1. Gov. Paul LePage vowed to scrutinize public assistance benefits for immigrants Wednesday in the wake of revelations that an Iranian refugee living in Freeport who was receiving benefits ended up fighting for the Islamic State and dying in battle in Lebanon. However, the state doesn’t have the authority to deny federal welfare benefits to refugees, according to an advocate who lobbies on behalf of social safety net policies. (PH)
2. Portland’s housing boom is still going strong. Responding to rising demand, developers have several rental and condominium projects in the works around downtown, and two more proposals for Bayside. (PH)
3. It’s day 13 of the games and there are 23 gold medals up for grabs across 11 events. Including the men’s 200m. Usain Bolt must win the 200m to keep his “Triple-Triple” dream alive and secure three sprint titles at three straight Games. (WMTW)
4. People really need to start keeping better track of their pot brownies or else teachers and dads alike will keep accidentally eating them. One unlucky dad in Nebraska found pot brownies his kids left in the backseat of the car and ate four, resulting in a call to the police, crawling on the floor, and calling the family cat a “bitch.” (Complex)
5. Back in June came Mac n’ Cheetos, a deep-fried, cheese-puff concoction Burger King put out. Before that, in April, BK re-launched its chicken fries in ring form, and before that, last fall, BK put out a Halloween black bun burger. In the same vein, Burger King has just come out with the Whopperrito, another brave new food mashup item. It’s the Whopper burger, inside a burrito wrap (Yahoo)
Made Hot in Maine by Neil’s Motors on Rt. 111 in Biddeford.