Bangor, Maine News Update: September 26, 2019

The State Fire Marshal's office says a fire on Stillwater Avenue in Old Town yesterday was the result of the careless use of a candle. The tenants of the building, near Riverside Pizza, were able to evacuate safely, while one firefighter was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.

Owners of a large hemp farm in Machias say thieves stole potentially thousands of dollars’ worth of crops, that were stolen over time. Ben and Allison Edwards told WVII-TV some of their very best pieces were stolen, in amounts large enough that the culprits would need bins to carry it all. They say it's not clear whether the thieves realize its hemp, and not marijuana.

A referee suffered non-life threatening injuries when he was hit in the face by something fired from a cannon while he was officiating a Maine Maritime Academy football game in Castine on Saturday. It’s tradition for the games to start with the sounding of a cannon using a blank shotgun shell, but a spectator brought his own and fired it during the game.

The largest private employer in Maine plans to add paid parental leave t its list of benefits for employees. Maine Health will make the change on October 1^st, which will include four weeks of full-pay leave for mothers who give birth, parents who do not give birth, and parents who adopt.

Old Town's Riverfest will go on, as usual, this Friday and Saturday, despite two fires in the last week. The parade will travel downtown, past the site of a fire on Saturday that destroyed one building and heavily damaged several others and Old Town cheering will be selling 'Old Town Strong' t-shirts to help those displaced by the blaze.