On Saturday, as has become an annual affair, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will draw the names of this year's crop of lucky moose hunters. Unfortunately for this year's crop of permit-winners, this permit lottery won't be an in-person event attended by hundreds. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, it'll be held virtually, and streamed online instead. That means that when hunters start shrieking and cheering when their name is drawn, hundreds of strangers won't start cheering for them, as has also been the custom.

The Commons at Central Hall is collaborating with community partner organizations to present a series called “PTSD Conversations: Our Communities Response.” This series of four virtual presentations over the next four months will appear on Facebook Live and Zoom.  The first of the series called “A Journey Towards Healing” focuses on equine therapy for veterans and will occur at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24.

Maine local governments are still waiting for financial aid assistance from the federal government. Maine state and local budgets will be decreased by many thousands of dollars in the coming months due to decreases in revenue sharing, excise tax revenues, loss of property taxes and the overall economic impact of COVID-19.

I have wonderful neighbors here in Guilford. We don’t always agree about politics. That’s OK. But for me President Donald Trump’s words are personal. I am American, born and raised. My father was not so lucky -- refugees from Hungary, his family came here with nothing but hope. Like many “white” Americans -- Irish, French Canadian, Italian, the list goes on -- we were the “wrong type” of immigrant at the time. Although I consider talking about this with my neighbors, usually I choose not to.

On Thursday the Maine Department of Education released a draft framework to assist schools in planning for return to school scenarios in the fall. The framework was developed with input from multiple stakeholder groups, including the Department of Education’s Student Cabinet, community health experts and educators representing the many roles in schools.

Penobscot County voters will not be asked in November to approve funding for a new jail as officials consider whether operational changes imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak will become permanent. It could be November 2021 before the measure appears on the ballot.

Experiences like those are the focus of "The Great Maine Moose Hunt, Celebrating 40 Years of Modern Moose Hunting in Maine," a new book that features moose tales from 19 registered Maine guides or avid moose hunters. Lambert and friend James Cote compiled the stories that will ring true to any who have been drawn for a permit, recruited friends, and headed into the vast Maine woods in search of their own hunt of a lifetime.

Last year I read a book entitled "The Three Languages of Politics," by Arnold Kling, which was originally published in 2013 and has since been re-issued with an updated edition. In the book, Kling argues that the problem causing our increasingly caustic political discourse is that our ideological groups behave “like tribes speaking different languages."

We cannot allow science and public health to become just another part of the culture wars. Wearing a mask in public as COVID-19 continues to kill thousands of Americans is about helping to protect our friends, family and neighbors. It’s not virtue signally, and it’s not the same as wearing a Planned Parenthood t-shirt or a MAGA red hat.

While Major League Baseball and its players’ union squabble over how to salvage their 2020 season in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Piscataquis County bat maker is continuing to expand his footprint in the sport. Construction is under way at Dove Tail Bats on a multipurpose building that will include an indoor batting cage and full gym and workout area. The six-week building project is expected to be completed by mid-July.