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187,055 Cumulative vaccinations (An increase of 10,094 from Friday)

136,741 First doses administered (An increase of 6,190 from Friday)

50,314 Second doses administered (An increase of 3,904 from Friday)

41,064 Total cases (An increase of 265 from Friday)

634 Deaths (An increase of 2 from Friday)

265 New daily cases (Flat from Friday)

131 Currently in hospital (As of Friday)

Another two Mainers have died as health officials on Saturday reported 265 more coronavirus cases across the state.

The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 4,466. This is an estimation of the current number of active cases in the state, as the Maine CDC is no longer tracking recoveries for all patients. That’s down from 4,525 on Friday.

A resident of York and a resident of Penobscot counties, both in their 80s, succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 634.

Saturday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 41,064, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 40,799 on Friday.

For Teresa Cyr, a Friday appointment for a coronavirus vaccine at Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle brought a sigh of relief. The 85-year-old from Fort Fairfield called the local agency on aging for help registering and got an appointment within a week.

“I think it will make me less worried for me and my family,” Cyr said.

She is one of the more than 7,500 Aroostook County residents who have gotten a first vaccine as Maine has continued to roll them out to residents age 70 and up. The largest county by land area east of the Mississippi River has led the state in early administration, with 11.4 percent of residents getting a first dose and 4.3 percent having received second doses. READ MORE

The city of Portland has selected a firm to conduct an internal investigation into the Portland Police Department’s response to a protest held this past summer in the wake of George Floyd’s death that ended in 23 arrests and damage to businesses in downtown Portland.

The city says the goal of the investigation is to “ensure the integrity of the department was maintained throughout its response to the protest.”

The firm, Clifton Larson Allen LLP (CLA), is expected to provide the city with its report in three months.

The protest in question started peacefully in downtown Portland on June 1, 2020, and became increasingly tense as night fell and police clashed with protesters in the streets.

A Lebanon man held racist beliefs and espoused the baseless view that former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election because of voter fraud, even offering on social media to lead a caravan to Washington, D.C., for what became the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol last month, according to an affidavit filed in federal court this week. READ MORE

State officials and advocacy groups have agreed on a plan that could end a court decree that has governed mental health services for more than three decades.

The summer of 1988 was hot and humid. Temperatures stayed in the 90s for days at a time. The Augusta Mental Health Institute, which housed hundreds of patients, had no air conditioners. Five patients died from heat exhaustion, sparking a public outcry.

The Legislature held hearings that were televised, newspaper editorials blasted state officials and advocates for patients at AMHI went to court. In 1990, the state agreed to a consent decree promising to provide needed mental health services, which is still in effect.

Gov. Janet Mills says the new plan she has agreed to will allow the state to make good on those promises within two years. LISTEN TO THE REPORT