Maine’s first female governor, Janet Mills, picked Judy Camuso to replace Chandler Woodcock as our new Commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) is excited to kick off its second annual Families in the Outdoors program. The goal of this program is to provide fun, active, and interesting opportunities for families to enjoy the outdoors, together. This program is designed for youth ages 5 and up, parents, grandparents and other relatives. This year, the district will be offering seasonal sessions, each with a different nature-related theme.

A framework for adding two, eight-player divisions to Maine high school football beginning next fall inched closer to formality Tuesday, Jan. 15. The Maine Principals’ Association football committee has created an updated draft of the proposed format for the next two-year classification cycle that would include Classes A, B and C, and an eight-player class with two divisions based on enrollment.

The Center Theatre announced recently that Ashlie McLeish, who joined the Theatre in 2016, has been promoted to Theatre operations manager. According to Patrick Myers, the Center Theatre's executive director, the new position better describes what McLeish's role in the Theatre has become during the past year.

The following births were recorded recently at Mayo Regional Hospital:

On Thursday, Jan. 24 from 4-7 p.m. Tri-County Technical Center (TCTC) students from the six area high schools (Nokomis, PCHS, Dexter, Foxcroft Academy, Greenville, and Penquis Valley), will participate in the local SkillsUSA competition. Instructors from the 12 programs, along with advisory board members and practitioners in the field, will judge students’ skills based on particular national standards that are exercised in the workforce every day.

I am writing to support with enthusiasm Gov. Mills’ proposal in making preschool available to all children in Maine. As a teacher of English and communication, I have had the opportunity to work with a broad spectrum of students from middle school through college. Based on years of observation and experience in various settings, I realize the vital role of early exposure to a rich learning environment -- it is an essential contributing factor to positive outcomes in future formal academic expectations.

It is the traverse in the woods of ideology. The divergence in paths once aligned. It is here where the “one nation” meets its impassable chasm, a void too deep and too far to bridge.

Upcoming events around the region.

I recently received the birth record of a distant cousin’s spouse. I’d been having trouble locating his parents and the record revealed why. His birth record said he was illegitimate.