Morning update: What you need to know in Maine today

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It’s hard to find anything below Bangor or south in terms of your traditional Maine home price.”

— Matthew DeChaine, a broker-owner of Madawaska-based Crown Lakes Realty, on the affordability of homes in The County.

TODAY’S TOP MAINE STORIES

A Bangor couple is hoping to help ease the region’s housing crisis by building a 500-unit building off Stillwater Avenue . Justin and Nicole Freeman’s draft concepts include nine or 10 two-story buildings, each with between 40 and 60 units.

Rural regions are dominating Maine’s affordable housing market . Aroostook County is among the six Maine counties where the typical family could afford the standard home.

Michael Gilmore, the owner and operator of Maine Functional Medicine, has been permanently suspended from practicing medicine . Gilmore signed a consent agreement on Aug. 8, after allegations he sexually assaulted a 23-year-old female patient.

A new poll showed that Vice President Kamala Harris has expanded her lead on former President Donald Trump in Maine . Harris’ popularity has also grown in Maine’s 2nd District, which voted for Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Ellsworth will ask its voters in November whether the city should adopt regulations on retail recreational marijuana stores . Municipalities in Hancock County have been slow to allow retail shops and other marijuana businesses, with just one in Southwest Harbor.

MAINE IN PICTURES

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

• Maine’s DNC roll call vote song had nothing to do with the state
• Cornel West will remain on Maine’s ballot
• Brewer father convicted of killing 6-week-old son denied new trial, Maine supreme court rules
• Man who died at Penobscot County Jail has been identified
• Car ends up on its roof after Bangor crash
• Northern Light Health stops using climate polluting anesthetic
• University of Maine System exploring feasibility of establishing state’s 1st public medical school
• Half a century later, the search for a missing Maine pilot continues
• Madawaska to consider baby box proposal for abandoned infants
• A couple will pay $50 for outdoor wedding on Belfast waterfront
• Toxic foam that spilled at Brunswick airport was due for removal next month
• Co-owner of Lewiston bar that was site of mass shooting dies at 57
• Gifford’s Ice Cream is closing its 2nd-oldest ice cream stand
• 43-year-old identified as Waterville homicide victim
• Massachusetts man allegedly assaulted Mainer with brass knuckles and baseball bat
• Homeowner shoots man who allegedly kicked in the door to his Maine home
• West Nile virus found in bird in Portland
• UMaine field hockey team has players from 11 nations this season

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

“A building dedicated to the church would not serve the full, diverse community in midcoast Maine. It also would not meet the public higher and adult education functions for which the building was intended.”

Opinion: Education appears to be for sale to the highest bidder in Belfast

LIFE IN MAINE

Just because the growing season is winding down, that doesn’t mean you can’t get a few more weeks or months out of your garden. These herbs and vegetables are quick-growing or cold-hardy options for a fall garden .

Maine deer are known to be jumpy, skittish and quick to flee from a predator. But the doe in this video turned the tables when her fawn was threatened .

There’s a new threat to Maine farmers who raise pigs. Diseases that cause diarrhea and “swine dysentery” have been detected in western Maine, and an undisclosed number of pigs have died .

Tyler Marmonti, 6, had just tagged along on the fishing trip to spend time with his brother and friends. He didn’t expect to land an impressive landlocked salmon .