Sen. Paul Davis represents District 4, and he recently published a joint letter with Reps. Higgins, Stearns and Foster about reopening the Penquis region. In response, my mother, who is immunocompromised, wrote him about her concerns of pushing ahead too quickly against the advice of medical experts. My mother received a reply, telling her to stay safe, but that “people are hungry” and “need to get back to work.” This very typical response fails to address key issues.

This spring, tick experts at the University of Maine Tick Lab have noticed a big increase in the number of ticks that the public is submitting for testing. They think this upward trend might be linked to people spending more time outdoors than usual during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Northern Light Mayo Hospital’s Nurse Excellence Award is a public commendation given to a staff nurse demonstrating exemplary clinical expertise, commitment to Northern Light Mayo Hospital and continued professional development. This award is given annually by the vice president of patient care services. Denise Scuderi, vice president of patient care services, announced John Chase, RN, as the 2020 Northern Light Mayo Nurse of the Year on Thursday, May 14 during an all-staff Zoom meeting.

Maine is blessed with pristine vistas where souls can find their quiet repose and reflection. The soothing sounds of nature, while rejuvenating, prove to us that in the silence of the forest it is nearly impossible, even in the whisper of the wind and the chirp of the chickadee, to find complete silence. And yet, Rep. Jared Golden has managed to achieve the impossible.

Now that the coronavirus has been circulating around Maine for more than two months, the ever-growing mass of numbers, anecdotes and other information about the pandemic may be dizzying to anyone without a very strong interest in biology or disease surveillance. So the BDN has reached out to a few public experts for their advice on the best metrics to pay attention to that demonstrate the severity of the coronavirus pandemic.

The woods near the SeDoMoCha School may be too swampy for construction, but a group motivated to enhance outdoor learning opportunities is rebuilding it as a living laboratory. Thanks in part to a $7,350 grant from the Piscataquis County Fund of the Maine Community Foundation, a nature trail developed at the Dover-Foxcroft site nearly a half-century ago in an effort led by former teacher Dorothy Warren is in line for a makeover.

While this global pandemic has already consumed many of our nation’s largest cities, as the recent Bangor Daily News OpEd “Coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating a rural access crisis” highlights, what has been overlooked is the profound and potentially irreversible effect of this crisis on rural communities around the nation.

The teaming frustrations aired by protesters demanding removal of restrictions to our daily lives due to the highly contagious COVID-19 virus is frightening. Why one would even consider endangering my life and yours by not following simple directions from our elected officials to promote safety?

On May 16 Sarah Elizabeth Palmer Tent #23, Daughters of Union Veterans member Molly Bennett and her cousin Amaiya Hunter-Jacob placed flowers on the grave of Sarah E. Palmer, Civil War nurse.

Gov. Janet Mills and Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin announced that the Maine Department of Education has secured internet access and devices to facilitate at home learning for 100% of Maine school children for whom there was a reported need.