The current administration was warned of the potential pandemic exactly like we are experiencing now. This pandemic has been predicted for years by the health professionals in this country and around the world including the World Health Organization (WHO). 

As the pandemic has unfolded, we have seen plenty from the executive branch. Gov. Janet Mills has exercised her emergency powers to undertake countless actions. Statewide closures and rural reopenings capture most of the headlines, but she has issued 40 executive orders since March 18.

Increasingly, turkey hunters I know are telling me that they are hanging up their turkey hunting gear. The reason: ticks. What a sad thing when all they need to do, to be safe, is to spray their hunting duds well with Permethrin, and remain vigilant. 

Maine's top election official is encouraging people to vote via absentee ballot during the July primary election to limit the exposure voters and polling workers have to the coronavirus. The state will still hold in-person balloting July 14 with new social distancing protocols, but it's easier -- and safer -- to vote via absentee ballot, Secretary of State Matt Dunlap said this week.

The Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) is very excited to announce that it will be collaborating with Widdershins Farm LLC this summer. Widdershins is a local farm in Dover-Foxcroft offering a wide variety of services and products and includes a creamery and farm store that is open seven days a week. The farm specializes in sustainable agriculture and caring for their livestock in the most natural way possible

The Center Theatre announced that its community theater group, the Slightly Off-Center Players, will be holding open auditions for their summer production of “Born in a Small Town,” a new play written and directed by Bobby Keniston. The auditions, which will take place on June 13-14 from 1-4 p.m. at the Center Theatre, 20 East Main Street.

As you research you will likely come upon situations that, for want of a better word, will trigger what I call the “ick” or “yuck” factor -- that is, things done commonly in the past found unacceptable, questionable or downright creepy today. Here are some examples.

For more than two months, the staff of Maine’s two largest hospital systems have been making decisions about COVID-19 testing in an environment of near-constant uncertainty. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the previously scheduled Relay For Life live events across Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire through June have suspended their live events, and many now are participating on Sunday, June 7 in a virtual online experience called Hope From Home. Participants should register for their local event at http://RelayForLife.org and then on June 7 join the activities at https://bit.ly/RelayHopeFromHome.

After two months of being unable to hold live support group meetings because of the COVID-19 distancing policies, NAMI Piscataquis County will reconvene via Zoom on the first Wednesday of each month at 1 p.m.