A Guilford company that makes the medical swabs necessary to test for the coronavirus has identified a location in Pittsfield where it would open a second manufacturing facility to help meet the spike in demand for its products.

Citing the state plan to restart the economy and their own desire to ensure the well-being of all festival participants, the Center Theatre and Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce announced that the 2020 Maine Whoopie Pie Festival will be postponed until Saturday, Oct. 3.

Skowhegan Savings Charitable Foundation rises to help overcome the challenge that Mainers are facing with food availability during COVID-19 by donating $30,000 to 28 local food bank programs that serve central and western Maine, including the Town of Dexter Food Assistance Program.

Many business owners and municipal leaders have been eagerly waiting for Gov. Janet Mills to provide a path forward after weeks of restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Her announcement Tuesday that she will issue a new stay-at-home order that allows a gradual reopening of certain businesses is a relief for some, but not all.

Town buildings and certain facilities remain closed due to COVID-19 but the town’s work carries on.  Our first responders, police and fire are at the ready to answer the call day or night to make sure our community is safe.  The town’s road crew is busy with road work and preparing for summer paving.  If you’re still seeing broken trees or limbs affecting your commute, let us know.

As health care systems in coronavirus hot spots are stretched thin, Maine hospitals and the state prepared for a much larger onslaught of coronavirus cases than the one that has materialized so far here.

There are a few realizations you have to make if you’re going to pursue wild turkeys in Maine.

Just as Buie has adapted her musical pursuits, she has made other changes to protect her health amid the ongoing outbreak as she approaches her 70th birthday. That includes utilizing a new local program -- Community Pulling Together -- that shops and delivers groceries for people who are self-isolating at home or otherwise concerned about their medical well-being.

A check for $10,000 arrived at the town of Monson last week from the Maine Community Foundation with the community being chosen as one of three communities participating in the Community Entrepreneurship Program. This first check is for planning purposes and will be followed by another for $25,000 for implementation purposes and a further $25,000 in 2021.  The National Main Street Center will provide workshops, training and local assessments worth a further $10,000 so the total investment will be $70,000. 

Certain Maine businesses can reopen on Friday as part of a gradual plan to lift coronavirus-related restrictions, though many hospitality businesses could remain closed deep into the summer, Gov. Janet Mills said Tuesday.