1. Record traffic is expected on New England roads over the Thanksgiving Holiday. More than 2.2 million New Englanders will journey 50 miles or more from home this Thanksgiving weekend, a 3.5 percent increase over last year, which would be the highest Thanksgiving travel volume since 2005, according to AAA. The Maine Turnpike Authority is predicting traffic volume will top last year’s record-breaking 1 million transactions by about 2 percent, or an extra 20,000 tolls paid. (Press Herald)
2. Federal officials took aim at a signature Obama-era regulation Tuesday, unveiling a plan that would give internet service providers broad powers to determine what websites and online services their customers see and use. Under the proposal by the Federal Communications Commission, companies that provide high-speed internet services, such as Comcast, Verizon or AT&T, would be able to block web content they do not like and auction off speedier delivery of content to the highest bidder. (Press Herald)
3. A Freeport High School teacher is under investigation for sexting a student. “The Freeport Police Department has been made aware of an allegation that there was unlawful telephonic contact between a teacher and student over the past month or so,” said Lt. Nate Goodman of the Freeport Police Department. “The case is in the preliminary stage and we are not going to make any further statements about the details of the ongoing investigation at this time.” (WCSH)
4. Recent Centers for Disease Control data shows that 18 percent of American adults drink excessively. (And every single one of them can be expected to do so this weekend.) 24/7 Wall Street has gone a step further, crunching the CDC’s data to determine the drunkest metro areas in all 50 states based on lushes per capita. Of the three metropolitan areas in Maine, Portland-South Portland has the highest excessive drinking rate at 20.6%. As is often the case in heavy drinking areas, a large share of roadway fatalities involves alcohol in Portland. Alcohol is involved in 43.1% of driving deaths in the metro area. (USA Today)
5. Thanksgiving Day. Celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, this day commemorates the inaugural feast hosted by the Pilgrims in 1621.
5 Things You Need to Know is made Hot in Maine by North Country Auto, in Biddeford! Trust North Country for a clean dependable used vehicle. North Country Auto, Route 111, Biddeford.
