Over 110,000 Mainers are still waiting for their electricity to be restored two days after a spring nor’easter tore through the state Thursday night, bringing down trees and power lines.

Among the recipients is the Katahdin Valley Health Center, which has received $806,540, and  $615,395 for Sebasticook Family Doctors.

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) delivered Wi-Fi-enabled Samsung Tab A's with a 12-month Verizon service to RSU 68 and SAD 4 schools on April 8, in an effort helping area students with their school work while they are engaged in remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maine Sen. Angus King and several Democrats in the U.S. Senate called on Wednesday for a future stimulus bill aimed at coronavirus relief to include money to support local news organizations. King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, signed a letter with 18 Senate Democrats that characterized local news organizations as “in a state of crisis” that was only “exacerbated” by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Though many of the campsites you find on North Maine Woods Inc. land are not the typical campgrounds one might find elsewhere in Maine, members of the organization have announced they're honoring the spirit of Gov. Janet Mills's recent executive order that closes lodging establishments and will shut down their own campsites until at least May 1.

The Rose and Samuel Rudman Library Trust of the Maine Community Foundation has awarded grants totaling $23,895 to 32 libraries in Aroostook, Hancock, Knox, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Waldo and Washington counties. Among the recipients is the Shaw Public Library of Greenville, for books on the history of Maine, emphasizing the importance of Native Americans, African Americans and women

Over the last week Brown has set up drive-up hotspots in several of our district towns, with more to come. Using equipment from the Academy that is not being used at the moment, students can drive to area hotspot locations and with their iPad (or other devices), log on to the Foxcroft Academy network. 

Like many other venues of its kind, the Center Theatre in Dover-Foxcroft is closed these days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some theater officials are still at work, but instead of showing movies and hosting live events they hope to collaborate with the local performing arts community in a unique effort to boost the spirits of local residents while still generating some income to support the nonprofit enterprise.

Applications are now open for the Allagash Wilderness Waterway (AWW) Visiting Artist Program, which brings artists to the remote wilderness of Maine for two weeks of solitude. The program provides artists with the opportunity to immerse themselves in a remote, rustic wilderness, to interpret and share their experiences through their medium.

Gov. Janet Mills directed the Maine National Guard and the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to work with Maine’s health care systems to open two alternative care sites in Portland and Bangor as part of the state’s preparations to bolster Maine health system capacity in the face of COVID-19. 

The next Dover and Foxcroft Water District trustees meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 13 by video conference call.

More than three weeks after Maine confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus, the state has recorded cases in all but one of its 16 counties. As of Monday, Piscataquis County was the only one without a confirmed case of the fast-spreading infection that has caused a pandemic and shut down much of daily life. Two other counties, Aroostook and Washington, both recorded their first cases last week.

The death toll started on a Monday -- Sept. 23, 1918, to be exact. William Lawry, a 36-year-old Augusta resident, had fallen ill while visiting Camp Devens, an army facility in Massachusetts that had been stricken by influenza, and had returned home a few days earlier to recuperate. 

Will Wedge arrived at work on March 12 anticipating a typically busy Thursday at his grocery store in downtown Dover-Foxcroft. What he got instead was his first glimpse of a brand new world for grocers large and small as the coronavirus pandemic arrived on America’s doorstep.

Marr Pond Farm in Sangerville is among the hundreds of farms around the state offering a CSA this year. Owners Courtney Williams and Ryan Clarke are preparing for the growing season.

At a University of Maine commencement years ago, a good friend, Al, received his Ph.D. and was “hooded” by my husband, his adviser. When Al’s name was called he made his way painfully across the stage on crutches, losing his mortarboard on the way. The entire audience let out a spontaneous “Oh.” Al received the loudest applause of the afternoon. 

Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, April 5, and continues through Easter Sunday, April 12.  The Holy Family Parish of Greenville and St. Anthony of Padua Parish of Jackman will live stream services at facebook.com/aaron.damboise.50.

The day dawned gray and blustery -- not ideal for fishing, but sadly par for the course when it comes to early season fishing outings -- and I struggled to find and gather all the gear I'd need for my personal opening day of open-water season.