A federal judge is expected to rule soon on whether Maine should release two prisoners vulnerable to the coronavirus, but he urged parties on June 2 to resolve whether all prisoners should get the same level of review before moving forward.

The list of public Masses with safety restrictions being celebrated daily and on Sundays at Maine churches continues to grow. The dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass continues to be in place, and the long list of live-streamed Masses at Maine parishes remains in place (portlanddiocese.org/response-coronavirus).

As anti-racism protests grow across the country and coronavirus continues to spread, a presidential visit to Maine on Friday feels misplaced. Worse, it has the potential to spread dangerous violence -- and the deadly virus -- to rural Maine while taking precious financial resources away from local and state agencies that need them to serve their citizens. President Donald Trump is headed to Guilford anyway. Here is our message to our president. You should not be coming here. Not now. 

It can be quite hard to talk about the issues circulating around the death of George Floyd, as well as the protests that death sparked, without everyone tuning you out. Depending on not only what you are saying, but who you are, people can discount what you say before you utter a single word.

Our nation is torn asunder by systemic racism, police brutality and the protests they have ignited. Another black man is dead, under the knee of a police officer. George Floyd’s name is added to a long list black people killed because of the color of their skin.

Photos of the region’s National Honor Society chapter members.

The vouchers can be redeemed towards the purchase of non-lead tackle at Dag’s Bait Shop in Auburn, Indian Hill Trading Post in Greenville and BackWoods Bait and Tackle in Chesterville and other retailers to be announced. The program will provide a no-cost way for people to try out lead-free alternatives and help protect loons and other wildlife.

Upcoming events around the region.

President Donald Trump will make an official White House visit to a medical manufacturing plant in Guilford on Friday, June 5 his first trip to Maine since taking office and a seismic event for a town of 1,500 in the state’s least populous and most conservative county.

Not many superintendents have had to coordinate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Secret Service and the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department just to put on a high school graduation ceremony.