Four hundred volunteers from around the country spent nearly a week in Dexter from July 22-26 working to fix 60 homes at no cost for residents who otherwise could not afford to have the needed repairs taken care of. The improvements were made through the Fort Collins, Colorado-based Group Workcamps Foundation’s Group Mission Trips organization, a non-profit, interdenominational Christian volunteer home-repair group.

The selectmen set the tax commitment for the 2019-20 fiscal year during a July 22 meeting, with the mill rate rising 30 cents (1.41 percent) from last year to a rate of $21.50 per $1,000 in assessed property.

The Trebor Mansion Inn was destroyed in a fire during the early morning hours of Saturday, July 20. Investigators with The Office of State Fire Marshal have been on the scene since Saturday working to determine the cause of the blaze. The 19th century building located on a hilltop just off of Route 15 had been vacant for several years and is now bank-owned.

Two videos compiled from home movies shot from 1939 into the 1950s around Brownville/Brownville Junction and Maine railroads are available on Youtube under “Michaud family home movies” and will be screened at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 30 at the Brownville-Brownville Junction Historical Society’s Parish House Museum on Church Street.

In other business, the Dexter town council took no action on the recommendations of the cannabis task force. Councilors will continue to look at the possibility of allowing for commercial marijuana operations in town.

With students away on summer vacation, the Penquis Valley School is a construction site with hallway ceiling tiles down and stacked on the floor as part of the work to make way for an upgrade to the heating system.

Earlier this year spring runoff caused nearly $23,000 in damage to an approximate 1,000-foot stretch of the Mountain Road in Blanchard Township. Closing this section of the narrow, steep, dead end travelway to winter maintenance could prevent such occurrences and save money but with one year-round resident and other property owners using the road, the Piscataquis County Commissioners will have a decision to make.

SAD 41 residents in Brownville, LaGrange and Milo approved a $9,639,532 budget for 2019-20 during the June 27 referendum by a combined total of 152-37. In the Brownville the numbers were 35 in favor with 15 opposed, 16-5 in LaGrange and 101-17 in Milo.

After years working in the field, Miss A’s Childcare owner/director Alex Barden had the opportunity to open her own facility last fall in the former Guilford Primary School building at 31 High Street. Not only did Barden accomplish a goal with the opening of Miss A’s Childcare, her business is helping meet a need for working parents/guardians.

Earlier in the month Dexter residents voted down five non-binding advisory questions on marijuna businesses which were developed through a community task force comprised of town officials, business owners and citizens. The group held its first post-election meeting with a forum on June 25 to discuss possible next steps with about two dozen attendees present.