AUGUSTA — Poll results released Thursday show a closely divided electorate on two hot-button questions on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Results show a virtual tie on Question 1, which proposes several changes to absentee voting and a new photo ID requirement at the polls. The survey shows 48% voting yes, 49% voting no and 3% undecided, according to the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

On Question 2, the “red flag” law that would allow family members to directly petition a court to remove firearms from those considered dangerous, the poll shows 38% voting yes, 40% voting no and 22% not sure.

The Pine Tree State Poll has a 3-percentage point margin of error.

The two citizen initiatives are the only statewide issues on the ballot this fall. Several cities and towns have municipal elections and issues on local ballots.

Both questions show a clear partisan breakdown, with 96% of Republicans saying they support Question 1 and 92% of Democrats opposing it. Among independents, 54% say they plan to vote no on Question 1, according to poll conducted Oct. 16-21.

When it comes to Question 2, 63% of Democrats say they plan to vote yes, while 74% of Republicans say they plan to vote no. The polls shows 44% of independents support the measure, 31% oppose it and 24% are undecided.

The large percentage of voters who say they are unsure leaves a lot of room for both campaigns to pick up voters in the final days.

Absentee voting is underway across Maine and will continue until Oct. 30. Polls will be open on Election Day, Nov. 4, until 8 p.m.

Bangor Public Health launched an intensive case management program this month to serve those impacted by the city’s HIV outbreak, which has led to 29 identified cases.

The program is funded by about $550,000 of Bangor’s opioid settlement funds. It will provide case management services like mental health care and rides to appointments for residents impacted by the outbreak, which has been ongoing since October 2023 and saw cases rise through this summer, said Jennifer Gunderman, director of Bangor Public Health and Community Services.

“We’re still dealing with an outbreak,” Gunderman said. “Yet I think what we’re trying to do is build longer-term systems so that we don’t all get burned out.”

Over the last two years, Bangor has become the site of Maine’s largest outbreak, with most cases identified among people who have used injection drugs or experienced homelessness in the 12 months before their diagnosis, according to data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Before late 2023, Penobscot County had averaged just two new HIV infections annually.

The intensive case management program will provide wraparound services like mental health care, housing assistance and substance use disorder treatment to people impacted by the outbreak. Gunderman said it will employ two case managers and a vehicle to transport people to and from appointments.

This is the first time the city’s public health department is running its own case management services, Gunderman said.

Gunderman said Bangor’s population needs a combination of programs and case management services, including ones that are close to home, so residents don’t fall through the cracks.

“We have been engaging with this population for a very long time, even before this outbreak happened,” Gunderman said. “So when the intensive case management (program) happened, it was just like saying to a person that we’ve known for a while: ‘Hey, we now have this other service that we can offer you.’”

The Regional Medical Center at Lubec previously handled case management services for Bangor, but the hospital terminated its Northern Maine HIV Program this summer, ending case management for about 140 people in five northern counties, according to Gunderman and MaineGeneral Health officials.

Bangor residents who had been on HIV case management for decades lost services in the middle of an outbreak, Gunderman said.

On Oct. 7, MaineGeneral Health’s Horizon program announced it would expand its HIV and AIDS support services to more counties, including Penobscot, to fill the gap.

The Lubec hospital and Horizon program are both longtime recipients of funding through the federal Ryan White Part C Early Intervention Services Program, which allocates HIV prevention and care dollars to states and communities.

After Lubec terminated its program, federal funding was awarded to MaineGeneral’s program to take on the additional counties, said Jennifer Riggs, MaineGeneral’s CEO of community care.

Riggs said the Horizon program integrates outpatient medical services with support services like mental health care to serve people who are low-income, uninsured or underserved.

“Ensuring that these services and the funding for them remain available to individuals is essential to limit the negative effects (of HIV and AIDS) in Maine’s local community members,” Riggs said.

Horizon will expand its coverage area to 14 counties, up from nine, and has already started transitioning some case management services over while building relationships with existing health organizations in those places, Riggs said.

Riggs said the program will work with Bangor’s health leaders on “prevention and testing, treatment coordination and other support services.”

Bangor Public Health has worked with a slew of community groups and organizations on expanding preventative HIV services, including distributing condoms and clean needles, making self tests available and helping people get on PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, a preventative medication taken by people at high risk for HIV infection.

Gunderman said the outbreak is likely larger than the 29 cases that have been identified and reported. She said it was made more intense because of conditions like people experiencing homelessness, living in outdoor congregate settings and struggling with substance use issues and mental health.

She said the outbreak should be a “wake up call” for the rest of Maine.

“Bangor is not the only community that struggles with that,” Gunderman said. “So I think that statewide, there should be an increased awareness and increased testing.”

French officials insist the Louvre’s security measures were working properly when eight precious crown jewels – worth more than $100 million – were stolen in broad daylight from the world’s most visited museum in Paris. 

Investigators say the heist lasted fewer than eight minutes, and the thieves were only inside the building half of that time. 

“Quite honestly we were scared to death. We thought it was worse. We thought it was like a terrorist attack or something,” Curt Dale Clark recalled.

Tour group forcefully pushed back

Dozens of travelers from the Maine State Music Theatre were inside the Louvre walking toward the Apollo Gallery Sunday morning when suddenly, their tour group was forcefully pushed back. 

“We were actually really offended because we didn’t understand the language, so we didn’t know why it was happening. But then when we started seeing, you know, military with machine guns and SWAT teams, we realized, oh, something pretty serious is going on,” said Clark, who is the theatre’s artistic director. 

Investigators say a broken window triggered the museum’s alarm. Police arrived two or three minutes after receiving a call, but those thieves were long gone – making their getaway on motorcycles. As the Maine tour group was ushered outside and onto their bus, the evacuation began to make sense. 

“And as we were coming out of the building and turning left, we saw the ladder that they had climbed up and into the building, used their chainsaws to break it open and then climbed back down that ladder,” Clark explained. 

Around 100 investigators are now involved in the search for the thieves and eight stolen treasures – a loss described as a wound to French culture. 

“To know that you were there when that happened, it was crazy. absolutely crazy. Something this tour group, I promise you, will never forget,” he added. 

The priceless crown jewels would still be worth millions if broken up and sold on the black market. French law prohibits institutions like the Louvre from insuring its property, except when part of a collection is moved or loaned.