Good evening from the BDN Portland office on Congress Street. Tonight the police chief gets political; a story that would make most humans cry; and for crying out loud, please let the NBA trade deadline be over so I can stop obsessing over every Isaiah Thomas tweet.
What we’re talking about
Portland police chief ‘disgusted’ by calls to speed up body cam program after shooting — In his first public statements since a Portland police officer fatally shot a man on Saturday, Police Chief Michael Sauschuck lashed out at body camera proponents — including Mayor Ethan Strimling — for “politicizing” a 22-year-old man’s death to push police into fast-tracking the technology.
What happens when a cop shoots someone — If history is any guide, Maine’s attorney general will declare the fatal shootings of three Mainers in the past two weeks by law enforcement officers as legally justified.
Document: Here’s a list of all police-involved shootings in Maine over the last decade
Cancer took her breasts away. This tattoo artist helped her accept it. — Troy R. Bennett has has your must-watch video of the day. Troy profiled Andrea Caron during her cancer battle in 2014. This month, she let him tell the next chapter of her story, as a tattoo artist covered her reconstructed breasts with permanent art.
After Troy’s first piece on Andrea — where she got henna on her then-bare head during chemotherapy — this is how he felt:
I never knew what happened to Andrea. Truthfully, I was too petrified to ask. She and Mary helped me tell an honest story of hope and beauty. It was my proudest, most emotional work and I was afraid the truth might ruin it all.
I should have had more faith in science and art.
When mimes attack — (Kind of sounds like a Troy McClure movie, right?)
A “mime” in Brunswick is accused of picking the worst possible person to assault: A professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter. Here’s your quote of the day:
“He said he got jumped on his way to his car by someone with white face paint who looked like a homeless mime.” — John Raio, owner of First Class Fitness and MMA in Fort Andross.
Read Beth Brogan’s story HERE.
NBC Nightly News finally catches up with us — Following up on a story we published in January, Kevin Tibbles profiles Portland High School’s deaf mascot performer, Kamron King. We still think our story is better. Watch it here. — Troy R. Bennett
Collins says her office is swamped by phone calls — From NECN: “Sen. Susan Collins of Maine visited with progressive group Mainers For Accountable Leadership on Tuesday in a livestreamed meeting. Toward the end of the meeting, Collins mentioned that her offices recently fielded thousands of calls on a variety of issues and it was difficult for her staff to keep up with the volume.”
Tweet of the day
From Ted Gioia:
The Big Idea
‘Why facts don’t change our minds’— Elizabeth Kolbert writes in The New Yorker:
As everyone who’s followed the research — or even occasionally picked up a copy of Psychology Today — knows, any graduate student with a clipboard can demonstrate that reasonable-seeming people are often totally irrational. Rarely has this insight seemed more relevant than it does right now. Still, an essential puzzle remains: How did we come to be this way?
Got any interesting story ideas, suggestions or links to share? Email Dan MacLeod at dmacleod@bangordailynews.com, or tweet @dsmacleod.
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