Bangor, Maine News Update: July 24, 2017

A court hearing could determine the fate of a dog that was due to be euthanized before Governor Paul Lepage tried to grant clemency to the pooch. His pardon made a celebrity out of the Alaskan husky named Dakota that was ordered to be put down after attacking two dogs, killing one. The hearing is set for Monday.

DHHS officials say Manna Ministries doesn’t owe the state as much as was originally thought for Medicaid reimbursement overpayments, changing the total from one-point-three million dollars to just under five hundred thousand. Spokesperson Samantha Edwards told the BDN that it also appears to have been the result of accidental clerical errors rather than intentional fraud. Manna closed its rehab facilities and sold the Main Street location after the original number was released, but the state says it’s received less than 2 thousand dollars in repayment.

Folks in Gardiner picked up litter over the weekend after a local business owner offered to give them free marijuana in exchange for a town clean-up project. The owner of Summit Medical Marijuana, Dennis Meehan told WCSH-TV that he decided to try the day of service after hearing about a similar project in a Colorado town.

There were a lot of people in Orrington over the weekend, as the town celebrated Old Home Week and its Endless yard Sale. And many of those folks stopped by 7-year-old McKenna LaBrie’s second annual lemonade stand that raises money for Forgotten Felines of Maine, totaling more than 2 thousand dollars so far. McKenna told WLBZ-TV that she was inspired by a cat named Mowgli who was found in a barn with deformed back legs but can now walk around on three legs, thanks to her fundraising.