More than a week, and no winner. Glitches. Memory stick problems. Ballots sent by courier from remote Maine towns. And all for likely selecting the winner that would have been selected anyway under the old system? This is really how you want to do elections, Maine?

Two summers ago ultrarunning legend Karl Meltzer broke the Appalachian Trail thru-hike speed record with a time of 45 days 22 hours and 38 minutes, and it was documented in the film “Karl Meltzer: Made To Be Broken.” The 42-minute documentary has just been added to Netflix, right as many thru-hikers have set off on their own journeys through the nation’s most iconic trail this summer.

Officials who oversee development in the state’s Unorganized Territory were urged June 20 to not make rule changes that critics say could create sprawl in the Maine woods and undermine development in northern municipalities.

It is with great pleasure that the Baxter State Park Authority announces the appointment of its new park director, Eben Sypitkowski. Sypitkowski is currently serving as Baxter State Park's resource manager and is managing its Scientific Forest Management Area. He brings knowledge and experience to the role of director, and a proven passion for upholding the Baxter Trusts and serving its mission.

It’s that time of year again when genealogists are apt to feel the urge to track down a family cemetery.

Local solar energy entrepreneur Tyler Adkins announced his independent campaign to represent District 119 in the Maine House of Representatives. House District 119 includes Beaver Cove, Greenville, Shirley, Monson, Abbot, Parkman, Sangerville, Guilford, Willimantic, Bowerbank and Sebec, plus the unorganized territories of Blanchard Township, Northeast Piscataquis (including Barnard and Elliottsville Townships) and Northwest Piscataquis.

Maybe this time will be different. But I’m skeptical, disappointed and angry. The plight of children stolen from their parents at the border has generated a national moment of outrage.

Tina Gerickont of Cambridge is the grand prize winner in the Piscataquis Observer’s annual Find the Whoopie Pie Contest. Gerickont was chosen from a pool of 10 weekly winners in which entrants successfully located a whoopie pie hidden in one of that week’s advertisements.

The search for competitiveness within Maine high school football has taken several routes in recent years, from the addition of a fourth class in 2013 to crossover scheduling and a new developmental fifth class last fall.

The annual conference of Alpha Psi State, the Maine organization of DKG Society International, was held recently in Bangor at the Hilton Garden Inn. Two local teachers were among the recipients of special scholarship awards presented at the conference. Mirna Reyes-Henderson, Spanish teacher at Foxcroft Academy, received a scholarship as she continues work on her CAS degree at the University of Maine. Lisa Quatrale, English teacher at Dexter Regional High School, received a monetary award in support of a leadership project and class she has instituted at the school.