By Nicole Ogrysko, Maine Public Almost all of Maine’s 15 county jails are understaffed, and some are missing more than half of the employees they need to fully operate.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Need help providing for your family this Christmas? If your family lives in one of the towns served by RSU 68 (Charleston, Dover-Foxcroft, Monson, and Sebec) and your family needs assistance in providing warm winter clothing and gifts for each of your children, ages infant to 18, the Kiwanis Club of Dover-Foxcroft and the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church may be able to help.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Oral health is an important part of overall health, but sometimes, families don’t have the tools they need to fight tooth decay.

Give a Dog a Home Rescue, located in Sebec, has two community events planned for this weekend.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom SIGNS OF THE SEASON — Foliage is turning to autumn colors along the Piscataquis River in Dover-Foxcroft.

Piscataquis County will work with a team of University of Maine student researchers in Augusta and Presque Isle to become a victim of a cyberattack — on purpose.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The upcoming flu season is shaping up to be severe, according to many health experts.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Dover-Foxcroft’s downtown offerings are about to become a touch sweeter and more nostalgic — and just in time for the holidays.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Lauren Erickson, a sonographer at Northern Light Mayo Hospital, was recently presented a Diagnostic Medical Sonography Mentor Award by the Maine College of Health Professions.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Dover & Foxcroft Water District received a request from Maine Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network and Maine Emergency Management Agency, asking for volunteers to help a struggling water system in Mississippi.

By Leela Stockley, Bangor Daily News Staff A frost is expected to spread across the state on Friday morning as temperatures take a seasonable dip heading into the weekend.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The RSU 68 superintendent and Foxcroft Academy head of school provided updates on the start of the academic year during the Dover-Foxcroft Select Board meeting Monday evening.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A Dover-Foxcroft man arrested in connection with an incident that halted a fireworks show in August pleaded guilty to multiple charges and will serve 15 days in jail, according to the Piscataquis County district attorney’s office.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A Dover-Foxcroft man accused of assaulting a local day care’s owner and an employee and fleeing with his two children was sentenced to 45 days in jail, according to the Piscataquis County district attorney’s office.

By David Marino Jr.

By Emily Burnham, Bangor Daily News Staff This week’s question is a continuation of a question asked earlier in the summer about why Maine has a number of townships named for defunct Massachusetts schools.

By Kim Brawn To paraphrase poet Nicholas Gordon: In October, witches come true; wild ghosts escape from dreams.

By Callie Ferguson, Bangor Daily News Staff A former teen who was incarcerated at two Maine youth prisons has sued the Maine Department of Corrections, claiming staff repeatedly used excessive force against him and placed him in solitary confinement for behavior related to his disabilities.