A 20-year-old Auburn motorcyclist died in the hospital after a crash on Auburn’s Center Street on Wednesday.

[RELATED: 16-Year-Old Arrested After Fleeing Westbrook Police and Crashing Into a Parked Car…]

At approximately 1:58 p.m., the Auburn Police Department responded to the area of 777 Center Street after receiving reports of a crash between a car and a motorcycle.

A preliminary investigation indicated that Alice Houmann, 69, of West Bath, was operating a 2012 Honda Odyssey when she took a left turn from the Lee GMC parking lot onto Center Street.

While Houmann was turning, Owen Vinecruz, 20, of Auburn, was operating a 1999 Yamaha motorcycle and was traveling north on Center Street when he struck Houmann’s vehicle.

Houmann was evaluated by paramedics at the scene and released.

Veracruz was transported to the Central Maine Medical Center with life-threatening injuries and was later transferred to the Maine Medical Center, where he tragically succumbed to his injuries.

The circumstances surrounding the crash remain under investigation, and police

Health insurance rates for Mainers are going up, again, according to guidance published by the Maine Bureau of Insurance.

If you buy your own plan, the average premium rises 14.8 percent on Jan. 1, 2027. If you get coverage through a small business with 50 or fewer workers, the average hike is 13.5 percent.

The Maine Bureau of Insurance approved those numbers on Aug. 14, offering the insurance companies a trimmed-down version of the larger rate increases they had asked for.

It is the second straight year of double-digit increases.

Last year individual rates jumped 24.2 percent and small-business rates jumped 17.7 percent. Two years of hikes add up to about 43 percent more for people who buy their own coverage, and about 34 percent more for small businesses.

Acting Superintendent Timothy Schott blamed higher utilization, prescription-drug prices, more expensive provider contracts, and inflation.

Schott did not point to any pieces of legislation enacted since 2019 that might have caused health insurance rates to continue increasing.

Whose rates are going up?

The MBI letter concerns only a small segment of Maine’s health insurance market, though it may be representative of health insurance costs for the ~700k Maine residents still paying for their own insurance in some manner.

Together, the individual and small-group markets account for just under 100,000 individuals, and it’s these individuals who will experience the cost increases. The bureau says about 65,000 people buy their own coverage, mostly on CoverME.gov, and more than 36,000 get it through a small employer. The 2027 filings count about 98,600 people in that whole market.

Everyone else is on MaineCare, Medicare, a large-employer plan, or a self-funded job plan the bureau cannot price. DHHS says MaineCare covers about 1 in 4 Mainers and about half of Maine children. 

Insurers asked for larger rate increases than they got, but that will provide little solace to Mainers feeling the pinch of ever-increasing health insurance costs.

MBI cut the individual-market request from a membership-weighted 16.8 percent to 14.8 percent, and the small-group request from 15.7 percent to 13.5 percent.

A KFF analysis cited in the bureau's notice found a national median proposed increase of 15 percent. Maine's approved individual average is already in that neighborhood, after the cut.

Approved 2027 individual increases, per the bureau:

• Anthem Health Plans of Maine, HMO: 15.8 percent (requested 17.9 percent), 31,134 lives. Plan-level range: 7.0 percent to 21.1 percent.
• Maine Community Health Options, HMO/PPO: 19.5 percent (requested 20.9 percent), 17,313 lives. Range: 12.0 percent to 33.2 percent.
• Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, HMO: 6.6 percent (requested 9.2 percent), 13,374 lives. Range: minus 2.9 percent to 13.4 percent.
• HPHC Insurance Company, off-exchange PPO: 7.6 percent, 212 lives.

Approved 2027 small-group increases:

• Anthem: 14.2 percent, 22,441 lives.
• Maine Community Health Options: 23.8 percent, 4,683 lives.
• Harvard Pilgrim: 5.6 percent, 6,273 lives.
• HPHC Insurance Company: 5.5 percent, 1,687 lives.
• UnitedHealthcare Insurance: 12.2 percent, 1,169 lives.
• UnitedHealthcare of New England: 12.7 percent, 297 lives.

Shrinking market

In addition to rising costs, the other trend in Maine’s small-group and individual health insurance markets is the declining customer base.

Last year's MBI tables counted 70,925 individual customers and 45,129 small-business customers. This year's tables count 62,033 and 36,550.

"The rising cost of health care is making health coverage more expensive for consumers in Maine and across the country," Schott said. "While these final increases are lower than insurers initially requested, we know they will still be difficult for Maine people and small businesses."

CoverME.gov already lost paying customers this year.

Sign-ups fell from about 64,700 for 2025 to about 58,500 for 2026.

