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On this date in Maine history: Dec. 21 By Joseph Owen Northbound traffic approaching the York tolls in June, 2020. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer Dec. 21, 2005: Maine Turnpike Authority Director Paul Violette announces that his agency is planning to replace the turnpike’s toll plaza at York, which was meant to be temporary but has been functioning for 35 years. Violette said the toll plaza, which is 7 miles northeast of the New Hampshire state line on Interstate 95, is in an unsuitable location and has lasted more than twice as long as was originally intended. The new toll gates would be built farther into Maine, within 4 miles of the old ones. The design has not been determined, and the agency also hasn’t made up its mind about highway-speed, or open-road, tolling. ....
On this date in Maine history: Dec. 20 By Joseph Owen Share Efficiency Maine contracted with ChargePoint, a California company, to install and operate seven ultra-fast charging stations for electric vehicles on highways from southern Maine to the Quebec border. Courtesy photo Dec. 20, 2018: The Portland Press Herald reports that Efficiency Maine, a state agency whose mission is to help Maine residents use energy more efficiently, has contracted with a California company for the installation of seven electric-vehicle charging stations along Maine highways from the southern part of the state to the Quebec border. The company, ChargePoint, installs the stations in 2019, as expected. They are the start of a three-phase plan to establish fast chargers on important highways statewide for Maine residents and tourists alike. ....
On this date in Maine history: Dec. 19 By Joseph Owen Share Dec. 19, 2011: As police investigate the disappearance of 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds of Waterville, officers seize her father’s sport utility vehicle and a Portland woman’s car from the driveway at the man’s Violette Avenue home. Searchers use an airboat to search along Messalonskee Stream for signs of the girl, and dozens of officers search the area around the house where she lives with her father, Justin DiPietro, 24. They find nothing that helps in the investigation. DiPietro said Ayla, wearing a soft cast on a broken arm, was put to bed on the night of the 16th. She was reported missing the next morning. Police have established that several adults were in the house at the time. They say it’s possible the child was abducted. ....
On this date in Maine history: Dec. 18 By Joseph Owen Share Dec. 18, 2019: U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, becomes the only member of the U.S. House of Representatives to split his vote on the two articles of impeachment against President Trump. Golden votes to impeach Trump, a Republican, for abuse of power but against impeachment for obstruction of Congress. Both articles pass largely on party lines in the Democratic-controlled House. Golden’s split vote is, in a way, an echo of split results in the general elections of 2016 and 2018. Trump, running for president, won Golden’s future congressional district in 2016, collecting a single electoral vote there under a state law that allows Maine’s Electoral College vote to be split. It was the only Electoral College vote Trump received in New England. ....
On this date in Maine history: Dec. 17 By Joseph Owen Share Dec. 17, 1970: A nor’easter sweeps over Maine, bringing snow to much of the state, and the largest amount falls in the place that has the least room to dispose of it – Portland. In what turns out to be the city’s biggest snowfall to date in a single 24-hour period, the storm brings up to 22.8 inches of snow accompanied by 35-mph winds, according to the National Weather Service. Abandoned vehicles litter the Maine Turnpike in the Portland area. Most schools are closed for two days. Another coastal community, Brunswick, gets 21 inches. Inland cities and towns receive far less, the reverse of what often happens in snowstorms. ....