Northern Light Mayo Hospital’s Nurse Excellence Award is a public commendation given to a staff nurse demonstrating exemplary clinical expertise, commitment to Northern Light Mayo Hospital and continued professional development. This award is given annually by the vice president of patient care services. Denise Scuderi, vice president of patient care services, announced John Chase, RN, as the 2020 Northern Light Mayo Nurse of the Year on Thursday, May 14 during an all-staff Zoom meeting.

Now that the coronavirus has been circulating around Maine for more than two months, the ever-growing mass of numbers, anecdotes and other information about the pandemic may be dizzying to anyone without a very strong interest in biology or disease surveillance. So the BDN has reached out to a few public experts for their advice on the best metrics to pay attention to that demonstrate the severity of the coronavirus pandemic.

On May 16 Sarah Elizabeth Palmer Tent #23, Daughters of Union Veterans member Molly Bennett and her cousin Amaiya Hunter-Jacob placed flowers on the grave of Sarah E. Palmer, Civil War nurse.

Gov. Janet Mills and Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin announced that the Maine Department of Education has secured internet access and devices to facilitate at home learning for 100% of Maine school children for whom there was a reported need.

The administration of Gov. Janet Mills announced that, effective immediately, Maine lodging providers can begin accepting future reservations for stays with an arrival date of June 1 and beyond for Maine residents and for non-residents who comply with the state’s 14-day quarantine requirement.

Maintaining your health is about more than just not contracting a deadly disease — even during the pandemic. But as the stay-at-home orders have dragged on, many of us have let our daily physical activity slide, which compromises our physical health in other ways. It’s time to change that.

For the second time, Gov. Janet Mills extended her civil state of emergency proclamation for another month on Wednesday, giving her more time to access federal funding and use certain powers to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The RSU 68 school board approved a proposed budget totaling  $11,970,877 for the 2020-21 academic year, during a May 12 meeting at the SeDoMoCha School streamed live via YouTube. The directors also scheduled the annual district budget meeting for Tuesday, June 23.

The group representing 115 Maine communities that send their waste to a new plant in Hampden has made a loan of $1.5 million to the facility to help it make improvements after its first six months of regular operations brought in lower-than-expected revenues.

Jokingly referred to as the “Maine State Bird,” black flies are one aspect of the Maine outdoors that most people would prefer didn’t exist. Dotting the air in early spring, these tiny bugs have an annoying habit of flying into people’s eyes and ears. And their bites can be especially itchy.

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former police officer against the Penobscot County district attorney because the complaint was filed too late.

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all facets of the nation’s economy, including government coffers at the state and municipal level. Dover-Foxcroft officials are anticipating a near $212,000 combined shortfall between state revenue sharing and excise tax but adjustments have been made in the 2020-21 town budget.

The Piscataquis County Committee of the Maine Community Foundation has awarded $40,850 in grants to several nonprofits.

The virtual announcement will be streamed live on the Maine Department of Education Facebook page. The pictures and a recording of the presentation will also be available after the announcement.

More than 60 Maine nonprofits have received nearly $900,000 from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation for COVID-19 relief efforts, including Maine Highlands Senior Center dba The Commons at Central Hall of Dover-Foxcroft and Penquis.

The Center Theatre announced that it will be giving one side of the marquee over to congratulatory messages to Foxcroft Academy graduating seniors starting on Sunday, June 21. One hour slots can be reserved from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday the 21st through Friday the 26th.

According to a group representing sporting camps around Maine, Gov. Janet Mill’s rural reopening plan falls short of providing relief to commercial sporting camps, employees, guides and rural neighbors because it bans visits from non-residents. Non-resident fishing trips over the next six weeks generates almost 90% of the annual revenue for many of the camps operating across the state.

Yet a steady stream of customers made their way to opening day of the new season at Butterfield’s Ice Cream in Dover-Foxcroft for a hearty scoop of the iconic parlor’s handmade, hard-serve ice cream -- perhaps as a cool change of pace from recent daily routines fraught with COVID-19 concerns.