On a cold and windy day earlier this month, I toured the Pleasant River Bridge with Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner David Bernhardt and Milo Town Manager Damien Pickel. The bridge is now 82 years old, rusted, too narrow and well past its original design life. Together, we saw firsthand how time, the elements and collision damage have taken a severe physical toll on this bridge.

Two blood drives are scheduled for Friday, April 27. One will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Greenville American Legion on Pritham Avenue and the other is scheduled from noon to 5 p.m. at the Piscataquis Regional YMCA in Dover-Foxcroft.

Upcoming events around the region.

Mes Amis, a Gypsy jazz quartet, plays at the Wayside Theatre at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 28. They play an infectious mix of traditional Gypsy, Latin and American jazz standards along with many original compositions.

Ice fishing is a Maine tradition that goes back centuries. But as temperatures have climbed in recent decades, the ice is melting earlier and earlier on most of the state’s lakes, and that’s carving into the ice fishing season.

Do you ever wonder what your next meal will be? Do you think about what is not in your cupboards or how to stretch what you do have on hand to make a meal for you and your family? Well, there are some of our neighbors that do have these questions.

Bishop Robert P. Deeley has announced a pair of priest assignments pertaining to Our Lady of the Snows Parish, effective on June 29.

There’s a new store in downtown Greenville, right next door to The Crazy Moose on Pritham Avenue – Northern Maine Minerals. For those in the know, its former location was atop Indian Hill, across the street from the Trading Post.

The critically acclaimed movie “Seed: The Untold Story” will be screened at 4 p.m. on Earth Day, Sunday, April 22 the Center Theatre. After the screening, Will Bonsall the director of the Scatterseed Project, will be on hand to discuss the movie. Admission to the movie is by donation with proceeds offsetting rental costs for the Center Theatre.

As the legislative session enters its last weeks, Democrats are sitting on their hands, hoping voters won’t notice they have avoided making the tough decisions that affect your families, businesses and wallets.