Radio Midcoast WCME - 995FM

01/08/2025

From WCME News -- Your 24/7 Midcoast Breaking News Leader

Another school bullying investigation is underway on the Midcoast.

Mt. Ararat High School has canceled two boys hockey practices and postponed today's home game against Gorham after an alleged incident on which no details have yet been provided.

School Superintendent Heidi O' Leary has told parents in a letter that practices for the three-school co-op team, which also includes students from Lisbon and Morse high schools, would not be held while the investigation takes place in line with district policies and procedures.

The news follows Lisbon's recent forfeiture of the final four games of its high school football season after an investigation into alleged hazing, though investigators later said no criminal wrongdoing had occurred.

No word so far on who made the allegations at Mt. Ararat.

01/08/2025

FIRST from WCME News -- Your 24/7 Midcoast Breaking News Leader

With more and more parents challenged by a lack of available child care on the Midcoast and in other places, Freeport town councilors are endorsing a federal grant application that if successful, would bring as much as a half million dollars to enhance services at United 4 Childcare, an agency on Stonewood Drive in Freeport.

Freeport development director Brett Richardson says the project, which would also be supported by county money and businesses, would create 100 slots for kids in Freeport, with 50 of those to be offered to working families at a below-market rate. The project will also create 18 jobs for caregivers at a higher-than-average rate of pay.

In other action, Freeport councilors have selected Anna Child, a self-employed family services consultant, to fill a recently-created vacancy on the RSU-5 School Board, which serves Freeport, Durham and Pownal. The seat will be filled on a long-term basis in the November election.

01/08/2025

WCME Sports

Girls basketball

Mt. Ararat Eagles stage a mega-blowout of Deering High 80-26 with Juliana Allen nailing 25 points.

Morse girls lose to Mountain View 52-30

Boys basketball

A basketball royale until the buzzer in Brunswick with the Dragon boys losing to the Oceanside Mariners but Brendan Shaw leading the Dragon scoring with 20 points, and remining us of the importance of the three pointer--18 of those 20 points are the result of six three-pointers.

The final: Oceanside 60 Brunswick 59.

01/07/2025

From WCME News -- Your 24/7 Midcoast Breaking News Leader

After over a month of investigation, state police have arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of 34-year-old William “Nate” Robinson of Austinville, Virgina, whose body was discovered inside a trash barrel in the Schmid Preserve on the Old County Road in Edgecomb in early December.

After a determination that Robinson died of a gunshot wound, detectives in December executed a search warrant at an address in Turner, where evidence linked 26-year-old Luke Krott of Edgecomb to the murder, and an arrest warrant was issued. Krott, who had been staying with his parents in Edgecomb, had left the state but has now been located on a sailboat at a marina in San Diego, California, where Krott is now being held on a fugitive from justice charge pending the extradition process to Maine, where he will face a murder charge.

01/07/2025

From WCME News -- Your 24/7 Midcoast Breaking News Leader

Governor Mills introduces a proposal with sponsorship from legislative leaders of both parties to help the state respond to severe weather and the long-term effect of climate change.

The plan includes a grant program to help residents make investments to safeguard their homes against extreme weather and utilizes federal funds to establish a new state office to reduce storm damage and protect infrastructure.

01/07/2025

Chip Spies is a longtime Midcoast resident who heads a newly-announced coalition launching a drive for open water flows and heightened fish passage on the Androscoggin River.

If you missed him on today's WCME Midcoast Morning Buzz you may hear him here.

https://www.radiomidcoastwcme.com/portfolio/chip-spies-coordinator-of-the-free-the-andro-coalition-on-the-wcme-midcoast-morning-buzz/

01/07/2025

Breaking from NBC News and WCME

The president-elect also wants to re-name the Gulf of Mexico "Gulf of America" and says windmills are driving whales crazy.

He has repeatedly quipped in recent weeks that Canada should become the 51st state.

01/07/2025

Breaking from NBC News and WCME

Of interest to all Facebook users--pretty sure that is everyone who is looking at this.

It's a move likely to please the incoming Trump administration.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a series of major changes to the company's moderation policies and practices, saying that the election felt like a "cultural tipping point."

01/07/2025

Jim Bleikamp here.

I cannot let this January 6 fade away without noting the first striking words of the Sunday New York Times op-ed from the pen of Aquilino Gonell, a former sergeant in the Capitol Police and the author, with Susan Shapiro, of “American Shield: The Immigrant Sergeant Who Defended Democracy.”

"For those who didn’t experience the violence, Jan. 6, 2021, might feel like it’s in the past — but it’s not for me. I keep reliving the five horrific hours of that cold Wednesday afternoon, as I tried to protect elected officials, regardless of their political ideology, and their staffs inside the Capitol building — all without firing my gun.

For my efforts doing my duty as a Capitol Police sergeant, I was beaten and struck by raging rioters all over my body with multiple weapons until I was covered in my own blood. My hand, foot and shoulder were wounded. I thought I was going to die and never make it home to see my wife and young son.

Over the last four years, it’s been devastating to me to hear Donald Trump repeat his promise to pardon insurrectionists on the first day he’s back in office. “It will be my great honor to pardon the peaceful protesters, or as I often call them, the hostages,” he said in a speech last year. But all of us who were there and anyone who watched on TV know that those who stormed the Capitol were not peaceful protesters. Pardoning them would be an outrageous mistake, one that could mean about 800 convicted criminals will be back on the street."

May we never forget.

May we never bend to those who would re-write history.

