded adaptation, Ebenezer Scrooge is more than a miser " he's a man shaped by grief, fear and forgotten love. Alongside familiar faces like Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, audiences will meet Old Fezziwig, Scrooge's cheerful mentor; his warm-hearted nephew Fred; and Belle " the love of Scrooge's life. When long-lost letters from his sister Fan resurface, they awaken memories that even the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come cannot ignore. As Scrooge journeys through the shadows of his youth, the warmth of the present, and the uncertainty of what lies ahead,…...

19+ hour, 4+ min ago (269+ words) The Maine Public Utilities Commission has approved a significant expansion to the state's low income assistance program (LIAP) for electric customers. "I think this is a very significant step forward in making this program work more efficiently, and expanding it, making it available to more low income customers," Commissioner Patrick Scully said at a commission meeting Tuesday. The revisions also coincide with planned changes at Maine Department of Health and Human Services that would automatically enroll eligible participants to start receiving benefits from the electric program. The commission estimates that could add 20,000 new customers to benefits, increasing the total to almost 68,000. "At this point actual levels of program participation are hard to predict, we will be moving to automatic enrollment for customers who have been determined by DHHS to meet income eligibility requirements," said Commission Chair Phil Bartlett. "Thus, it…...

19+ hour, 46+ min ago (1701+ words) Calvary Belfast Academy brings together homeschooled children once a week for classes that are meant to supplement their learning at home. The co-op has doubled in size since it launched three years ago." Angelica Larrabee didn't plan on becoming a homeschooling parent. She had gone to school in the same Midcoast district where she was raising her kids, and she figured they would be there "from start to finish." Then the pandemic hit. Larrabee's oldest son, who was in second grade at the time, was happier learning from home. As he excelled, Larrabee decided that a homeschooling model would work better for their family. Now, Larrabee educates all three of her kids at home. The family joined Calvary Church in Belfast, and in 2022, families at the church launched a homeschool co-op called Calvary Belfast Academy, which brings together homeschooled students…...