With Maine’s American Legion baseball ranks continuing to be thinned by the popularity of regional travel baseball programs, state American Legion baseball officials have held frequent planning sessions in an effort to adapt to the sport’s changing summer landscape.

Three days ago sunny, low 60-degree weather melted the last of the thick layer of ice covering Camp Marlene pond all winter. Migratory ducks — mergansers, golden eye, wood ducks, and mallards — were back scouring shallow shoreline water for water vegetation, insects, and fry.

If you’re out and about in Piscataquis and Penobscot counties this spring, there’s a chance that someone may try to give you a tomato seedling. And if you take it home, congratulations! You’ve just become part of the One Tomato project.

The Lakeshore House in Monson is ramping up for the long-awaited summer season just a little early. They began by hosting a special intimate sushi night on Monday, April 23. It was a big success, so much so that the event will be repeated in the near future. Simply check their Facebook page for upcoming events.

When Debbie Knapp, owner and operator of Little People’s Nursery School and Daycare was looking for ways to make the healthy choice the easy choice, she asked Let’s Go 5210 Piscataquis Coordinator Shannon Fowles how to get her hands on enough water bottles for each of her preschool students and daycare attendees.

After a trip to the Class B North semifinals last year, a veteran Ellsworth High School baseball team again is showing the characteristics of a contender early this spring. Coach Dan Curtis’ club rode the two-hit pitching of junior right-hander Conner Wagstaff and an offense that produced all of its runs with two outs to a 7-0 victory over Foxcroft Academy in a Penobscot Valley Conference matchup Saturday, April 28.

I had found that our yearbook collection was missing copies. In March I sent out an appeal for donations to complete our collection. The response was wonderful. We were missing 31 different years. Due to the generosity and help of our community we now are only missing 12.

The New England Outdoor Writers Association (NEOWA) is a large group of outdoor writers and photographers that promotes wildlife conservation and professionalism in outdoor communication. Each year, NEOWA awards significant scholarships to a wildlife major from all six of New England's land grant universities. The hope is that these wildlife majors will go on to reach out to the public and tell the story of wildlife conservation and the important role that sportsmen and sportswomen play in wildlife management and funding.

The following were selected as Students of the Quarter, for the third quarter, at the Ridge View Community School in Dexter for demonstrating academic excellence and positive attitude

Maine’s progressives have been selling the benefits of the minimum wage increase using faulty analysis. Don’t buy the hype.