Gov. Janet Mills directed the Maine National Guard and the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to work with Maine’s health care systems to open two alternative care sites in Portland and Bangor as part of the state’s preparations to bolster Maine health system capacity in the face of COVID-19. 

The next Dover and Foxcroft Water District trustees meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 13 by video conference call.

Towns and cities whose usual polling locations have closed because of the coronavirus pandemic are waiting for guidance from the state on how or whether the June 9 primary will happen before they choose new locations and make other arrangements for voting.

Meanwhile, there are several Kiwanis-sponsored events that won't happen or will be postponed. First, as you probably assumed, due to state and federal mandates, our annual Piscataquis River Race scheduled for April 25 has been canceled. Nevertheless, we greatly appreciate the sponsors of this event, most of whom decided to donate their sponsorship amount anyway. They will be recognized when we have the final tally. But our fundraising raffle has not been canceled. Renamed our “Social Distancing Community Raffle,” you have three chances to win gas cards in the amount of $300, $200 or $100.  

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has spent a month modeling how the new coronavirus might spread. The scenarios are wide-ranging. 

More than three weeks after Maine confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus, the state has recorded cases in all but one of its 16 counties. As of Monday, Piscataquis County was the only one without a confirmed case of the fast-spreading infection that has caused a pandemic and shut down much of daily life. Two other counties, Aroostook and Washington, both recorded their first cases last week.

Tiegan Murray of Greenville High School has become the first player to commit to Husson University and head coach Amanda Cummings for the 2020 women’s soccer season.

A former Damariscotta man has been arrested after, according to police, he sexually abused a young girl for years and, when she became pregnant, assaulted her to cause a miscarriage. Joseph A. Richards, 44, faces one count of class A elevated aggravated assault on a pregnant person, one count of class A gross sexual assault, two counts of class B aggravated assault, two counts of class B gross sexual assault, and one count of class D endangering the welfare of a child, according to court documents. Richards now lives in Atkinson Township.

Mention COVID-19 and conversations turn to concerns about financial solvency and medical care. I want to remind us of something: You and I are lucky enough to live in a country where government is, “of the people, by the people and for the people”. COVID-19 is a beautiful reminder and opportunity to uphold governing ourselves.

Ronald Sweet’s recent letter to the editor questioned why the U.S. death rate could rise to 100,000, blaming this tragedy on government “ineptitude, incompetence, and inaction.” Like Mr. Sweet, I pray we can do better than these numbers, but I disagree with his analysis. I urge him to remember that information from the Chinese government, a regime which denies the reality of Tiananmen Square, is unreliable.