Today is Friday. Temperatures will be in the 30s throughout the state, with mostly cloudy skies. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today. Another 94 coronavirus cases have been reported across the state, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Thursday marked the second straight day with record-high new case reports and the highest single-day jump in new cases seen since the pandemic reached here in March. There are 859 active confirmed and “probable” cases in the state, the highest yet, while the death toll remains at 146. Check out our COVID-19 Tracker for more information. Gov. Janet Mills extended her 30-day coronavirus civil state of emergency proclamation on Thursday, warning Mainers that the rising count in COVID-19 cases this week underlines the need to stay safe. In this Sept. 9, 2020, file photo, a woman wears a mask to protect against the spread of the coronavirus while looking at drying racks outside a hardware store in Sanford. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty / BDN The state recorded the second day in a row of record-setting numbers of new cases that have followed weeks of increasing virus cases. Signs outside an Old Orchard Beach restaurant are shown in July. A public health expert recommends that Maine hit the brakes on its reopening of bars and consider rolling back increases in restaurants’ indoor seating capacity as virus cases surge. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN The state is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases — including back-to-back days of record case increases — less than three weeks after it entered the fourth phase of its economic reopening. But Gov. Janet Mills has given no indication that she plans to reverse any part of the reopening. From left, Troy Richardson, Cynthia Small, Ben Umel and Matthew Damon listen to a question during a candidates’ night in Brewer on Monday. Credit: Natalie Williams / BDN Any votes for Matthew Damon won’t count. A sign tells visitors to the State House to be quiet outside the Maine Senate chamber in this 2018 file photo. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN Maine’s political parties have spent big on legislative races in the final month of the 2020 election as majority Democrats maintain a spending advantage but Republicans have an outside shot at flipping the competitive Senate. The National Alliance on Mental Illness office in Hallowell is pictured on Oct. 29 (left) and Jenna Mehnert is pictured in this undated photo. Jenna Mehnert, the chief executive officer of NAMI Maine, which runs a network of resources to support people with mental illnesses and raises awareness of mental health issues, handed down unpredictable reprimands, acted combative when people asked her questions, criticized employees behind their backs and spoke down to them directly, making it difficult for people to succeed in their jobs, said the former employees, many of whom quit to preserve their own mental health. Donald Trump Jr. held a rally at Calvary Chapel in Orrington Thursday evening. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN Biden and Trump have polled closely so far in the large, rural district that Trump carried by 10 points in 2016. Biden has a 7-percentage-point lead in national polls and a slighter edge in key battlegrounds. A hiker walks along the Clarry Hill Trail in the afternoon of Oct. 14, in Union. Credit: Aislinn Sarnacki / BDN Rising 643 feet above sea level, Clarry Hill is home to the largest contiguous acreage of productive blueberry land in the midcoast region — approximately 400 acres. Covering much of the hill, including its top, these fields of lowbush blueberries offer open panoramic views that extend to the ocean and the western mountains of Maine. BDN Outdoors Editor John Holyoke and his stepdaughter, Georgia Doore, pose for a quick selfie while deer hunting in Otis in 2019. Credit: John Holyoke / BDN On Saturday morning — finally — thousands of us Maine residents will head into the woods, hopes high, on the residents-only opening day of deer season. Just like we always have. Just like Mainers have been doing for generations. Except this year, things don’t feel the same at all. In other Maine news … Maine program extending unemployment benefits is likely to end in mid-November 10 COVID-19 cases linked to outbreak at Old Port Pat’s Pizza 12 inmates at Windham prison test positive Families to take religious school tuition issue to US Supreme Court after losing appeal This Bangor company wants to turn wood into zero-emission heating oil NCAA gives all Division III athletes an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19 | 