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.

The first referendum vote for the FY18 budget in SAD #4/RSU 80 has failed. A new interim superintendent and bookkeeper are about to take over on a part-time basis. The school committee must step up and pull itself together. The board’s leadership is critical going forward to make progress on both passing a workable budget and facing the need to improve instruction in the classrooms in the district, which happens to enjoy very favorable class sizes.

My friend, Christie-Lee McNally of Scarborough, Maine, is executive director of the non-profit Free Our Internet. I asked Christie-Lee to help me understand the important issue of Net Neutrality which President Obama put in place (2015) and President Trump wants reversed. For rural Mainers, especially small- and micro-business owners who want access to internet service capable of handling their online business, how is Net Neutrality affecting them?

Officials at Maine’s Department of Professional and Financial Regulation (DPFR) are focusing attention on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day--recognized each June 15 throughout the United States and in other countries, and often referred to as the ‘crime of the 21st century,’ because of its increasing prevalence and devastating impacts.