DOVER-FOXCROFT — What today is a 25-bed critical access hospital and health system with five rural health clinics across the region, provides emergency medical services for all of Piscataquis County, psychiatry and counseling services as well as various surgical specialties, in April Mayo Regional Hospital will mark 40 years since first opening its doors to patients.

Moments before the Dec. 18 deadly Amtrak derailment, a Mainer on board noticed the train’s high speed. Cody Clark, a 28-year-old Dexter Regional High School graduate from Exeter, said he recalls thinking, “We’re going pretty fast. We’re going faster than all the cars on the highway.”

At the November referendum, citizens narrowly approved a non-binding question asking “Are you in favor of of the town of Dexter opening public ways to the operation of All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)?” via a vote of 400 to 393. “I would like council to formulate a proposal at a future meeting to appoint a committee, really a task force,” Town Manager Jim Chandler said during a Dec. 14 meeting. He said the task force would be authorized by the council to conduct research and collect data to then bring back on what town roads may be opened up to ATVs to help community businesses and promote economic development.

After several meetings learning more information about the proposed facility, the SAD 41 school board voted to join both SAD 46 of the Dexter area and the Guilford-based SAD 4 in the application process for an Integrated, Consolidated grades 9-16 Educational Facility pilot project during a Dec. 6 meeting at the Marion C. Cook School.

A LITTLE BIT OF ICE -- A thin layer of ice coats Little Lake Wassookeag by the Dexter Public Beach & Recreation Area shortly before sunset on the first day of December. Soon the body of water will be dotted with ice fishing shacks and crisscrossed with snowmobile tracks.

Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville has announced his intention to run for Maine Senate District 4 in the November 2018 election. Davis currently holds that senate seat, comprised of all of Piscataquis County and parts of Penobscot and Somerset counties.

A proposed $4,247,114 Piscataquis County budget for 2018, along with a little less than $1,489,000 in the Unorganized Territory (UT) budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year, was presented at a public hearing on Nov. 27 as part of the process by county officials for developing the pair of spending plans.

Officials with SAD 4 continue to work with their colleagues from the Dexter-based SAD 46 on the application process for an Integrated, Consolidated 9-16 Educational Facility pilot project. Both school boards have formally authorized the superintendents to submit the Part II application due at the end of the year.

The next step was taken in the application process for an Integrated, Consolidated 9-16 Educational Facility pilot project as the SAD 46 school board authorized Superintendent Kevin Jordan to submit the Part II application due at the end of the year, during a Nov. 1 meeting at the Ridge View Community School.

During an Oct. 12 council meeting, Town Manager Jim Chandler said he and Police Chief Kevin Wintle attended the recent MMA convention in Augusta with a number of sessions there concerning marijuana.

Several days into the job new Dexter Town Manager Jim Chandler was welcomed and sworn in during a Sept. 14 town council meeting.

The town council gave its unanimous approval to a net municipal budget of $4,515,292 for the 2017-18 fiscal year during a July 13 meeting. This figure represents an increase of a little more than $129,000 from the previous year.

DEXTER — Sixteen years after Dexter Shoe Co.

Earlier in the year applications made by the towns of Dexter and Milo to join the AARP/World Health Organization Network of Age-Friendly Communities were approved. The designation will enable the communities to utilize AARP resources, at no charge, to make the community more age friendly through the organization’s policies and infrastructure improvements.

For the equivalent of four full days from May 11-15 the more than 58,300 Americans who lost their lives during the Vietnam War were honored as Shirley B. Carter VFW Post 4298 hosted the Moving Wall at Bud Ellms Field.

Despite a cool start to the spring season, planning is well underway for summertime as the Dexter Town Council gave its approval to closures on public ways for three events across July and August during a May 11 meeting.

The community will now be able to utilize AARP resources as an application to the AARP/World Health Organization Network of Age Friendly Communities has been approved. “We are officially an Age Friendly Community, I got that word this week,” Town Manager Shelley Watson said during an April 13 town council meeting. She said a kick-off event will be scheduled for Friday, May 19, time and location to be announced.

While the two districts are in the midst of the application process for an integrated, consolidated grade 9-16 educational facility, SAD 4 and AOS 94 -- which includes the Dexter-based SAD 46 and the towns of Athens and Harmony -- are also looking into ways to save money and share resources in the more immediate future. During an April 11 meeting of the SAD 4 school board, the directors voted to send a written request to AOS 94 Superintendent Kevin Jordan to explore a one-year cost sharing agreement with the neighboring school unit.