01/06/2025

FIRST from WCME -- Your 24/7 Midcoast Breaking News Leader

As reported earlier today as a likelihood on WCME, Brunswick's fourth district councilor Sande Updegraph has been elected council chair for the new year ahead.

The vote was unanimous--both for Updegraph and for at-large councilor Nathan MacDonald, who will serve as vice-chair.

When asked about her priorities for the year ahead, Updegraph told WCME News that she wants to improve town relations with the state, and with Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA) at Brunswick Landing--the scene of the toxic foam spill.

The new chair answered with the words "perhaps not necessarily" when we asked her if she wishes to restructure MRRA, saying also that "continuing and collaborating with their current structure is going to get us a long way."

Also this evening, the seating of a new councilor--Kim Anderson, who will replace the departing Abby King in the third district.

01/06/2025

From WCME News -- Your 24/7 Midcoast Breaking News Leader

A new executive director for the Brunswick Downtown Association, which has hired Reilly Kons, who returns to his home state, and who is described by the BDA as a leader with a diverse background in community development, event management, and partnership development.

Kons took over the job today and most recently served as director of Venture Café Providence in Providence, RI, described as a central hub for the local innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem, overseeing the successful hosting of the largest weekly gathering of entrepreneurs and innovators in the state.

Before his tenure at Venture Café, Kons was a member of the entrepreneurship team at the Roux Institute at Northeastern University in Portland.

As Executive Director, Kons will focus on advancing the BDA’s mission to promote Downtown Brunswick and the community as a vibrant and attractive place to live, work, and do business. Key priorities include enhancing community events, expanding partnerships, and advocating for the needs of the downtown area.

01/06/2025

FIRST from WCME News -- Your 24/7 Midcoast Breaking News Leader

Serious but fortunately non-life-threatening injuries to a man from South Portland in a motor vehicle crash on Rt. 1 northbound near the West Bath town line.

26-year-old Michael Herrick is said to have been northbound when his vehicle drifted left and off of the roadway and struck a rock embankment before rolling several times and coming to a stop upside down in the ditch. Herrick was trapped inside the vehicle and had to be extricated by The Brunswick Fire Department. He was then airlifted to Maine Medical Center, his 2012 Hyundai was totaled and the investigation continues.

01/06/2025

From WCME News -- Your 24/7 Midcoast Breaking News Leader

A 20-year-old man from Topsham is charged with arson and is being held without bail in connection with a Sunday night fire in the Waldo County town of Swanville.

Patrick Kane is also charged with violating conditions of release due to the fact that he was out on bail from another arson charge last April.

The Sunday fire broke out in the back of a pickup truck.

Last spring Kane was one of four people arrested on arson charges stemming from three fires--one at a vacant building and a vacant mobile home in Woolwich and another in Dresden.

01/06/2025

From WCME News

With the license for the Androscoggin River dam between Brunswick and Topsham coming up for renewal in 2029, a newly formed coalition of conservation groups known as "Free the Andro" is launching a drive for open water flows on the river.

The coalition includes the groups known as Maine Rivers, American Rivers, and the Merrymeeting Bay Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and says it wants unfettered native fish passage at the dam, and wants either dam removal or redesign. A coalition spokesman says the dam's hydro-power facility is a significant obstacle to both upstream and downstream fish passage.

01/06/2025

WCME News Exclusive

It is expected that the Brunswick Town Council will vote this evening at its organizational meeting for the new year to designate Sande Updegraph, who represents District 4, as the council's chair.

Updegraph, who served on the Planning Board for six years and in other town agencies, was last year's council vice-chair, and is a former director of both the Freeport Chamber of Commerce and the Freeport Economic Development Corp.

There is less clarity around the council vice-chair position, which will also be filled this evening. At-large councilor Nathan MacDonald tells WCME News that he has interest, but WCME News has been told that there may be at least one other candidate.

01/06/2025

WCME Sports

A win in the final game of the season has not saved coach Jerod Mayo after a dismal year that ended with a tally of four wins and 13 losses.

The Patriots have fired Mayo after just one season, and will now begin another search after parting last year with longtime coach Bill Belichick.

Owner Robert Kraft has announced the firing in a statement:

“After the game I informed Jerod Mayo that he will not be returning as the head coach of the New England Patriots in 2025. For me, personally, it was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team’s performances throughout the season did not ascent as I had hoped.”

Mayo is a former Patriots linebacker who worked as an assistant under Belichick. However, after a win in the season opener, he struggled in a persistent attempt to turn a youthful roster into a winning team.

01/05/2025

WCME Sports

The Patriots do today what they could not do earlier this season--sustain the momentum from a strong first half and win out over the Buffalo Bills 23-16, with two field goals enlarging the victory margin.

It may have helped that this time the game was in Foxborough rather than in Orchard Park.

Patriots rookie backup quarterback Joe Milton played all but the first series in a battle of backups and rushed for one touchdown and threw for another, a 48-yard missile to Kayshon Boute.

The Patriots finish with four wins and 13 losses, and will be now looking for a new coach, after the post-game firing of Jerod Mayo (more on that in a story above this post).

01/05/2025

Jim Bleikamp here.

At 7:35 on the Monday WCME Midcoast Morning Buzz I'll ask Brunswick Police Chief Scott Stewart for his view of the status of the intersection of Pleasant Hill Road and Baribeau Drive, where there have been two recent crashes--one a fatality.

I'll also ask the chief about his cautious approach to the use of artificial intelligence in the police department.

And more.

The Buzz.

If it's on the Midcoast, it's on The Buzz.

6-9 every weekday.

99-5 WCME!!