Bangor’s new Mexican restaurant / ‘Illicit’ antiquities / Stephen King’s latest book

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Our family will never forget your names.”

— James Herling, brother-in-law of Lewiston mass shooter Robert Card II, apologizing to victims’ families during a hearing on Thursday of the independent commission investigating the law enforcement response to the mass shooting. Herling said the victims’ names are on a wall of his home.

TODAY’S TOP MAINE STORIES

Relatives of Lewiston mass shooter Robert Card II testified before a state commission on Thursday . Card’s sister, brother-in-law, ex-wife and sister-in-law, some of whom have rarely spoken in public, shared new details .

A New Mexican restaurant is opening in the former Ground Round in Bangor . The owner said the menu will include many traditional favorites and some dishes, such as lobster tacos.

A historic MDI hotel will be closed this year while it undergoes a $10 million renovation . The inn is one of three lodging establishments on MDI acquired in recent years by hotelier Tim Harrington.

Federal agents seized 5,000-year-old Middle Eastern antiquities in southern Maine . At the center of the case are communications between a British dealer and a woman connected to a property in Southport.

More than 72,000 people applied for a Maine moose permit by Wednesday’s deadline . Each applicant has less than a 6 percent chance of snagging a permit, not to mention a moose.

MAINE IN PICTURES

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

• Maine’s credit rating has been upgraded
• Regulators approve mining law changes
• Dannel Malloy named to international commission against death penalty
• Here are the most popular baby names for Mainers in 2023
• Bangor police searching for suspect who stabbed man in wheelchair
• Legislature fails to fund Aroostook County drug court
• A Maine tourism hotspot hopes new housing project will revive its middle class
• TikToker thanks strangers for help after ‘creepy’ Bar Harbor walk
• Woman missing in Sullivan has been found
• Court upholds conviction of Maine woman in beating death of 3-year-old son
• Man arrested after police raid illegal marijuana grow house in Canaan
• Faculty are concerned as USM announces job cuts
• 3 Massachusetts men charged in Saco drive-by shooting
• Maine high school students can now play on sports teams according to their gender identity
• Camden native and Husson duo advance in NCAA golf tourneys

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND

This weekend brings the seventh edition of the All Roads Music Festival, set for Friday night and all day Saturday in Belfast. More than 40 bands and artists, most from Maine, will perform in seven venues all over the city. In the Bangor region, the annual Big Dig for the Adopt-a-Garden program is Saturday in downtown Bangor, so if you see lots of folks planting flowers, you know why. There’s also the spring Not Your Grandma’s Flea Market, set for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. along Front and May streets in Bangor. And BDN Outdoors columnist Aislinn Sarnacki will lead a guided hike at Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden from 10 a.m. to noon, also on Saturday.

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

“Despite what preconceptions people might have about public restrooms, these facilities serve the entire community, not just people who are unhoused.”

Editorial: Good result, but not always good comments in the public restroom debate

LIFE IN MAINE

The latest collection of short stories from Stephen King returns readers to themes of small-town Maine, peppered with humor, poignancy and genuinely shocking moments .

These are the most popular baby names for Mainers in 2023 . While we share many similarities with the national list, Mainers also picked more unusual ones last year.

This crop requires a growing season’s worth of patience, but it’s worth waiting for fresh asparagus. Here’s what we recommend to have a successful harvest .