By May, 14,300 returning customers had canceled — 29 percent, up from 18 percent a year earlier.

People with no subsidy, people just over the subsidy cutoff, and people under 35 left fastest.

More than half of remaining customers bought cheaper bronze plans with deductibles as high as $8,000 for one person.

Democratic members of Congress held a field hearing Monday at Biddeford High School examining the fatal July 13 shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine led the session, joined by Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee; House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts; and Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana. The event, titled "Seeking Justice in Biddeford: Oversight of ICE's Use of Force in the Death of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero," took place in the school's Little Theater and was open to the public.

Governor Mills is back from her week-long vacation and is now "crying" over ICE.

Where was this emotion for the last month? pic.twitter.com/ctV6mJ6XnS

— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) August 17, 2026

Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national living in Biddeford, was shot during an ICE operation near the intersection of Pool and Hill streets. Department of Homeland Security officials initially stated agents were conducting surveillance related to a person with a final order of removal when a vehicle left the residence, attempted to flee a stop, and an officer fired out of concern for public safety. Durán Guerrero was not the intended target of the operation.

At the hearing, Pingree said newly available information showed the intended target—Durán Guerrero's roommate and the owner of the vehicle he was driving—also lacked a final removal order. She described the development as contradicting earlier DHS accounts. Pingree further stated that Durán Guerrero had a pending asylum case and held a valid work authorization.

A person was killed Monday in an ICE-involved shooting in Biddeford, Maine, according to the state’s speaker of the house — just days after a federal agent fatally shot a Mexican immigrant during a traffic stop in Houston, sparking mass protests and demands for transparency and… pic.twitter.com/h15zX35av7

— D. Scott @eclipsethis2003 (@eclipsethis2003) July 14, 2026

Witnesses included Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain, family attorney Ben Gideon, Sue Roche of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, and Mufalo Chitam of the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition. Durán Guerrero's parents traveled from Colombia and addressed the panel, describing their son's character and the impact of his death. Lawmakers and witnesses criticized the absence of released body-camera footage, limited transparency from federal agencies, and the lack of a formal House oversight hearing under Republican control.

Organizers characterized the session as a "shadow hearing" held in Maine because House Republicans had not scheduled official proceedings in Washington. Participants said ICE and Republican members had been invited. The Maine Attorney General's Office continues its investigation into the shooting. Federal investigative status remains unclear, according to statements at the hearing and subsequent press conference.

The session concluded with calls for greater accountability in immigration enforcement operations and transparency regarding the use of force.

U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Massachusetts, does U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine’s efforts at a nonpartisan probe into ICE no favors, if Chellie really was interested in the truth.

Clark is a rabid anti-Trumper who has also been forced to walk back calling the Israeli government a murdering genocidal actor.

During a town hall last year Clark referred to Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide.

However, soon after the event she issued a statement denying she ever said it. “I want to be clear I am not accusing Israel of genocide," Clark said in a laughable re-creation of what she really thinks.

If Chellie wanted a dispassionate arbiter to allegedly help her get to the truth by investigating ICE's recent fatal shooting in Biddeford of a Colombian national, Clark wasn’t the lawmaker to fulfill the role.

Chellie invited Clark, the U.S. House Democratic whip, to help keynote Monday’s alleged Biddeford-based hearing

BIDDEFORD, Maine — Inside the Little Theater at Biddeford High School Monday, the conclusions came quickly.

Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero had been "murdered." Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be abolished. President Donald Trump was responsible for a campaign of fear. Republicans had abandoned congressional oversight. And before the hearing adjourned, those gathered were reminded that voters would have an opportunity to do something about it on Nov. 3.

Outside that theater, however, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office was offering a

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) traveled to Maine Monday to campaign alongside former Gov. Paul LePage (R), bringing one of the Republican Party's most powerful figures to Auburn as the GOP sets its sights on flipping Maine's open 2nd Congressional District seat in November.

Johnson joined LePage at Auburn Concrete, where the former two-term governor is campaigning to succeed Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who is not seeking reelection.

LePage will face Democratic State Auditor Matt Dunlap in November in a contest expected to draw significant national attention as Republicans and Democrats battle for control of the U.S. House.

For LePage, Johnson’s appearance was also an opportunity to make the case that his eight years running Maine state government would allow him to arrive in Washington as something other than a typical freshman congressman.

"I'm not a lifelong politician," LePage told those gathered at the Auburn business. "I'm running for

The Westbrook Police Department arrested a man on Wednesday accused of firing at multiple people near the Westbrook Commons following a days-long investigation.

