THE DAILY MONITOR
Reporting in the Public Interest
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CORONAVIRUS IN MAINE
STATE CDC VACCINATION UPDATE
167,111 Cumulative vaccinations (An increase of 5,456 from Wednesday)
123,683 First doses administered (An increase of 3,656 from Wednesday)
43,428 Second doses administered (An increase of 1,800 from Wednesday)
COVID-19 DASHBOARD
40,534 Total cases (An increase of 301 from Wednesday)
630 Deaths (An increase of 3 from Wednesday)
301 New daily cases (An increase of 28 from Wednesday)
157 Currently in hospital (A decrease of 1 from Wednesday)
TODAY'S HEADLINES
The Southern Poverty Law Center has identified three active hate groups in Maine.

The findings are in its annual “census” of active hate groups around the country, with a count of 838. These are groups that have taken some type of action on behalf of their racist or extremist beliefs in the previous year.

The three groups identified by the SPLC are known as the Colchester Collection, described by the Atlantic as “an online reading room by and for white nationalists;” New Albion, a white ethnostate plan advocated by former Jackman Town Manager Thomas Kawcyznski, who now lives in Greenville and hosts a popular coronavirus podcast; and a white nationalist group that bills itself as the Patriot Front.

“And the Patriot group is probably one of the bigger, better known groups. They were formed in the aftermath of the deadly 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally,” says Susan Corke, director of the Intelligence Project for the SPLC.

That rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killed one person and injured nearly 20 others. Patriot Front followers pride themselves on activism and often use racist flyers as their calling cards to create fear. LISTEN TO THIS REPORT
The state has identified another 301 cases of COVID-19. And three more people with the illness have died.

Higher death counts in recent days — including 23 on Tuesday — were attributed to close review of vital records and occurred mostly in December and January.

The Maine Center for Disease Control reports more than 40,500 cases have been identified since last March. And 630 Mainers have died with the disease.

Pharmacies and clinics throughout the state have administered than 167,000 doses of the vaccine. Two mass vaccination sites — one at Scarborough Downs and one the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor — are now open as well. READ MORE
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced Thursday that the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) is preparing to place another order for first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, for 21,475 people, to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Operation Warp Speed. 

This is an increase of 5 percent, or 1,100 doses, over the current week’s amount and is expected to remain the same for the next three weeks.

Maine CDC's order reflects the maximum number of doses available to Maine for new vaccines. Maine CDC's order, expected to arrive early next week, will comprise 8,775 doses from Pfizer and 12,700 doses from Moderna for the ninth week of distribution, starting Feb. 8.

The 21,475 first doses of vaccine will be sent to hospitals (13,900), outpatient groups (3,975), public safety (1,100), and organizations helping to vaccine people in long-term care facilities not in the retail pharmacy program (2,500). Maine has paused on sending additional vaccine to the retail pharmacy program operated by the U.S. CDC, to ensure it has sufficient vaccine doses for the coming week. READ MORE
The utility that serves almost all of southern Maine is telling solar project developers that they may need to pay more to connect to the grid, which could also delay the projects.

Central Maine Power sent emails to the developers of solar power projects last week warning of additional costs and delays because of problems the utility is having connecting the projects to their electric grid, the Portland Press Herald reported on Thursday.

Maine has seen a rush of solar energy development following legislation designed to spur a transition to renewable energy in the state. But the transition depends on the ability of utilities, like CMP, to integrate the projects into the existing electric grid.

In emails sent to developers, the utility said the solar projects were causing voltage problems at substations where the projects connect, the newspaper reported. That’s despite agreements reached between the utility and developers in advance of a project’s construction in which the developers pay to upgrade the infrastructure as needed. READ MORE
In August 2014, a man walking his dog looked up at the night sky over Portland. That’s when he saw the mystery: A group of white lights, brighter than stars, traveling faster than satellites, were skimming the tree-lined horizon just behind his apartment building.

He watched as the orbs abruptly changed formation, pivoted 90 degrees and streaked away. They were gone in five seconds but his dog continued staring at the sky where the lights vanished for another half-minute.

“I have never seen anything like this and, until now, have been skeptical of UFO sightings” the man wrote in his report to the National UFO Reporting Center.

With official reports stretching back to at least 1946, Maine UFO sightings are nothing new. They’re not even rare. In the past 40 years, UFO investigators, the federal government and the Bangor Daily News recorded nearly 1,000 such reports. The latest was last month and recent data show sightings on a steady rise since 2018, with a noticeable spike during the initial pandemic lockdown. Numbers are expected to climb still higher in 2021. One analyst ranks Maine fourth in the nation in UFO visitations. READ MORE
Allegations of misconduct that current and former students brought against staff at Portland schools last summer have resulted in resignations and verbal warnings.

The disciplinary actions are the result of a recently completed investigation into allegations that roughly 60 current and former students made against current and former staff. The allegations, most of which were anonymous, were collected on social media by a 2017 Deering High School graduate. READ MORE