Today is Monday. Temperatures will be in the 60s with sunny skies throughout the state. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today. Another Mainer died and 116 more coronavirus cases were reported across the state on Sunday, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The statewide death now stands at 816. Check out our COVID-19 Tracker for more information. Maine experienced a renovation boom in April, with construction among the sectors climbing back to pre-pandemic levels. That comes as the state added 9,600 new jobs over the first four months of the 2021, following four months of anemic growth as 2020 came to a close. In this May 15, 2021, file photo, visitors walk on a busy sidewalk in Bar Harbor. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty / AP As mask requirements are set to lift around the state on Monday, many wonder how this will affect daily life and what it means for the summer season. PLUS: Employees of the Salem, New Hampshire, location of Bull Moose said Saturday that the store was closed and everyone fired after the workers disagreed with a company decision to allow customers to stop wearing face coverings. Third-grader Chloe Blonquist waits for her dad to arrive at the end of the school day on Cliff Island on March 4, 2021. Credit: Natalie Williams / BDN “I don’t know who’s going to be vaccinated and not vaccinated, and it makes me nervous that those who are not vaccinated will be going to the store en masse and potentially giving my 1-year-old COVID-19.” PLUS: The new policy has left many parents with questions about how to navigate the rules while they wait for their kids to become eligible for vaccinations. Here are the answers to some of your common questions. There was a time logs like these were used to create toothpicks in Strong. The small Franklin County town was once the toothpick capital of the world. Credit: Josh Keefe / BDN Though Strong’s hold on the toothpick industry eventually subsided, the story of ingenuity, invention and creative marketing is one to remember. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, speaks Wednesday during a Senate Appropriations committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Credit: Alex Wong / AP The Maine senator said she sees two “resolvable” issues on the commission after talking with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland. PLUS: On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins suggested that a roadblock to gaining GOP support is the commission’s timing, echoing concerns from Republican leaders last week that the panel’s final report could extend into the 2022 midterms. That’s not the case. Willie Nelson performs at Bangor Auditorium on May 23, 2006. Credit: Kevin Bennett / BDN While it was far from the modern, comfortable facilities we see in most cities today, back then, it was the top of the line for concert venues in Maine. The Shotwell Drive-In opens for the summer on June 3. Credit: Courtesy of Anna Finocchiaro While indoor movie theaters can return to full capacity today, it could be a while before everyone feels comfortable gathering indoors again. Drive-in movie theaters can be the perfect solution to that problem this summer. Lobsterman Sadie Samuels outside her lunch wagon, Must Be Nice Lobster, located on the Belfast Harbor Walk. Credit: Abigail Curtis / BDN This summer, the scenic Belfast Harbor Walk won’t just be a source of scenic views — it will also offer an array of food options from coffee and bagels to lobster rolls and ice cream as food trucks and lunch wagons set up along the waterfront. The launching of the John F. Leavitt cargo schooner was front page material for the Bangor Daily News on Aug. 9, 1979. The schooner was meant as a wind-powered way around the ongoing fossil fuel energy crisis. Credit: BDN file Gasoline prices have jumped nearly 50 percent from this time last year. Consumers haven’t felt such sudden pains at the pump since the energy crisis of the 1970s and ’80s. During the energy crisis of the ’70s, some people thought returning to the age of sail was the best way to beat fossil fuel’s rising price tags. Delta Thermo is the Pennsylvania company in negotiations to purchase a shuttered waste plant in Hampden. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN The Bar Harbor Town Council has called for a meeting of the Municipal Review Committee, the group contracted to send their waste to the Hampden trash plant. The goal: to find out more information about Delta Thermo Energy, which is set to purchase it by June. In other Maine news … Former Calais cop indicted on 35 charges related to stealing drugs, firearms Big-game success nothing new for Husson’s Jackson Curtis Advocates want to expand Mountain Division Trail to Portland Motorcyclist killed in Limerick crash Canada gives final OK for CMP hydropower transmission project Bangor woman bit by a fox outside her home Maine man with service dog is struggling to find work even with a labor shortage |