Bangor, Maine News Update: August 27, 2021

Governor Janet Mills has ordered that all flags in Maine should be lowered to half-staff, in honor of the victims and survivors of a deadly terrorist attack at Kabul airport on Thursday. Flags will remain at half-staff through Monday, August 30th, 2021.

Representatives from Maine’s largest healthcare facilities say hospitals are already challenged by a loss of employees, and now they’re trying to care for unvaccinated people with the virus. Health officials suggest residents get vaccinated and return to wearing masks, physical distancing, and washing hands frequently to help slow the spread of the Delta variant. 

The Ellsworth School Department has reversed its previous decision, voting unanimously this week to requires students, teachers, and staff to wear masks during the coming school year. This, after a COVID positive case at a YMCA camp that caused 112 students to quarantine, and another COVID case of a student on an Ellsworth sports team.  

The remains of a Maine native who was lost in the Adriatic Sea during World War II have been located and will be returned to be laid to rest in the state. U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lieutenant Ernest N. Vienneau was 25 when he died in 1044, after the bomber on which he served as co-pilot came under fire in Slovenia. Lieutenant Vienneau will be buried in Millinocket on October 9th.  

Yard sale enthusiasts will want to stop by the SPCA of Hancock County Labor Day weekend for a three-day sale. The event will be held rain or shine, Saturday, the 4th through Monday, the 6th, with all the items for sale displayed under tents, and all the money raised going directly to the care of all the SPCA’s resident dogs and cats. Find more information on the SPCA of Hancock County’s Facebook page.  

A museum in Bethel will host what they say is the largest intact Mars rock on Earth. The rock weighs 32 pounds and is about 10 inches at its longest point. The Maine Mineral and Gem Museum says the rock was the result of an asteroid impact on Mars that ejected material into an Earth-crossing orbit.