Piscataquis Community High School is the home of the Pirates, but over the decades the swashbuckler logo for the institution has varied. SAD 4 district officials have been seeking public input on the pirate design and lettering -- including posting four options on the PCHS Pirates Sports Central Facebook page -- for a new LED digital sign to be erected in the near future.

A Milo couple who over the last half decade have given back in the form of the Three Rivers Kiwanis Building, the Harrigan Learning Center & Museum, and the Milo-Brownville & Points North Visitor Center, all located in their hometown’s Eastern Piscataquis Business Park, have been honored as the 16th recipients of the Warren “Pete” Myrick Award by the Executive Committee of the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC). Tom and Nancy Harrigan were presented with the honor on Dec. 10 at The Commons at Central Hall during the PCEDC annual meeting.

Eligible residents of the Dexter area in need of home repairs will have the opportunity to get these improvements taken care of at no cost when hundreds of volunteers come to town in late July. The Colorado-based Group Workcamps Foundation’s Group Mission Trips organization will be in Dexter from July 21-27, 2019.

For a quarter the Class C North Piscataquis Community High School and Class D North Schenck High School of East Millinocket stayed even as the two programs were tied at five points apiece after eight minutes of play during the 2018-19 season opener on Friday, Dec. 7. From there the visiting Wolverines had a 10-0 run during much of the second quarter and a 25-3 advantage in the third to win 45-22.

US Rep. Bruce Poliquin lost his bid for re-election to Congress. He was defeated by former Marine and Maine legislative leader Jared Golden in an election decided by ranked-choice voting.

With the calendar year nearing an end, RSU 68 officials have started preparations for developing the 2019-20 budget. During a Dec. 4 school board meeting Superintendent Stacy Shorey said the directors have now all received a budget meeting calendar.

A week after the public hearing for the pair of spending plans, the Piscataquis County Commissioners approved a $4,535,958 Piscataquis County budget for the 2019 calendar year along with an Unorganized Territory (UT) budget of $1,756,657 for the 2019-20 fiscal year during the Dec. 4 meeting.

Earlier in the month, on the day we all went to the polls, Mississipians held a special election for the seat left vacated by the resignation of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran. Four candidates ran for the seat, each running on a nonpartisan ticket line, with two main competitors -- Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy -- taking up the lion's share of votes. The other two were minor candidates with no realistic chance of winning.

A proposed $4,535,958 Piscataquis County budget for the 2019 calendar year, along with an Unorganized Territory (UT) budget of $1,756,657 for the 2019-20 fiscal year, was presented at a public hearing on Nov. 26 as part of the process by county officials for developing the pair of spending plans.

Several weeks after being elected as the new district attorney for Piscataquis and Penobscot counties -- Prosecutorial District 5 -- current Deputy District Attorney Marianne Lynch, R-Bangor met with the Piscataquis County Commissioners during their Nov. 20 meeting.