On Thursday the Maine Department of Education released a draft framework to assist schools in planning for return to school scenarios in the fall. The framework was developed with input from multiple stakeholder groups, including the Department of Education’s Student Cabinet, community health experts and educators representing the many roles in schools.

The new waste plant in Hampden has had to temporarily close this month as it struggles to pay its expenses and faces a new lawsuit from a contractor that alleges it’s owed at least $1.2 million for staffing and running the facility. 

While Naisbitt was startled to find the fawn lying so close to a well-traveled trail, her experience wasn’t that unusual. In Maine, people often stumble upon baby wildlife, especially in the spring and early summer. As a result, the Maine Warden Service and state biologists field a multitude of phone calls about wild animals that people worry have been abandoned or orphaned this time of year. And their message is always the same: If you care, leave it there. 

After closing its facilities on March 17 due to safety concerns and Gov. Janet Mills’ stay-at-home order surrounding the spread of COVID-19, the Piscataquis Regional YMCA will reopen on June 12. The reopening will be conducted under the guidance of state and local health authorities and will take place in phases.

The Guilford factory that produces the nasal swabs that are sorely needed to control the coronavirus pandemic had to stall its production of the swabs all Friday, June 5 ahead of a visit by President Donald Trump, then throw away the swabs that were made during his tour, according to a report by USA Today.

An area Grange member who has been dedicated to the organization at the local and state levels, served the region in the Maine Legislature and in local government and has given back to the community in many other ways was honored by Piscataquis Pomona -- the local Grange district -- on June 4. Jim Annis of Dover-Foxcroft received the Piscataquis Pomona Award for Public Service as part of the monthly Piscataquis Pomona gathering held at the Valley Grange.

“We just don’t know yet what the fall will bring, we need to be ready for remote learning or some kind of in-person learning if at all possible,” Superintendent Michael Wright said during a June 3 meeting conducted via Zoom. The Maine Department of Education is planning to release protocols for Maine districts prior to the start of classes around the state at the end of the summer.

President Donald Trump spent only a few hours in Maine on Friday, but the visit told us a lot about how he views it in the national political landscape and in light of the biggest issues facing his presidency.

The anticipation that built all week in this quiet manufacturing town quickly dissipated Friday afternoon, June 5 after President Donald Trump’s motorcade passed through downtown, where hundreds of supporters and protesters lined up throughout the day.

President Donald Trump addressed a friendly crowd of around 200 at a Guilford manufacturer on Friday applauding workers for their efforts in producing swabs used in coronavirus testing in an address that often veered into a campaign speech.

President Trump will visit one of Maine's least populous towns and its most conservative county when he tours a factory producing medical swabs for coronavirus testing on Friday. Conspicuously absent during the trip will be the state's only Republican member of Congress, Sen. Susan Collins.

A federal judge on Friday denied an activist’s attempt to keep the U.S. Secret Service and Maine law enforcement from shutting down roads in Guilford during President Donald Trump’s visit to a medical swab manufacturing plant.

All eyes will be on Guilford on Friday, June 5 when President Donald Trump flies up from Washington, D.C., to visit the town of 1,500 people. He’ll be touring the local plant where Puritan Medical Products has been cranking out the medical testing swabs that have grown critically important during the coronavirus pandemic.

First, protesters started demonstrating against business shutdowns Gov. Janet Mills has ordered to slow the coronavirus’ spread. Over the past week, protests opposing racism and police violence have occurred throughout the state, with the largest protests drawing hundreds of people. And on Friday, President Donald Trump’s visit to Bangor and Guilford is expected to draw crowds in both places.

An activist filed a last-minute lawsuit on Thursday asking a federal judge to block plans by the U.S. Secret Service and Maine law enforcement officials to close roads in Guilford as President Donald Trump visits a manufacturing facility there on Friday.

At least one activist group is warning protesters to stay out of Guilford for President Donald Trump’s visit on Friday, instead planning a protest in Bangor due to fears of conflict with Trump supporters.

“People should avoid the Guilford area as early as 9 in the morning til 5 in the afternoon,” a dispatcher with the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office said. “We don’t know exactly when he’s going to be visiting the Guilford mill.

Photos of the region’s National Honor Society chapter members.