5TYNK
1. President Joe Biden has reversed the ban on transgender people serving openly in the military. Biden’s order “sets the policy that all Americans who are qualified to serve in the Armed Forces of the U.S. should be able to serve… gender identity should not be a bar to military service… America’s strength is found in its diversity.” (NBC)
2. House prosecutors delivered the sole impeachment charge of “incitement of insurrection,” across the Capitol to the Senate, Monday night. Arguments in the Senate trial will begin the week of Feb. 8. Trump will be the first former president to face an impeachment trial. (NEWS CENTER)
3.The US tops 25.2 million Covid-19 cases with over 421,000 related deaths. The Maine CDC reported three new deaths and 259 new cases on Monday. Maine’s death toll is now 547 with 193 Mainers currently hospitalized. Biden suggested that the nation could soon be vaccinating 1.5 million Americans on average per day. (WMTW)
4. The University of Maine student athletes will not play until Feb. 4 due to positive COVID-19 cases. To protect the privacy of student athletes and employees, no details will be released. (NEWS CENTER)
5. The entire first season of “The Lost Kitchen,” a new show on the restaurant in Freedom, where reservations are made by postcard, is available to stream starting today on Discovery+. The pilot episode introduced viewers to chef/owner Erin French. The next five episodes follow French and her staff as they re-invent the restaurant in response to the pandemic. (PRESS HERALD)
