Upcoming events around the region.

The state's wildlife biologists have proposed a 61.2 percent increase in the number of any-deer permits allotted this year. If the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's advisory council approves the plan, 109,890 hunters will be allowed to shoot deer without antlers during the firearms hunting season.

Secretary of State Matt Dunlap recently said that “unless something radically changes,” he doesn't expect Maine wouldn’t see a “major change” in the conduct of the July election.

Among the 2020 grantees is the Piscataquis Regional Food Center of Dover-Foxcroft to develop a strategic plan for acquiring specialized commercial food processing equipment as part of a program to incubate regional food product businesses

The Maine Principals’ Association is prepared to follow state mandates and new guidelines issued by the National Federation of State High School Associations to pave the way for a safe return to sports activities. The spring season was canceled in March by the MPA because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 23, I published a plan for reopening Maine, outlining several steps for our economic recovery, including reopening rural counties first, looking to similar states like South Dakota.

For years, the world’s two largest producers of medical testing swabs -- one based in rural Maine, the other in the foothills of the Italian Alps -- have waged a series of transatlantic legal battles. But for now, both companies seem to be temporarily laying down their arms so they can focus on a much greater challenge: scaling up their production to meet the new demands of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Renovations and recruiting have now begun for the Somerset County expansion of a Guilford company that makes the nasal swabs that are critically necessary to test patients for the coronavirus. Beginning in early July, Puritan Medical Products expects to start churning out the foam swabs from its new Pittsfield factory overlooking the Sebasticook River. 

On Tuesday, the Mills administration announced that gyms, fitness centers and (for some reason) nail salons would not be able to open up on June 1, as had been the plan, but would instead need to wait longer before they could reopen their indoor facilities to customers. The reason? Science, of course.

The state’s economy has fallen off the edge of a cliff. The only question is how far the fall will be.