The U.S. Coast Guard will assist in policing the festivities in Bangor this Fourth of July.

Fireman Joshua Faulkingham, 20, of Rockland, formerly of Brownville, said the USCG cutter Tackle arrived early Thursday afternoon and will stay through the holiday, providing tours and also maintaining the safety of the Penobscot River downstream from the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge. The ship cannot be used upstream because the river is too shallow, he said.

Faulkingham said the Coast Guard has authority to board and search any craft it deems suspicious. The Tackle has a crew of eight, including officers.

Faulkingham said the Tackle uses its reinforced prow to break ice on the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers in winter, and also provides navigational assistance from Bangor to Matinicus Island. The ship has a 518-hp diesel engine, with a maximum speed of 11 knots.

A birdbath went missing in Old Town sometime Wednesday night.

Old Town police Officer Seth Bear said a Seventh Street man called at about 2 p.m. Thursday to say his concrete birdbath, valued at $100, was gone. He thought it had been taken sometime in the night or early morning.

Bear searched the area but could not find the birdbath. The case is inactive.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Isaac Kimball