Today is Tuesday. Temperatures will be in the mid- to low 70s from north to south, with partly or mostly sunny skies throughout the state. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today. Two more Mainers have died and another 9 coronavirus cases reported across the state on Monday, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It marked the lowest single-day increase in new cases and the first time when cases slipped beneath the triple digits since Feb. 16, when only 91 were reported. The statewide death now stands at 822. Check out our COVID-19 Tracker for more information. Maine is the first New England state to see more than half of its population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with 50.13 percent having received a final dose as of Monday morning. Maine’s credit rating has emerged unscathed during the pandemic, with Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings giving the state solid marks Monday. Ed Sanders, left, of Oakfield stands in the checkout line at Andy’s IGA grocery store in Houlton, after mask requirements were lifted for vaccinated residents. Credit: Alexander MacDougall / Houlton Pioneer Times One of the first things that Colby Horne did Monday morning when he opened up his downtown Belfast business, Colburn Shoe Store, was to remove the “Masks Required, Please” placard from the door. It was an action he performed with relish. PLUS: Dock Fore in Portland held a mask-burning party Monday night to mark the end of the face-covering mandate for fully vaccinated Mainers. Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, gathers signatures for a referendum on Aug. 28, 2019, photo. She was one of seven lawmakers booted from their committees on Monday by House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, after they protested mask rules at the Maine State House. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty / AP House GOP leadership made it clear before the Legislative Council voted along party lines to maintain a mask requirement at the State House on Thursday they did not expect members to follow the policy. PLUS: Here are the COVID-19 rules still in effect with the end of Maine’s mask mandate In this Sept. 21, 2004, file photo, a lobster roll is paired with a plate of potato chips. Credit: Alicia Anstead / BDN A month ago it was headline news when the iconic Wiscasset seafood shack, Red’s Eats, opened for the season with no lobster on hand. Today, there is lobster to be had — but hold onto your napkin: a lobster roll there cost $34 this week. Portland International Jetport. Credit: File / CBS 13 With passenger volume down 50 percent so far this year compared with pre-pandemic levels, the Portland International Jetport is launching a $100,000 marketing campaign to attract travelers. Eddie “Diver Ed” Monat stands next to his boat. Credit: Bill Trotter / BDN Eastport is well known to scuba divers as having some of the best diving on the East Coast, so that’s exactly where the Starfish Enterprise is sailing. Ticks are on the move in Maine, especially dog ticks which have been reported in numbers far exceeding last year’s count. A dog tick, right, is twice the size of the Lyme disease-carrying deer tick seen on the left. Credit: Courtesy of Griffin Dill Homesteaders have been picking ticks off new-born piglets and observing ticks climbing all over fencing and the sides of animal shelters. Penobscot County Treasurer John Hiatt. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN Sean Hinkley, 27, took out the recall petition from the city clerk on Friday. He gathered signatures from 5 to 6 p.m. Monday outside his home at 188 Stillwater Ave. in Bangor. As of 5:30 p.m., he’d gathered 11 signatures. Two adult Canada geese are followed by four goslings. Credit: Courtesy of Bob Duchesne The mother Canada goose and her four goslings go for paddle along the edge of this wetland. In other Maine news … Stillwater Avenue construction slows interstate traffic in Bangor Wreckage of Portland-based fishing vessel found off Massachusetts coast UMaine will rename lecture hall after 1st Black mathematics graduate Maine bill to decriminalize prostitution takes key step toward passage Tractor-trailer hauling Poland Spring water bursts into flames in Maine Turnpike crash Piscataquis County sports company launching its 1st metal bat Maine home sales in April continued hot streak Proposal to extend rail to Bangor advancing in Maine Human skeletal remains found in Caribou woods |