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1. Two men critically injured Wednesday in a house explosion in Montville have died of their injuries, bringing the blast’s death toll to three. An investigation established an appliance was experiencing a gas leak.
2. State lawmakers worked until the early hours of Friday morning to reach an agreement on how to use a state revenue surplus. The budget includes $850 relief checks to more than 850,000 Mainers. To get the check, you must be a full-time resident of the state and file a 2021 Maine income tax return by Oct. 31, 2022.
3. Cruise ships are coming back to Maine for the first time in three years. Maine expects to welcome 360 cruise ships. Cruise Maine estimates a 60 to 65% capacity on those ships calling port.
4. Food & Wine magazine’s latest issue names Biddeford as one of four American “small cities with big food scenes.” Biddeford is described in the magazine as Portland’s “quiet older sister with great taste.”
5. The deadline for filing federal taxes has traditionally been April 15 but a holiday in the nation’s capital is changing that this year. This year, the deadline to submit 2021 tax returns or file an extension is Monday, April 18. (Emancipation Day – a holiday that commemorates the time in 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, freeing 3,000 slaves in the D.C. area.)