Thanks to Herring Brothers Meats, Mount Kineo Lodge #109 of Guilford and Gordon Construction, 160 hams were delivered to SAD 4 families for Easter.

As part of the Keep In Touch Campaign, the Center Theatre is launching a service to send custom video messages via email or Facebook messenger. The videos, which can be requested for a $10 donation at centertheatre.org, can be sent to a friend, family member or even to yourself and can be to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or just to try to keep in touch while we're all keeping our distance.

I must thank Tommy Carbone for republishing Lucius Hubbard’s book "Woods and Lakes of Maine" which was originally published in 1884. I think Tommy must have put a lot of effort into this book, which includes fascinating drawings and lots of maps.

More than 60,000 people across Maine are still waiting for their power to be restored as of Sunday morning after a nor’easter tore through the state late last week causing widespread outages. 

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.

For the past 18 years, the BDN has partnered with registered Maine guide Dan Legere to give away what many winners called the trip of a lifetime: A daylong drift down one of Maine's classic fly-fishing rivers. This year, unfortunately, we won't be holding that trip after all.

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.

Meanwhile, there are several Kiwanis-sponsored events that won't happen or will be postponed. First, as you probably assumed, due to state and federal mandates, our annual Piscataquis River Race scheduled for April 25 has been canceled. Nevertheless, we greatly appreciate the sponsors of this event, most of whom decided to donate their sponsorship amount anyway. They will be recognized when we have the final tally. But our fundraising raffle has not been canceled. Renamed our “Social Distancing Community Raffle,” you have three chances to win gas cards in the amount of $300, $200 or $100.  

Despite a lack of recorded cases of the coronavirus in Piscataquis County as of Tuesday morning, county officials are still exercising caution in daily operations with facilities on the East Main St. campus mostly closed to the public and limited staff working on site. Gov. Janet Mills announced stricter limits on public gatherings last month, including banning gatherings of more than 10 people, the Piscataquis County Commissioners met via teleconference for the April 7 meeting.

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.

President Trump has approved a federal disaster declaration for Maine due to the coronavirus, Gov. Janet Mills said Saturday. The "major" disaster declaration will unlock federal funding assistance for the state and municipalities throughout Maine.

Recent times have proven less profitable for the 2,968-yard layout located on Park Street in Milo, so the Gerrishes have opted to close the 90-year-old course.

Monson is one of three Maine towns that will receive support from the National Main Street Center to develop networks in their communities to foster entrepreneurship and innovation. Monson, Skowhegan and Lisbon were selected to participate in the Community Entrepreneurship Program through a competitive application process managed by the Maine Community Foundation in partnership with Maine Development Foundation’s Maine Downtown Center.