News Notes: July 29

Sanford’s own Maine Attraction Water Ski Show Team (pictured above) won first place at the Eastern Region Water Ski Tournament held at Number One Pond last weekend with an amazing performance. Watch NewsCenter Maine’s video about the team: youtube.com/watch?v=s81yTcWni-g. In singles competition, Maine Attraction’s Peter Hegarty won the freestyle jumping title. He will be competing in next year’s World Tournament as a member of the USA Water Ski Show Team.

Eric Small, who has been serving for the past several years as the Sanford Police Department’s Community Resource Officer, is the new Acting Deputy Chief of Operations, replacing Craig Andersen who is the Department’s new Police Chief. Detective Colleen Adams will be stepping up as the next Community Resource Officer, with some additional but related responsibilities in the Department’s new Mental Health Unit.

Are we supposed to be wearing masks indoors again? It’s complicated! On Wednesday, Governor Mills announced that Maine would follow the US Center for Disease Control’s recommendation (NOT requirement) that masks should be worn indoors in public spaces by everyone, even if fully vaccinated, if the weekly case rate exceeds 50 cases per 100,000 people. On Wednesday, the previous 7-day average showed that York County was in this category of “substantial” transmission. But US CDC updates their information daily, and the Thursday update showed York County had dropped down to “moderate” transmission, meaning the mask-wearing recommendation no longer applies. Prudent people may wish to just go ahead and wear them indoors again, but if you prefer to follow the science, the daily data is here: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view. (Select Maine and York County from the drop-down menus.)

The Literacy Volunteers of Greater Sanford have moved – their new location is at the Goodall Library, 952 Main St.

Did your family qualify for P-EBT benefits this year?  You may also be eligible for a similar program called Summer P-EBT. Families with school-aged children that think they may be eligible should fill out a school meal application by contacting their School Nutrition Office (in Sanford, call 207-608 8762) or downloading the application from https://www.maine.gov/doe/schools/nutrition/studenteligibility and returning it to their school. Families with children under the age of six should enroll in SNAP. Text the word “food” to 74544 to find out if you may also be eligible for SNAP. Don’t forget! Families receiving P-EBT and Summer P-EBT can still get free summer meals (breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday) for kids age 0-18 at Sanford High School and Carpentier Park through August 13. For more information about Summer P-EBT, please visit the Office for Family Independence or review P-EBT Frequently Asked Questions at feedkids.me.

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