Morning update: What you need to know in Maine today

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“That’s it for me. It can never get any better than this. The opportunities [to win it] were getting fewer and farther between.”

— Race car driver Jeff Taylor after winning the Oxford 250 on Sunday. The 57-year-old Farmington native qualified for his first 250 in 1993.

TODAY’S TOP MAINE STORIES

An anti-government group is recruiting in northern Maine . Tactical Civics is the latest right-wing group to pop up in rural Maine, which is believed to attract extremists because of the state’s loose gun laws and high percentage of white residents.

Here are the ads Democrats and Republicans want you to see in Maine’s 2nd District . Parties get around campaign finance laws by publicly telling allies how to advertise. The result is a transparent look at the race between U.S. Rep. Jared Golden and state Rep. Austin Theriault.

Northern Light Health is pulling back its ambulance service in three Penobscot County towns . The move, which will result in longer wait times, is the latest cost cutting effort by the hospital.

Property inspections for Bangor’s first citywide revaluation in 37 years will start later than planned . The effect on the city’s current property tax rate of $19.15 per $1,000 of valuation remains to be seen.

MAINE IN PICTURES

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

• Jared Golden follows Austin Theriault in pledging $50K to Lewiston shooting victims
• RFK Jr. is in Maine for an interview with Tucker Carlson
• Climate change is overheating Maine’s pristine lakes
• EEE, West Nile, malaria: Know the difference between these mosquito-borne diseases
• US national parks are receiving record-high gift of $100M
• Trial starts for man accused of driving drunk and hitting pedestrian in Brewer
• Down East man dies after crashing van on bridge
• Bucksport looks to block owner from abandoning key dam
• Liberty man injured after getting trapped under work vehicle
• Maine warns against swimming near Brunswick foam spill
• Crews responding to Lincoln County fire were unaware it was a cannabis grow house
• Cooper Flagg signs shoe endorsement deal with New Balance
• Oxford 250 winner says he won’t race in the event again

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

“So while Nov. 5 might seem light years away, the process for the 2024 election is actually starting to get going.”

Editorial: Already time to request absentee ballot, and think about working at the polls

LIFE IN MAINE

Cats aren’t the only animals that disappear. Whether by escape or theft, here are tips to consider before your animal goes missing .

“ Statistically, a deer hunter’s biggest safety risk occurs, not from becoming lost or injured by a gun, but when hunting from an elevated tree stand,” Bangor Daily News Outdoor contributor V. Paul Reynolds writes.

Maine has made great strides toward salmon restoration. But Maine’s true success cannot be measured without looking at the larger picture, which includes Atlantic Canada .