1. Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart took steps Wednesday to restrict gun sales. Dick’s said it will immediately stop selling assault-style rifles and ban the sale of all guns to anyone under 21. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, followed late Wednesday saying it will no longer sell firearms and ammunition to people younger than 21. It had stopped selling AR-15s and other semi-automatic weapons in 2015, citing weak sales. (Press Herald)
2. Skowhegan area schools will reopen today after they were closed Wednesday because of an online threat. There will be extra patrols around the schools, police said. A post on Facebook and Instagram depicted a rifle with the words “Skowhegan” and “you’re all dead.” Skowhegan police said the name with the account is fake and it was deleted within minutes. Getting through to children as to how serious threats are taken by police could be key to stopping the problem, officials said. (WMTW)
3. At the State House, lawmakers are trying to make it illegal in Maine to send unwanted, lewd images to others. The bill would amend the state’s indecent conduct law, to ban someone from sending unwanted images of their private parts. The state’s current public indecency statute doesn’t cover that sort of activity. (WGME)
4. Maine Restaurant week (which is actually 12 days) starts today! Participating spots offer up special food and drink offerings, and it’s a great way to celebrate how many fantastic chefs, bakers and mixologists we have here in Maine. It has been happening here since 2009. (Maine Today)
5. Papa John’s is ending its deal to be the official pizza of the NFL. The pizza company and the football league have made the “mutual decision” to end the sponsorship, with Pizza Hut inking a sponsorship deal with the league to become its new official pizza. Papa John’s experienced a 12 percent drop in stock last fall after then-CEO John Schnatter said players who staged national anthem protests had damaged his business and that the league didn’t do enough to resolve the protests. Pizza Hut is the largest pizza chain in America with more than 7,500 stores, more than double that of Papa John’s. (ESPN)
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