With schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, spring sports canceled and the future uncertain, the Maine Principals’ Association has ventured into the virtual world for a new activity to sponsor. The organization, which regulates high school athletics in the state, is adding esports to its list of MPA extracurricular activities beginning in the fall through a partnership with PlayVS.

Maintaining your health is about more than just not contracting a deadly disease — even during the pandemic. But as the stay-at-home orders have dragged on, many of us have let our daily physical activity slide, which compromises our physical health in other ways. It’s time to change that.

Just a year ago, the BDN ran a pair of OpEds where I sketched three big resilience challenges facing Maine woods tourism: changing climate, changing markets and changing general economic conditions. The second piece highlighted farsighted initiatives by the Maine Woods Consortium and Northern Outdoors, anticipating and adapting to shocks and uncertainties.

Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled her vision for the next round of congressional action to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is a vision of mountains of cash. Pelosi's plan would spend $3 trillion, which would make it far and away the largest coronavirus relief spending package to date from Congress. For context, federal receipts in the 2019 fiscal year were $3.46 trillion.

Bissell Brothers Brewing had a product to sell in late March but suddenly lacked the most direct method of distribution -- its taprooms in southern and central Maine.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension is launching a food preservation webinar series at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26. The weekly series continues through Oct. 27. 

For the second time, Gov. Janet Mills extended her civil state of emergency proclamation for another month on Wednesday, giving her more time to access federal funding and use certain powers to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

In a unique arrangement, four diverse Maine organizations are teaming up to address hunger relief and support Maine dairy farmers. Good Shepherd Food Bank, Pineland Farms Dairy Company, Libra Foundation and Dairy Farmers of America, will distribute thousands of pounds of cheese to food insecure Mainers through Maine’s emergency food distribution network.

As Maine begins to navigate how to loosen restrictions on activities in the shadow of COVID-19 and develop a plan for recovery, a new 10-state poll gives insights on voters’ priorities.

The MPA Interscholastic Management Committee recently issued a memo outlining revisions to their policy in the upcoming months. They include pushing back the start of summer coach-athlete interactions and eliminating the normal August hands-off period. The MPA also instituted a contact period for remote workouts and instruction and temporarily suspended its minimum academic requirements.