More jobs in the factories of Maine. More opportunities for Maine’s commercial fishermen. That’s the good news President Donald Trump brought to Bangor on Friday as he celebrated a dramatic expansion of swab production for COVID-19 testing in Guilford and signed a proclamation reopening the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts area to commercial fishing.

The anticipation that built all week in this quiet manufacturing town quickly dissipated Friday afternoon, June 5 after President Donald Trump’s motorcade passed through downtown, where hundreds of supporters and protesters lined up throughout the day.

President Donald Trump addressed a friendly crowd of around 200 at a Guilford manufacturer on Friday applauding workers for their efforts in producing swabs used in coronavirus testing in an address that often veered into a campaign speech.

The Maine Department of Education is happy to announce that the McKinney-Vento Subgrants: COVID-19 Emergency Mini Grants have been selected. Twenty-four districts applied for the funds for the 2020-21 academic year and all 24 requests are conditionally awarded, including the Dexter-based AOS 94.

I read earlier this week about President Trump coming to Maine with little advance warning for the state, against our governor’s wishes during a pandemic, and potentially at significant cost to taxpayers in Maine. I hate to disabuse the residents of Guilford, but this does not seem to be a compassionate trip by him to praise factory workers making swabs, but rather a campaign strategy for which he is willing to create havoc, act in unsafe ways, and create a financial burden for Maine (that is not reimbursed by the federal government) just to have a photo op.

The Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Bureau of Parks and Lands released “Allagash Explorer: A Take-Along Companion for Maine’s Wilderness Waterway.” A pocket guide designed to inspire, inform and educate travelers about the waterway

The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) announced the selection of Michael Vermette as the Allagash Wilderness Waterway (AWW) Visiting Artist for 2020. DACF initiated its AWW Visiting Artist Program to celebrate the long-standing tradition of artists capturing the Allagash's beauty and solitude.

Please support Sen. Paul Davis for the Maine Senate in the upcoming primary. He has done a lot for his community and his understanding of the process of government and record of bipartisanship is stellar. He works well and effectively across the aisle if you will, and gets things accomplished.

President Trump will visit one of Maine's least populous towns and its most conservative county when he tours a factory producing medical swabs for coronavirus testing on Friday. Conspicuously absent during the trip will be the state's only Republican member of Congress, Sen. Susan Collins.

When Puritan Medical Products celebrated its 100th birthday early last year, it may have struck outsiders as a big deal for the family-owned Guilford company. Little did anyone know what 2020 had in store for the business, which is one of just two companies worldwide that makes specialized medical testing swabs.