Penobscot County Commissioners will hold an in-person public hearing in Corinna at the end of month about the $6-million bond issue on the July 14 ballot.

The Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) announced it will begin to ease certain restrictions within correctional facilities. The decision to ease restrictions, such as those related to visitation, community restitution, work release and transfers, have been made in close consultation with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC). Many of the restrictions scheduled to be lifted in the coming weeks have been in place since early March.

Recently Northern Light Health leadership announced their systemwide plan to eliminate racism and other forms of discrimination and promote a strong future for social and medical justice.

Everyone knows you cannot run elections in Maine without election workers. Yet, in the midst of a public health emergency, as well as during “normal” times, finding people to staff election polls and process absentee ballots is not easy.

Twelve of Maine’s 16 counties are now reporting fewer than 10 active cases of the virus, including three -- Piscataquis, Aroostook and Washington counties -- with zero. The prevalence of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, also seems to finally be dropping in more heavily populated southern Maine counties even as the state has ramped up testing in recent weeks. 

The Maine Department of Transportation is doing paving work along parts of Route 7 in Dexter, Garland and Dover-Foxcroft. One work area on Route 7 begins in Dexter, north of the intersection with Route 23, and extends north for nearly six miles, through Garland, ending in Dover-Foxcroft. Another work area is south of the intersection with Grove Street in Dover-Foxcroft.

Bishop Robert Deeley has announced that Fr. Roland Daigle, OFM Cap. has been appointed as a parochial vicar of Our Lady of the Snows Parish (St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Dover-Foxcroft; St. Anne Church, Dexter; SS Francis Xavier & Paul the Apostle Church, Milo) and St. Agnes Parish in Pittsfield.

State environmental officials are looking for a way for 115 communities now sending their trash to landfills after the recent closure of a Hampden waste plant to instead send it to an Orrington facility that burns waste to create electricity. 

Our plan is to host our Zoom conference series through the summer, every Thursday from 11 a.m. to noon. Each week we will have focused topics based on what we’re hearing from our communities. Our experts in the fields of medicine, infection prevention, human resources, mental health and more offer guidance, tools and materials so people can leave the session and apply to their situation.

Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville has received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in his primary election to return to the Maine State Senate in District 4.

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.

Penobscot County voters will not be asked in November to approve funding for a new jail as officials consider whether operational changes imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak will become permanent. It could be November 2021 before the measure appears on the ballot.

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. 

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.

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.