Police could get body cameras by 2019, but activists want them earlier

Good evening from the BDN Portland office on Congress Street. Tonight an update on the weekend’s shooting; inside Chamberlain’s last house; and $6 bone broth.

What we’re talking about

Police could get body cameras by 2019, but activists want them earlier — The city has earmarked $400,000 to outfit Maine’s largest local police force with body cameras starting in 2019, but following Saturday’s deadly police shooting activists are saying Portland should move faster. “In the wake of this tragedy, the city should move that timeline up and include the purchase of body cameras in this year’s budget,” activist group Progressive Portland said in a statement. The City Council would still have to vote on whether to spend the money on the cameras. — Jake Bleiberg

ICYMI: Dawn Gagnon reports: “The police officer who killed a Portland man brandishing a rifle-style pellet gun on Saturday morning also fatally shot a motorist while on patrol duty in 2008. … Sgt. Nicholas Goodman, who was a patrol officer at that time, was found to have been justified in the use of deadly force.”

Related: Friends remember Portland man shot by police officer in Union Station Plaza — Our partners at WGME report:

Chance David Baker moved to Portland from the Midwest about six years ago, according to his friends.

He was homeless and without a job, but was able create a comfortable life for himself.

“He got caught up in some bad stuff. Drugs and alcohol and all that and that obviously changed his perception of the world I guess,” said Erick Poulin, who was a friend of Baker’s.

What happened to WBACH? — Alex Acquisto reports:

The classical radio station WBACH stopped broadcasting over the weekend, after serving southern and midcoast Maine for more than 25 years.

With little warning on Saturday, the 96.9 frequency in Portland changed to simulcasting “The Wolf” country music station, and on Sunday the 106.9 frequency that serves the coastal region changed to a rock music station. Both new formats continued to be aired at those frequencies Monday morning.

The famous Mainer who was the last man to die of Civil War wounds — Joshua Chamberlain’s last 50 years were miserable, but productive, writes Troy R. Bennett, who visited the Ocean Avenue house where the Civil War hero and four-term governor finally succumbed to his injuries.

LB Kitchen is now open on Congress and the $6 bone broth is worth it — Infused with ginger, coconut chile oil, turmeric and other healthy accoutrements, “liquid gold” is selling like bone broth at the just-opened LB Kitchen. We told you about this wonder elixir, served like coffee, back in November. Now that this on-trend restaurant is open you can join fellow hipsters for a spendy sip. There is also nitro coffee, Oxbow beer, kombucha and wine on tap in the liquids station. Pair it with avocado toast or a kale Caesar salad. Breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m., lunch served till 2 p.m. LB Kitchen, 249 Congress St. — Kathleen Pierce

Inbox: University of New England will announce its new president tomorrow
— The University says its new president will take over from Danielle Ripich on July 1.

Tweet of the day

From Keith Carson:

Screenshot 2017-02-20 16.55.56

 

The Big Idea

‘Social media isn’t bad or good—it favors outsiders, regardless of their aims.’ — Yascha Mounk writes in Slate:

Historians liken the rise of social media to the invention of the printing press. That may sound grandiose, but to my mind, the comparison actually underplays the depth and the rapidity of the transformation. A dozen years after the invention of the printing press, the technology had not yet spread beyond the German city of Mainz, and a negligible fraction of the world population had held a printed book in their hands. A dozen years into the invention of Facebook, the technology is available around the globe, and nearly 2 billion people are actively using it.

So it is all the more important to remember that the printing press spread ethnic conflict as well as erudition, and did as much to deepen the theological division in Europe as it did to breed tolerance among different faiths. Nothing says that we must repeat the same catastrophe. But if we are to respond to the effects of social media on our political system, we must start by understanding its nature: Neither wholly good nor wholly bad, social media favors the outsider over the insider, and the forces of instability over the defenders of the status quo.

Got any interesting story ideas, suggestions or links to share? Email Dan MacLeod at dmacleod@bangordailynews.com, or tweet @dsmacleod.

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Dan MacLeod

About Dan MacLeod

Dan MacLeod is the managing editor of the Bangor Daily News. He's an Orland native who moved to Portland in 2002 and now lives in Unity. He's been a journalist since 2008, and previously worked for the New York Post and the Brooklyn Paper.