Morning update: What you need to know in Maine today

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“On a clear, dry, beautiful day, the trees just collapse under their own weight because they get so brittle. That presents a danger to the public.”

— Aaron Huotari, Bangor’s public works director, on the work of the emerald ash borer. The city is preparing for the likely arrival of the invasive beetle.

TODAY’S TOP MAINE STORIES

Bangor could lose 20 percent of its trees to an invasive bug . The devastating emerald ash borer, which has yet to be seen in the Queen City, might arrive before the end of the year.

A Bangor Christian school wants to double its enrollment in a new building . If successful, it would buck national trends that show private school numbers in the U.S. have held steady in recent years.

Belfast might expand its breakwater, which increasingly fails to blunt worsening storms . The discussion follows a recent study of how the change would affect sediments that build up in the Passagassawakeag River.

A new poll found that 3 in 10 Mainers see housing as the state’s biggest problem . Housing dwarfed all other issues in the UNH Survey Center poll of 951 likely Maine voters, a result similar to another UNH survey last year.

MAINE IN PICTURES

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

• Study links slaveholder ancestry with higher net worth for members of Congress
• Here’s what you had to say about Maine’s ‘floating camps’
• Jury finds Bangor man guilty of sexually abusing young girl
• Aroostook man pleads guilty to role in drug ring
• Parents of Washburn man want review of his autopsy
• Aroostook man convicted of murder seeks chance to appeal, blames attorneys
• Aroostook man pleads guilty to role in drug ring
• Presque Isle nursing home closes after final resident leaves
• A Fort Fairfield man is missing
• Maine woman implicated in elder abuse of Brooke Astor dies
• Man seriously injured in Ellsworth crash
• Bar Harbor Town Council proposes new cruise ship ordinance
• Acadia swimming area is closed again because of high bacteria levels
• Portland approves new short-term rental regulations
• Kittery man pleads not guilty to felony charges stemming from Capitol riot

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND

Deal, deals, deals! The Kiwanis Club of Orono-Old Town holds its 77th annual auction and yard sale on Friday and Saturday at 168 Forest Ave. in Orono, with hundreds of items both new and gently used up for sale proceeds benefiting Kiwanis’ work with area youth. Elsewhere on Friday night, there are several free outdoor movies to pick from, including a double feature of “Monsters Inc” and “Jurassic Park” starting at 8 p.m. in Old Town Park, and “The Goonies” at 7:15 p.m. at Steamboat Landing in Belfast. Also this weekend is the Butterfly and Native Plants Festival at Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden, with activities for all ages starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, celebrating our native ecosystem.

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

“A runway knock-off outfit or a cheap T-shirt may seem like a great buy, but when the environmental devastation from fast fashion is considered, trendy clothes aren’t such a good deal.”

Editorial: Fast fashion is an environmental nightmare

LIFE IN MAINE

If Maine cracks down on floating camps, what does that mean for ice shacks? A Bangor Daily News story earlier this week about potential regulations on floating abodes has some fishermen concerned.

Should you let your cats outside? Even people who keep their cats in sometimes feel it’s natural for them to roam outdoors instead of staying inside, where they can get bored, destructive and overweight.

A Pittsfield race car driver is among five favorites to win the Oxford 250 . In 31 total races last year, Max Cookson captured five wins, 17 top-five finishes and 26 top-10s.