1. Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina, early Friday morning, killing at least 18 people while destroying buildings, knocking out power for more than half a million people, and pushing floodwaters inland with unrelenting wind and rain. Among the fatalities were a mother and baby, who were killed when a tree fell on a house, and a 77-year-old man who apparently died after going out to check on his hunting dogs. CNN reports that numerous highways, including sections of I-95 and I-40, are closed, and road flooding has virtually cut off the coastal city of Wilmington. Meanwhile, the AP reports that more than 60 people who defied evacuation orders had to be rescued from a collapsing motel as the storm hit, and at least 900 water rescues have been reported in North Carolina alone. While Florence, a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour, isn’t as strong as many feared, it appears as though the slow-moving storm will linger for an abnormally long amount of time, increasing the chances of extreme flooding as it continues to douse the region with rain. Up to six more inches of rain could fall in parts of North Carolina and Virginia from Sunday evening to Tuesday evening. (CNN)
2. Senator Collins says she still has not made a decision on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but she is very close to doing so. She says she spoke to Judge Kavanaugh on Friday to follow up on some questions she had after his confirmation hearings. She also says her office has been getting calls and packages, including 3,000 hangers and phallic symbols with profanity written on them. Senator Collins says it has been very difficult for her and her staff. She also says in her time in public service, she has never seen a debate as “ugly” as this one. (NewsCenterMaine)
3. State and local police are still looking for Arnold Nash, 65, a convicted murder who escaped from the Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston on Thursday night. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and light blue shirt. Nash is 5’6” tall and weighs approximately 160 pounds. Anyone with information on the possible whereabouts of Arnold Nash is asked to contact local law enforcement immediately. (NewsCenterMaine)
4. According to the Press Herald Portland, with its much-hyped restaurant, bar and brewery scene, is now officially on the pre-wedding party map. There’s no accurate estimate of how many bachelor and bachelorette parties come to Portland, or their economic impact. Last year Visit Portland’s website specifically for bachelor and bachelorette parties had 3,111 unique visitors, an 8 percent increase from the year before. Portland’s tourism profile already skews thirsty, hungry and young. A third of overnight visitors to the Portland area were younger than 35 years old, according to a 2017 survey commissioned by the Maine Office of Tourism. (Press Herald)
5. Buffalo Bills cornerback Vontae Davis abruptly retired from the NFL during halftime of his team’s 31-20 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. “[He] pulled himself out of the game,” Bills coach Sean McDermott tells ESPN. “He communicated to us that he was done.” In an interview after the game, Davis’ teammate Lorenzo Alexander alerted reporters about his decision. “I never have seen that,” Alexander said. “Pop Warner, high school, pros. Never heard of it. Never seen it. It’s just completely disrespectful to his teammates.” Davis, a 10-year veteran, also released a statement on social media saying he meant no disrespect. “I’ve endured multiple surgeries and played through many different injuries throughout my career and over the last few weeks, this was the last physical challenge,” he wrote. “But today on the field, reality hit me fast and hard: I shouldn’t be out there anymore.” (ESPN)
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