Lawmakers want your money, and they never stop wanting your money. At any given opportunity, they will dream up new ways of identifying it, taking it from you, and then using it. When they can't get it, they just take it from you anyway by spending money they don't have and covering it with debt.

Upcoming events around the region.

The executive committee of the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC) is saddened to announce the resignation of Executive Director Christopher Winstead. On Dec. 4 Winstead notified the board of the PCEDC that he has accepted a position with Eastern Maine Community College. Winstead joined PCEDC in 2015, and served as executive director.

Husson University women’s basketball coach Kissy Walker said that in 29 seasons at the school she has never had a team with as much height as this one. And there is plenty of talent to go with that height. The Eagles feature two veteran 6-footers in senior Sami Ireland and junior Megan Peach of Garland, both of whom earned All-North Atlantic Conference second-team honors last season. They are joined by 6-foot-3 freshman Bailey Donovan, who already has twice been named the NAC Rookie of the Week, and 6-foot freshman Eri Lawrence, who has a lot of upside.

Off-year elections -- even high profile contests -- aren’t always reliable predictors of things to come. But election results in Kentucky, Louisiana and Virginia confirm a lesson that we learned in Maine in 2017: The No. 1 issue in the mind of voters is health care.

The 2019 high school football season ended with teams from southern Maine dominating postseason play. While the South swept this year’s state finals, it was a better year statewide than others of recent vintage thanks to tiered scheduling and the implementation of an eight-player division.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairman of the Housing Appropriations Subcommittee, announced that Western Maine Community Action and Penquis will receive a combined total of $130,814 to support efforts to develop and preserve affordable housing and supportive services for persons with disabilities in Franklin, Penobscot, Piscataquis and Knox counties.

Dexter Regional High School is proud to announce that the following pupils have been selected by the faculty as "Students of the Month" for October -- grade 9: Emma Alexander; grade 10: Caitlyn Chabot; grade 11: Jylian Lupo; and grade 12: Logan Perkins.

Dexter Regional High School is proud to announce that the following pupils have been selected by the faculty as "Students of the Month" for September -- grade 9: Payson Reinhardt; grade 10: Molly Bennett; grade 11: Lilah McCormack; and grade 12: Rachael Sickles.

The Hon. Kevin Stitham of Dover-Foxcroft has been nominated for reappointment to the Maine District Court for his fourth term. The Hon. Stitham was first sworn in on Sept. 2, 1998 and previously practiced law in Piscataquis County for over 20 years.