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Portland Declares City Emergency, Announces Mandated Curfew

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The city of Portland is "strongly recommending" that all restaurants close to dine-in customers, or dramatically limit the number of customers, and provide takeout or delivery options only for the foreseeable future, in an effort to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

City Manager Jon Jennings also announced that the city is instituting a mandated curfew for “establishments where groups gather,” such as restaurants and fitness centers, from 6:00 a.m. Tuesday until 2:00 a.m. the following day (March 17-18), and then a daily curfew from 8:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

"We're also strongly recommending all restaurants close to dining customers or dramatically limit the number of customers and provide take out or delivery options only for the foreseeable future," says Jennings.

Tuesday’s all day curfew is intended to curb St. Patrick’s Day events and festivities, but officials say take-out and delivery of food is still permitted.

"This is a time of shared sacrifice for all of us, and we must be willing to alter our daily lives for now, and I do stress, for now," Jennings says.

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.