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Protective gear Maine bought with millions in federal funds went unused for months

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Protective gear Maine bought with millions in federal funds went unused for months


AUGUSTA, Maine — A lot of the private protecting gear Maine bought with federal cash early within the COVID-19 pandemic stayed in storage till final summer time, one thing a watchdog referred to as a facet impact of poor accounting throughout a scramble for gear.

The gear, which is named PPE and consists of gloves, masks, face shields and different gear utilized by medical professionals to scale back virus publicity, was briefly provide nationally after the pandemic hit Maine in March 2020. These shortages remained into that summer time and led to a frantic state of affairs through which states and medical suppliers have been scrambling to get extra.

Utilizing federal cash, Maine bought $43 million in PPE from 2020 to 2021, based on the annual state authorities audit launched in March. By the tip of June 2021, $26 million was in storage. The workplace of State Auditor Jacob Norton mentioned the administration of Gov. Janet Mills was not correctly monitoring stock or bills in violation of accounting requirements.

The issues are merchandise of a flawed nationwide response and a frantic ramp-up. However the state’s failures might have led to misreported bills and heightened the chance of expiring gear and wasted federal cash. Specialists say Maine’s issues might make it tough to mobilize rapidly sooner or later if gear is required once more right here or elsewhere.

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“It goes past economics and state authorities administration as a result of there are well being care employee lives at stake,” mentioned Yana Rodgers, a professor of labor research and employment relations at Rutgers College in New Jersey who studied the contributing elements that led to shortages of PPE throughout the starting of the pandemic.

In a response to Norton’s audit, the Democratic governor’s administration agreed the issue wanted to be fastened. It blamed the speedy mobilization wanted to inventory, retailer and ship tons of of 1000’s of things at a time when protecting gear and social distancing have been the one instruments to maintain folks secure. It famous a warehouse system was stood up in three weeks.

The state would have wanted to close down warehouses to get a depend, which might have prevented it from distributing the gear to settings together with laboratories, nursing houses and faculties, mentioned Kelsey Goldsmith, a spokesperson for Maine’s price range division.

The $26 million determine represented about 25 to 30 % of PPE models the state had readily available on the time, an quantity that was stored to ensure the state wouldn’t run out of gearif extra was all of a sudden wanted, Goldsmith mentioned. The state has delivered 28 million items of drugs in whole and at present has 6.4 million models of PPE in inventory, plus extra in miscellaneous objects, she mentioned.

Norton’s beneficial correction plan consists of cross-checking the variety of objects accessible at every warehouse and assessing the present worth of remaining stock. These duties are anticipated to be accomplished by the tip of the fiscal 12 months ending this June. The auditor’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark.

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Many states have had giant quantities of leftover gear due to how urgently they have been making an attempt to accumulate it, mentioned Soumi Saha, vice chairman of advocacy for Premier Inc., a nationwide group-purchasing brokerage agency. States have been typically in bidding wars as they tried to accumulate as a lot PPE as doable with out understanding how a lot was wanted.

Rodgers’ examine discovered a number of “excellent storm” causes. Many of the gear was manufactured exterior the U.S. and the provision chain was ill-equipped to deal with a crush of demand from the medical subject and public. Beneath former President Donald Trump, the Strategic Nationwide Stockpile was rapidly overwhelmed, inflicting states to show to the non-public sector. Hospitals have been incentivized to maintain provides low due to how they recorded PPE as an expense.

A stockpile is just not essentially an issue, Saha mentioned. Shops could possibly be helpful in guaranteeing states are nicely ready for future disasters. However it’s a downside if the state doesn’t know what it has, when it expires or the place it’s positioned as a result of which means it might go to waste.

“Crucial factor is to acknowledge that we’d like by no means to repeat the state of affairs from the final two years,” she mentioned.

Bigger Maine well being suppliers largely took care of their very own wants at key instances throughout the pandemic, mentioned Steven Michaud, president of the Maine Hospital Affiliation. He by no means heard of points at smaller hospitals, which he mentioned was a credit score to the state’s response. The pandemic has since moved by means of a number of phases and there’s no provide crunch now.

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“I can’t keep in mind the final time I heard a criticism about it,” he mentioned.



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Denver beats Maine men’s hockey with late goal

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Denver beats Maine men’s hockey with late goal


ORONO — With two of the top three scoring teams in the country on the ice, of course a low-scoring game was the result.

In Friday’s matchup of top-10 teams, the first of two games went to No. 6 Denver, in heartbreaking fashion for seventh-ranked Maine. The Pioneers scored with 20.7 seconds left, on a shot from the point by Cale Ashcroft that deflected off the shin guard of Maine’s David Breazeale and past goalie Albin Boija, giving the reigning NCAA champions a 2-1 win at Alfond Arena.

It came after Maine (12-4-2) lost a faceoff in its defensive zone, then blocked the initial shot. For Maine coach Ben Barr, it was an another example of not doing all the little things in a close game against a strong opponent. In that regard, it was similar to Sunday’s 4-2 loss to Bentley in Portland.

“Our margin of error, and this has been for the whole time that we’ve been here, our margin of error is very, very small. When you play teams like (Denver), that one faceoff matters. It’s disappointing,” Barr said. “We just didn’t do enough to win.”

