Bangor, Maine News Update: August 30, 2017

Police continue to investigate after a 5-year-old girl was shot to death in her grandparents’ Scarborough home Monday night. State police identified the girl yesterday as Elise Dorr of Belfast. She was staying at the home with her parents and two older siblings while her grandparents were away. No details on the circumstances surrounding her death have been released. The girl’s parents were in the house at the time, and police say they have been cooperating with the investigation.

A crash in Benton yesterday afternoon took the life of an Albion woman. 81-year-old Pauline Richards died when the pickup truck she was riding in left the road and overturned. State police said yesterday that 85-year-old June Hayward was driving the truck west on Albion Road when she lost control of the vehicle. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Additional volunteers and equipment were headed to Texas from Maine yesterday to assist with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. The Portland Press Herald reported that the Maine branch of the American Red Cross had activated 14 volunteers or staff members as of yesterday afternoon. The storm made its second landfall early this morning in Louisiana. Forecasters expect it to gradually weaken and become a tropical depression by tonight.

Bangor will celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day on the second Monday of every October. The city council on Monday voted to join a growing list of cities and states that have made the change. Belfast in 2015 became the first city in Maine to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day. The legislature received a bill this year to make the switch statewide, but it did not become law.

Bangor code officers have condemned a popular Chinese restaurant due to plumbing issues. Oriental Express in the Bangor Mall closed its doors indefinitely yesterday. Code Enforcement Officer Jeremy Martin said the city had repeatedly asked the restaurant to address the issue.

The owner of a $1 million Powerball ticket that was sold in Searsport has yet to come forward to claim their prize. It was sold at Steamboat Galley on Main Street. The Bangor Daily News reported that Todd Dumont of Freeport has already claimed $50,000 from the Powerball ticket he purchased at Shaw’s in Freeport.