Medicaid expansion is the law. Voters made sure of that. But when the Maine Legislature reconvenes next week, the fight over health insurance coverage for more than 70,000 Mainers will begin anew.

Traditions are wonderful, which is why I am proud to give you my bold predictions each year. That's why in 2014 I also started handing out the Conifer Awards ---- political superlatives for the year that was.

As we look forward to the new year, one of the big challenges facing our state is growing our workforce and keeping our economy on a roll.

The Foxcroft Academy swim team took part in a dual meet on the road against Old Town High School on Dec. 29. The Pony girls fell by a score of 92-63 and the Foxcroft boys lost to Old Town 90-43.

Each year about this time, the Maine Warden Service urges us to use extreme caution before venturing out onto any ice that may be covering Maine’s waterways. This is timely advice. Two winters ago three night-time snowsledders all perished in one night on Rangeley Lake when they and their machines broke through thin ice.

On Dec. 21 Foxcroft Academy wrestling had its home opener, hosting Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln and neighboring Piscataquis Community High School. Earlier in the season Mattanawcook beat Foxcroft at the Penobscot Valley High School Tournament, so the Ponies had something to prove.

The Dexter Regional High School girls basketball team has a new look this season. It is a building year for the defending Class C North titlists, who wound up 16-7 a year ago.

Upcoming events around the region

It may be hard to believe but Dexter Dover Area Towns in Transition (DDATT) was started a little more than eight years ago, a few local people concerned about climate change and how its effects might impact the area. The fledgling group began to occasionally screen films on various aspects of the subject at the town hall and then the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter, which became popular enough to warrant a monthly public meeting, dubbed the First Friday Free Film and Discussion.

The President has signed a historic tax reform into law. While Democrats claim the power of the seer akin to Nostradamus portending wild-eyed apocalyptic doom as a result of wage earners and wage payers keeping more of the fruits of their labors, in the real world of the real truth this new tax structure affords real tax relief to virtually every wage bracket in the U.S. Contrary to the liberal narrative, it is not theft for Americans to keep more of their wages.