Dispatchers with the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office are currently using an antiquated radio system, with components dating to the 1980s. Dispatch Sgt. Gary Grant has been working for several years to upgrade the telecommunications division of the department through grants and other funding sources, but in order to complete the project more money is needed. The specifics are to be determined, but the Piscataquis County Commissioners passed a motion to proceed with an upgrade during an Aug. 21 meeting.

Joan Shapleigh and her horse Donatello rode into history when the pair took part in a dressage show at Infinity Farm on Aug. 19. Shapleigh, 81 of Dover-Foxcroft, and Donatello, 21, have a combined age of over 100 and this statistic enabled them to join the Dressage Foundation’s Century Club once Shapleigh rode the horse for a dressage test and had the performance scored by a judge.

In May and June a near $11.6 million RSU 68 was approved across the four district towns with the respective annual meeting and referendum. After the two votes, district officials noticed a clerical error in one article from the district budget meeting and this mistake will now need to be corrected.

A Marine from Dover-Foxcroft who perished in the crash of a Marine HMH Squadron 463 helicopter in Vietnam on Feb. 18, 1971 was honored with the presentation of the Purple Heart on the afternoon of Aug. 15 at the Dover-Foxcroft American Legion. Thanks to the efforts of his fellow Marines, the award was bestowed 47 years later upon U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Gregory A. Sloat -- who was 21 at the time of the crash -- with the Purple Heart presented to his mother Clarice Sloat Call.

Following a decade of work to preserve and rebuild the more than 135-year-old Central Hall on East Main Street in Dover-Foxcroft, the newly christened The Commons at Central Hall was formally opened to the public in mid-May. The building is the site of an event center on the upper level and a senior commons/gathering space on the first floor with an adult day service center planned for the future at the back end of the first floor.

The Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) is part of the effort with its American chestnut germplasm conservation orchard at the Law Farm on the Lee Cemetery Road. A sign informing visitors of the orchard, with over 100 seedlings, was installed during the late afternoon on Aug. 2.

For the last 22 years Foxcroft Academy graduates, community members and visitors to the region have been able to kick off the Saturday of Foxcroft Academy Alumni Weekend/Dover-Foxcroft Shiretown Homecoming by running in the Pony Pride 5K.

The SAD 41 directors had hoped to start the combined project this summer, but instead the plan will be for the elevator to be installed prior to the start of classes and the sprinkler work to be done in the summer of 2019.

The selectmen set the tax commitment for the 2018-19 fiscal year during a July 23 meeting, with the mill rate rising 30 cents from last year to a rate of $21.20 per $1,000 in assessed property.

Every guitar has a story to tell, believes David Iverson as the history of each instrument may reveal who has played it, where it has been and can also conjure up memories for the guitarist. Iverson plans to share many tales when his Story Teller Guitars store opens in early August.