[RELATED: Another Violent Monday in Lewiston: Early-Morning Shooting, High-Speed Chase and Police Cruiser Crash…]

At approximately 5:55 p.m. on August 9, Westbrook officers responded to the area of Westbrook Commons following reports of several gunshots.

Officers arrived to discover that a man had allegedly fired a handgun at several people walking in the Commons.

Police determined that all of the individuals involved were known to each other and assessed that the incident was allegedly a targeted shooting.

No one was struck during the incident, and the suspect was not immediately located

He was identified as Calvin Lombard, 21, of both Westbrook and South Portland, following an investigation, and police arrested him without incident on Wednesday night.

Lombard was charged with attempted elevated aggravated assault, reckless conduct with a firearm, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, and threatening display of a weapon.

He was transported to the Cumberland County Jail, where he was held without bail.

The Brewer Police Department and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) arrested three suspects, including a man from Massachusetts, on Thursday while executing a search warrant.

[RELATED: Brewer Man Arrested for Theft After Police Spot Him Holding a Woman's Wallet…]

Law enforcement responded to a Center Street residence to execute a drug-related search warrant.

During the warrant execution, police allegedly discovered drugs and firearms.

Police also located and arrested three suspects.

Ricardo Costa, 19, of Fall River, Massachusetts, was charged with aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Chelsea Frazier, 33, of Brewer was charged with unlawful possession of Schedule W drugs.

Dennis Fogeallaz, 41, of Brewer was charged with unlawful possession of schedule W drugs, violation of conditions

An Oxford County sheriff’s deputy shot an armed suspect’s hands on Monday while responding to an alleged domestic violence incident.

[RELATED: Westbrook Man Arrested After Investigation Into Targeted Shooting…]

Oxford deputies responded, along with the Maine State Police, Maine Warden Service, and Fryeburg Police Department, to reports of a domestic dispute at 11 Porter Road in Brownfield.

The caller reported that Aric Junkins, 40, of Brownfield, was chasing his wife with a gun.

When law enforcement arrived, they allegedly discovered an armed Junkins who reportedly aimed his firearm in their direction.

In response, Oxford Deputy Andre Chasse fired twice at Junkins and struck him in his hands, disabling the threat.

Junkins was briefly treated at the scene before being transported to Bridgton Hospital. He was subsequently transferred to the Massachusetts General Hospital for further treatment.

As is standard practice for an officer-involved shooting, Deputy Chasse will be placed on administrative leave while the Attorney General’s

The podcaster who has broken the most news on the affair between Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini says her employer may be culpable in encouraging the canoodling.

Tony Farmer is raising the possibility that the New York Times/The Athletic may have suggested to its female NFL reporter that she get close to Vrabel to help her get insider football information from him.

"The Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel scandal has dominated the NFL offseason in a way few stories have managed in recent memory," says Yahoo Sports. "Yet four months after Page Six first published photos of the two together, major questions still surround the situation and what happened behind the scenes.

"At the center of those questions sits The Athletic’s internal investigation into Russini’s conduct," writes Yahoo reporter Pritish Ganguly, quoting a report from Pro Football Network.

"But

Israeli prime minister refuses Gaza withdrawal until Hamas is fully disarmed as Washington confronts simultaneous crises involving Iran, the Strait of Hormuz and renewed Houthi attacks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected President Donald Trump's 15-point Gaza peace proposal Sunday, opening a rare and potentially consequential disagreement between two leaders who have otherwise remained closely aligned throughout the widening Middle East conflict.

"Israel rejects the 15-point document," Netanyahu told his Cabinet, according to the Associated Press, while making clear that Israeli forces will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas has been fully disarmed.

The rejection puts Netanyahu directly at odds with a central provision of the Trump administration's latest Gaza proposal, which calls for a phased Israeli withdrawal alongside the dismantling of Hamas' military capabilities and a transition to a new Palestinian governing structure backed by international security forces.

Netanyahu's objection appears to center largely on sequencing.

Trump's proposal envisions Israeli forces pulling back as Hamas disarms.

As the UMaine Black Bears get ready to kick off their fall football season, they’ve got a leg up on the competition.

When it comes to mascots, that is.

The Maine college football team shares with Cornell University the black bear mascot.

Cornell hasn’t yet adopted the black bear as an official mascot, but its administrators aren’t taking any chances.

The school administration has now banned bear carcasses from the dorms at the New York school.

Last September, two Cornell students plopped a bear carcass on a table in a communal dorm kitchen and began carving it up.

They planned to make "black-bear pastrami," as one of them described their plans later.

But soon after they put the raw meat in the freezer, a picture of the animal laid out with its hide stripped began to circulate on social media.

A complaint