Bangor, Maine News Update: February 18, 2021

The Maine CDC reports 106 new cases of COVID-19 and 3 more people, all from Cumberland County, who have died. Maine’s Attorney General has issued a warning to healthcare providers against giving COVID-19 vaccines to ineligible people. Aaron Frey says providers who ignore the state’s protocols risk shaking the public’s trust in the system.

The fourth mass vaccination clinic in the state opened in Augusta on Wednesday. Maine General Medical Center is running the site at the Augusta Civic Center, currently administering the Pfizer vaccine to residents age 70 and older. Pre-registration is required on the MaineGeneral website.

Governor Janet Mills will give a virtual state of the budget address later this month. The speech that’s usually delivered to a joint session of the Legislature will instead be broadcast February 23rd on Maine Public Television and will also be streamed online. The governor will talk about the pandemic and share her vision for economic recovery.

A needle exchange through Health Equity Alliance will operate for two hours each Thursday, starting next week, at the St. Brendan the Navigator Episcopal Church in Deer Isle. The exchange is an effort to reduce the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C. Find more information on the Facebook page for the Opiate Free Island Partnership.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help a Levant family whose four-year-old boy was attacked by the family dog. Bentley is back home, but will be traveling periodically to Boston for skin grafts to his head.

Over the next ten years, the University of Maine plans to spend $110 million dollars to improve its athletic facilities, including building a new basketball building, three new outdoor turf fields, two new domed facilities, and major upgrades to Alfond Arena. $90 million of that will come from the Harold Alfond Foundation, with the rest provided through private donations.