With Piscataquis County government department heads making their initial requests for the 2018 budget -- the county fiscal year follows the calendar year -- the county commissioners are getting ready to put the budget advisory committee in place so the group can start its work in October.

Three girls will reign as Miss Maple in their respective age groups for the next year after being crowned during the third annual Miss Maple Pageant on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 26 at the 130th Piscataquis Valley Fair.

A proposed $6,879,013 budget for the 2017-18 school year was approved during a district budget meeting on Aug. 24 at Piscataquis Community Elementary School. The near $6.88 million budget is now moved to a referendum in Abbot, Cambridge, Guilford, Parkman, Sangerville, and Wellington on Tuesday, Aug. 29 with residents of the half dozen communities voting either “yes” or “no” to make a district-wide decision on the 2018 budget.

Earlier in the summer the former Spruce Run-Womancare Alliance announced a name change to Partners for Peace. The organization, which provides support services to anyone affected by domestic abuse and violence in Piscataquis and Penobscot counties, celebrated its new identity with an open house and free barbecue at the 8 Mechanic Street resource center on Aug. 18

Throughout the year the Piscataquis County Democratic Committee is holding a series of non-partisan information forums on various issues facing the region. The most recent “Ensuring the Success of Our Youngest Mainers: A Conversation about Children and Families in Piscataquis County” during the afternoon of Aug. 2 at Mayo Regional Hospital examined related challenges such as poverty, food insecurity, and barriers in accessing care, and the discussion featured Maine Speaker of the House of Representatives Sara Gideon, D-Freeport.

Non-union, full-time county employees will be receiving a 2 percent wage increase in the 2018 county budget after a motion for the increase was approved by the Piscataquis County Commissioners during an Aug. 8 meeting. The raise matches the 2 percent the county’s union employees will receive per their contract starting on Jan. 1, 2018.

A proposed 2017-18 SAD 41 budget of $8,500,571 was approved with all 12 articles passing, without any discussion, over 17 minutes during a district budget meeting on Aug. 2 in the cafeteria at the Penquis Valley School. The $8.5 million total is now moved to a referendum in the district towns of Atkinson, Brownville, LaGrange, and Milo on Thursday, Aug. 10 for a “yes” or “no” vote.

In June SAD 41 residents - approved an approximate $474,000 loan from Maine’s school revolving renovation fund for sprinkler and elevator upgrades at the Penquis Valley School. Under the program the state covers 70 percent of the costs, meaning a little more than $142,000 would be paid back by the district over five years at zero percent interest.

With pre-kindergarten through grade 8 students at the SeDoMoCha School scheduled to have their first day of classes on Tuesday, Aug. 29, the RSU 68 board of directors had its last meeting of the summer on Aug. 1 to prepare for the 2017-18 academic year and learn more about the summer lunch program which is running through Friday, Aug. 18.

For the last 21 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. 2016 Foxcroft Academy graduate Cooper Nelson, a rising sophomore on the University of Maine cross country and track teams, repeated as the Pony Pride winner.