1. Bill Clinton took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday to endorse his wife Hillary, who he described as “the best darn change maker I ever met in my entire life.” (People)
2. Miss Cleo, the most famous television psychic ever, died yesterday in Palm Beach County, Florida, at the age of 53 after a bout with cancer. Cleo–real name: Youlee Harris–was born in Los Angeles and developed her Cleo character during a play in Seattle. (TMZ)
3. A New Hampshire company is recalling about 8,800 pounds of raw beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli. It affects ground beef, ground beef patties and other sub-primal cuts produced by North Haverhill-based PT Farm. The items were shipped to retail locations and for institutional use in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. (PH)
4. Gov. Paul LePage wants to cut about 2,300 jobs from the state workforce during the next two-year budget cycle, according to an internal administration memo circulated by a top adviser. The governor has set a ceiling target of 9,500 state employees, the memo said. That would require a decrease of nearly 20 percent. (PH)
5. The Ice Bucket Challenge may have earned a few groans from cynics, but the viral campaign also raised a ton of money. More than 17 million participants helped raise over $220 million in 2014 alone, arming scientists with the tools needed to continue their research on ALS. Now, it looks like those YouTube clips are paying off, as The University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Project made a new discovery: a gene linked to the debilitating disease, which might lead to a greater understanding of the disease and a possible treatment. (Complex)
Made Hot in Maine by Neil’s Motors on Rt. 111 in Biddeford.