Dustin Simmons had plenty of individual motivation at Saturday’s Penobscot Valley Conference wrestling championship meet. Three previous trips to the championship finals had produced nothing but disappointment. And the clock and scoreboard weren’t working in the Foxcroft Academy senior’s favor late in his last bid for a conference title against Gabriel Stone of Dexter in the 160-pound final.

Undefeated Josh Harvey of Young’s MMA in Bangor won the New England Fights 37 main event at the Cross Insurance Center on Friday night, Feb. 1 before most of the sold-out crowd of 1,200 even realized it.

For the seventh time in as many meets Penquis Valley High School senior Cymeria Robshaw won the 55-meter dash during the final regular season Penobscot Valley Conference/Eastern Maine Indoor Track League competition at the University of Maine.

The soldiers who identify as members of the transgender community serve our country and protect our freedoms in the U.S. military. Patriot hero soldiers from the LGBTQ+ community have given their lives or have come home from many wars with arms or legs blown off.

The employees of Maine Highlands Federal Credit Union recently made a donation to the Aliza Jean Family Cancer Foundation. The organization was chosen as a recipient of the Credit Union’s Caring for Community fundraiser.

This week I extend last week's conversation with Tammy Estes, owner of Estes Consultant of Travel based in Augusta. Tammy has been a great help to me in understanding "deaf culture;" how deaf and hard of hearing (HoH) people communicate within the "deaf culture" and with the "hearing culture."

Nikki Hamilton has always been an athlete. When she was a kid you’d likely see her exploring the woods, playing sports or riding her horse Blackjack. No sitting around indoors for her! One winter when she was 12 years old her dad, Kirk, encouraged her to consider ice racing.

Elizabeth Rosner, the daughter of two Holocaust survivors, will present via video “Understanding and Transforming the Legacy of Intergenerational Trauma” on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 1 p.m. at The Commons at Central Hall. Her program is part of the Healing Trauma Summit from Sounds True and is presented by NAMI Piscataquis County.

Josh Harvey’s big meal Wednesday reflected his continuing weight cut in advance of Friday night’s NEF 37 mixed martial arts show at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

A two-division format for eight-player football involving 10 schools that would begin play next fall gained the approval of the Maine Principals’ Association football committee Thursday, Jan. 31.