University of Maine Cooperative Extension will offer a food preservation hands-on workshop on Tuesday, Aug. 6 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Piscataquis County office, 165 East Main Street.

It’s no secret what the most important challenges facing the high school sports officiating ranks around Maine and the nation are -- recruitment and retention. Jeff Benson of Auburn hopes to combat those challenges as the state’s first commissioner of officials.

The executive committee of the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council is seeking nominations for the annual Warren "Pete" Myrick Community Service Award, to be presented at the annual meeting in December. Meeting date and location will be disclosed soon.

There are big game hunters, and then there are hunters of dangerous big game. Waterville native Kenneth T. Winters, who has hunted 223 big game species throughout the world, spent the better part of his adult life hunting dangerous big game in his beloved Africa.

Think green. Think cool, crystal clear waters. Think about what the Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corporation (MLREDC) has been working on for downtown Greenville. To learn more about this transformative initiative, plan to attend a reception and information session on Friday, Aug. 2 at 11 a.m. Refreshments are free, and speakers will share the MLREDC’s plans. The event will be held at 3 Lakeview Street directly across from the Center for Moosehead History.

On Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 6:30 p.m. the Abbot Historical Society will host the H.J. Crosby Band at the Abbot Town Hall for an outdoor concert. In case of rain the band will play inside at 7 p.m. Following the concert there will be a free ice cream social.

My first time visiting a solitary confinement unit at Maine State Prison in Warren was like walking into a Federico Fellini movie. I did not visit alone.

I am asking our legislators to return to Augusta to vote on a Land for Maine’s future bond. It is imperative that our legislators vote before the end of August in order for the bond make the November 2019 ballot.

“I’m going to open doors for you, doors you never dreamed existed.” Rosalind Russell utters those memorable words as she ascends her impossibly lavish and dramatic staircase in the final scene of the wonderful film “Auntie Mame.” This August promises to open new doors -- for all ages -- at the Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft.

Monday, to the apparent notice of no one, congressional leaders and the president came together and agreed to something: spending a lot more money, and putting it on the credit card. Again.