On June 15 the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) presented Heather Doherty with its 2017 Outstanding Conservation Educator of the Year honor at a Piscataquis Community Secondary School awards ceremony.

After Arctic charr became perilously close to disappearing from one of the last remaining ponds in Maine, actions by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) have restored the charr population in Big Reed Pond in northern Piscataquis County.

This is the time of year when Maine’s whitetail deer population begins to recover from a long hard winter. After surviving on reserve fats, twigs and lichen, and whatever else they can find in their wintering areas, the spring “greenup” is the deer’s salvation.

DEXTER — Sixteen years after Dexter Shoe Co.

Summer calendar of events

Maureen Doore of Dover-Foxcroft, is the grand prize winner in The Piscataquis Observer’s annual Find the Whoopie Pie Contest.

On June 17 Sarah Elizabeth Palmer Tent #23, Daughters of Union Veterans and Daniel Chaplain Camp #3, Sons of Union Veterans held a joint ceremony to honor four Civil War soldiers who are buried at the Rural Grove Cemetery.

The Center Theatre has announced the schedule for the 2017 Maine Whoopie Pie Festival being held on Saturday, June 24 in downtown Dover-Foxcroft. The festival opens at 10 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m. with bakers from across the state sharing Maine’s official state treat with over 8,000 whoopie pie fans. The full schedule and information about the festival can be found at www.MaineWhoopiePieFestival.com.

The arts came to life at Piscataquis Community Elementary School (PCES) during a day that more than one student describes as “the best day of school ever.” Principal Anita Wright describes Arts Alive as “a day that clearly demonstrates why we have the word ‘community’ in our school name.”

As everyone knows, the legislature is embroiled in an awful battle in an attempt to come up with a state budget. As a representative to the citizens of House District #119 I would like to share my perspective and some of my thoughts on the predicament that we find ourselves in.