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Both teams are also among the best in the nation in scoring defense. Only Minnesota State allows fewer goals per game than Maine’s 1.76, while Denver (15-4) is tied for seventh in the country, allowing two goals per game. For most of the game, Maine’s defensive effort was strong. Denver went into the game tied with Minnesota as the top scoring team in the country, averaging four goals per game (Maine is third at 3.88 goals per game). While the Pioneers had just four shots in the third period, the winning goal came when the Black Bears couldn’t clear the puck, and Denver had scoring chances throughout the game that were the result of defensive miscues, only for the Black Bears to be bailed out by Boija (22 saves)

“Our guys played hard. We still have two or three players on the back end that are unplayable, and that makes it really hard on the rest of the guys,” Barr said. “They try, it’s just hasn’t clicked for them for some reason. We’ve got to help them.”

A captain, Breazeale agreed that the Black Bears need to do more.

“There’s definitely some good to take away from it. It’s just that last 1% that we as a collective team have got to take forward,” he said. “We made one block, and the puck’s bouncing around. There’s no excuse for it. We’ve got to be able to respond in those big moments, all five guys on the ice, and we weren’t able to do it tonight.”

Denver took a 1-0 lead with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 2:53 of the second period. Near the left post, Carter King stuffed in the rebound of a shot by Aidan Thompson that ricocheted off the boards behind the net.

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The Black Bears tied the game at 18:37 of the second on Frank Djurasevic’s power-play goal past Pioneer goalie Matt Davis (29 saves).

In the third period, Barr shuffled his top two lines, moving wing Josh Nadeau to play with center Harrison Scott and wing Thomas Freel, while moving Ross Mitton to a line with center Nolan Renwick and wing Taylor Makar – a trio that played well together early in the season.

“We were trying to get Josh going. I thought he was a little stale in the first couple periods, to be honest. I thought he was better in the third,” Barr said.

Barr also moved Owen Fowler from wing to center, on a line with wings Anthony Calafiore and Nicholas Niemo. With captain Lyden Breen out indefinitely because of a leg injury, the Black Bears are short-handed at center, Barr said. Right now, he’s trying to find guys who can take draws and win faceoffs.

The loss stings, Breazeale said, but there’s no time to dwell on it. These teams face each at Alfond Arena again at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

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“We feel like we’ve got a lot to prove as a team,” Breazeale said, “and tomorrow night we’ve got to come out with that for 60 more minutes.”



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Ellsworth veterinarian to settle allegations over controlled substance storage

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Ellsworth veterinarian to settle allegations over controlled substance storage


An Ellsworth veterinarian has agreed to pay more than $145,000 to settle allegations that he violated the federal Controlled Substances Act.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency was unable to conduct several audits last year at Dr. Alan Toothaker’s registered location because of insufficient record keeping.

An investigation revealed that Toothaker maintained minimal oversight, had improper storage, failed to keep regular inventories and did not keep appropriate records.

U.S. Attorney Darcie McElwee said the practice did not have adequate security or oversight, making it very difficult to determine if any substances had gone missing.

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2 dead and several injured in Southern California plane crash

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2 dead and several injured in Southern California plane crash


FULLERTON, Calif. — Two people died and 19 were injured Thursday when a small plane crashed through the roof of a sprawling furniture manufacturing building in Southern California where at least 200 people were working, police said.

The people who died were believed to have been on the plane, while those injured were inside the building. The deceased victims will be identified after officials have contacted the next of kin, the Fullerton Police Department said in a statement.

Eleven people were taken to hospitals, while eight were treated and released at the scene, police said.

The plane crashed less than two minutes after taking off from the Fullerton Municipal Airport in Orange County, located 6 miles from Disneyland, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.

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Security camera footage from Rucci Forged, a wheel manufacturer across the street, shows the plane was tilted on its side as it dove into the building, causing a fiery explosion and black plume of smoke.

Firefighters and police arrived on scene and battled the blaze and evacuated surrounding businesses, Fullerton police spokesperson Kristy Wells said.

Chris Villalobos, an airport operations worker, came to the warehouse to see what had happened after receiving a phone call about a plane going down nearby. He noted the airplane’s owner was a regular at the airport and has frequently taken off from there.

“He has a hangar here and everything,” Villalobos said.

After taking off, the pilot told air traffic control he was going to turn around to make an emergency landing, but it was unclear what the issue with the plane was, Villalobos said.

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The building struck by the plane was occupied by Michael Nicholas Designs, a furniture upholstery manufacturer, according to a sign on a door. There appeared to be sewing machines and textile stock inside.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the accident and identified the plane as a single-engine, four-seat Van’s RV-10. The National Transportation Safety Board said it also is investigating.

The airport in Fullerton has one runway and a heliport. Metrolink, a regional train line, is nearby and flanks a residential neighborhood and commercial warehouse buildings.

The Fullerton City Council posted a statement on social media calling the crash a “solemn tragedy.”

“The City of Fullerton is committed to providing support for all those affected and working with the agencies involved to uncover the details of this incident,” Mayor Fred Jung said in the statement. “We are grateful for the strength of our community and the compassion we show one another in times of crisis.”

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Another four-seat plane crashed into a tree a half-mile from the airport in November while making an emergency landing shortly after takeoff, The Orange County Register reported. Both people on board suffered moderate injuries.

Fullerton is a city of about 140,000 people about 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Copyright 2025 NPR





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