Bangor, Maine News Update: June 2, 2021

The Maine CDC reports 40 new cases of COVID-19, statewide. The vaccination rate in Maine is encouraging, with more than 52% having received their final dose, but health experts say more work needs to be done in rural communities. Cumberland County, which was hardest hit by the pandemic, has recorded 63% of its population vaccinated, but experts say vaccination rates in Somerset. Washington, and Franklin counties still have not reached the 50% mark.

Maine’s coastal state parks will adopt a flag warning system this summer to alert swimmers to the possible presence of sharks. The purple flag with a white shark silhouette will also be hoisted in Harpswell, where a woman was killed by a Great White last summer. The flag system is used in Massachusetts, which experiences more shark sightings than Maine each year.

You now need a reservation to go to the top of Cadillac Mountain, at Acadia National Park. The reservation system seems to be working, since park officials didn’t have to shut down Summit Road, despite a busy holiday weekend.

Bangor’s 4^th of July Celebration will return this year, with a few modifications. Because the planning got started so late, there will be no pancake breakfast or charity concert, but the road race, parade, and fireworks in Bangor will go on as planned.

A Bangor man plans to run 100 miles this weekend, in honor of his mother, who passed away from cancer in 2008. Matt Dexter, founder of the Christine B. Foundation, chose 100 miles because that’s how far most cancer patients in Maine travel for treatment. This Saturday, Dexter will leave Machias at 7 a.m., and hopes to arrive on the Brewer Riverwalk between 7 and 10 o’clock Sunday morning.

Tickets are available to see Maine humorist Tim Sample, in a fundraiser for the Searsport 175^th birthday celebration. The show will take place July 2^nd at the Searsport Memorial Gymnasium.