Morning update: What you need to know in Maine today

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I believe we have a phenomenal downtown, so helping people get over the hump of feeling unsafe would go a long way to changing the narrative.”

— Betsy Lundy, executive director of Downtown Bangor Partnership. The organization is planning to hire a New York-based company to clean and patrol the city’s downtown.

TODAY’S TOP MAINE STORIES

A New York company will be paid $540,000 to clean and patrol downtown Bangor . Downtown Bangor Partnership is finalizing an agreement with Streetplus, an urban safety, cleaning and hospitality service. The city chipped in $230,000.

A new restaurant has opened in the former Friar’s Brewhouse Tap Room . The new eatery has big shoes to fill with its Sicilian-inspired menu.

Nearly 200 readers responded to our survey earlier this week on hotels and other lodging in Maine.

During his second day on the job, Caribou Police Chief Corey Saucier talked about the challenges of recruiting new officers and building trust with the community.

After fleeing from police and barricading himself in a car , a second man has been arrested in connection with the death of a 45-year-old man in Cushing last week.

MAINE IN PICTURES

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

• Subpoenaed Army contractor will now testify to Lewiston shooting commission
• 14 US senators ask CDC to halt new border regulations for dogs
• You can buy a piece of Queen City Cinema Club history
• You might want to avoid Bangor’s Ohio Street for a few days
• Replacement of Stonington bridge will take more than a year
• 5,000 forested acres to be protected in Hancock County
• Belfast to offer a drop-off site for residents to compost food scraps
• Teen found not guilty of planning mass shooting at South Portland High School
• Family sues over fentanyl overdose death at Cumberland County Jail
• 17-year-old dies after Maine motorcycle crash
• Man shot twice outside Maine pizza restaurant
• Men who were headed to Maine for training before armed standoff have been sentenced
• These football stars from Glenburn are reuniting for the Lobster Bowl
• Former UMaine women’s basketball standout to join Black Bear coaching staff
• UMaine field hockey brings in 8 new players
• Jade Haylock wins Maine Women’s Amateur golf championship

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

“I fear we will never have an honest citizen serving in the U.S. Senate or U.S. House. I must ask where the people are that really want to represent us and not be self-serving and greedy.”

Opinion: We need better people to represent us

LIFE IN MAINE

Maine held its first conference dedicated to permaculture and agroforestry . Farming by creating self-sustaining systems and using forest land in tandem with growing food and raising animals were once fringe but are moving toward wider adoption .

A Maine fishing guide gave a 12-year-old a lifetime experience . Todd Mercer had seen the boy fly fishing at the boat launch of Big Eddy Campground for a couple of days before approaching him with an offer .

Feeling itchy? It’s probably because those blackflies, which used to die off after the start of summer, are sticking around longer than ever before .