Next month a half dozen Penquis Valley High School students will be immersed in a different culture and environment, switching from pine tree forests to rainforests, as they spend April vacation in Central America on their “Exploring Costa Rica’s Natural Wonders” trip with Spanish teacher Michele Cabral through EF Education Tours.

The Piscataquis County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) is moving ahead with the plans to construct a new agency storage garage for vehicles and equipment on the county’s East Main Street campus.

More than 20 students in the younger grades at Piscataquis Community Elementary School are now HEROs for their outstanding conduct during the month of February. The HERO honorees were recognized with the presentation of certificates during an elementary-wide morning meeting on Wednesday, March 20.

A pair of Dover-Foxcroft residents are busy collecting $12 sponsorships to fill bags for Easter to give to pediatric patients at the four psychiatric facilities across the state. The gifts brighten the days for the youngsters and let them know people outside the hospital are thinking of them. The $12 contributions purchases a decorated bag from Thirty-One Gifts -- a national direct sales company -- and Independent Director Theresa Makowski uses all her commission to purchase goodies to fill the bags. Last year about 60 bags were donated and this year the goal is 100.

DOVER-FOXCROFT -- For the seventh year students and teachers at SeDoMoCha Middle School celebrated the 14th day of the third month with various events for Pi Day. The activities connect to the dessert which is a homophone of the term for the non-terminating ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.

SAD 41 voters heading to the polls on Thursday, March 14 overwhelmingly approved -- via a combined count of 152 to 25 pending verification of voting results from the towns -- a referendum for a $2.4 million funding package to carry out a heating system upgrade converting from steam to hot water and energy efficiency project at the Penquis Valley School. The referendum was approved in each district community: 7-1 in Atkinson, 55-9 in Brownville, 19-5 in LaGrange and 71-10 in Milo.

Each month the SeDoMoCha School recognizes “Students in the Spotlight,” celebrating pupils from kindergarten to grade 8 who teachers and staff have determined best demonstrate a specific positive attribute or characteristic chosen for the timeframe from the Habits of Mind (a set of life skills for educators and parents). Following a snow day last month, the February and March Students in the Spotlight were honored together during an all-school assembly in the gym on the morning of March 14.

The 2019-20 academic year budget continues to be developed by district officials, but SAD 4 is scheduled to receive approximately $234,000 more in state subsidy than for the 2018-19 Superintendent Kelly MacFadyen reported during a March 12 meeting at Piscataquis Community High School.

A Dover-Foxcroft resident whose body was discovered on his front porch by a neighbor on New Year’s Day, after apparently being there for days, died of a heart attack, according to the state medical examiner.

With the HAD 4 board of directors voting 15-3 last month to start a merger with Northern Light Health, Mayo Regional Hospital officials are looking to hold four public information nights across the region to share details of the process and hear from residents and answer their questions. One session is tentatively scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2 in the Morton Avenue Municipal Building Gymnasium.