Gov. Janet Mills formally moved Maine’s June 9 primaries to July 14 and pushed back all election-related deadlines by a month on April 10.. Her executive order delaying voting followed a statement earlier this week that it was "not going to be possible" to hold the elections in early June while maintaining required social distancing measures.

Over 110,000 Mainers are still waiting for their electricity to be restored two days after a spring nor’easter tore through the state Thursday night, bringing down trees and power lines.

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) delivered Wi-Fi-enabled Samsung Tab A's with a 12-month Verizon service to RSU 68 and SAD 4 schools on April 8, in an effort helping area students with their school work while they are engaged in remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maine Sen. Angus King and several Democrats in the U.S. Senate called on Wednesday for a future stimulus bill aimed at coronavirus relief to include money to support local news organizations. King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, signed a letter with 18 Senate Democrats that characterized local news organizations as “in a state of crisis” that was only “exacerbated” by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Over the last week Brown has set up drive-up hotspots in several of our district towns, with more to come. Using equipment from the Academy that is not being used at the moment, students can drive to area hotspot locations and with their iPad (or other devices), log on to the Foxcroft Academy network. 

Like many other venues of its kind, the Center Theatre in Dover-Foxcroft is closed these days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some theater officials are still at work, but instead of showing movies and hosting live events they hope to collaborate with the local performing arts community in a unique effort to boost the spirits of local residents while still generating some income to support the nonprofit enterprise.

Gov. Janet Mills directed the Maine National Guard and the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to work with Maine’s health care systems to open two alternative care sites in Portland and Bangor as part of the state’s preparations to bolster Maine health system capacity in the face of COVID-19. 

Towns and cities whose usual polling locations have closed because of the coronavirus pandemic are waiting for guidance from the state on how or whether the June 9 primary will happen before they choose new locations and make other arrangements for voting.

Meanwhile, there are several Kiwanis-sponsored events that won't happen or will be postponed. First, as you probably assumed, due to state and federal mandates, our annual Piscataquis River Race scheduled for April 25 has been canceled. Nevertheless, we greatly appreciate the sponsors of this event, most of whom decided to donate their sponsorship amount anyway. They will be recognized when we have the final tally. But our fundraising raffle has not been canceled. Renamed our “Social Distancing Community Raffle,” you have three chances to win gas cards in the amount of $300, $200 or $100.  

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has spent a month modeling how the new coronavirus might spread. The scenarios are wide-ranging. 

Despite a lack of recorded cases of the coronavirus in Piscataquis County as of Tuesday morning, county officials are still exercising caution in daily operations with facilities on the East Main St. campus mostly closed to the public and limited staff working on site. Gov. Janet Mills announced stricter limits on public gatherings last month, including banning gatherings of more than 10 people, the Piscataquis County Commissioners met via teleconference for the April 7 meeting.

More than three weeks after Maine confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus, the state has recorded cases in all but one of its 16 counties. As of Monday, Piscataquis County was the only one without a confirmed case of the fast-spreading infection that has caused a pandemic and shut down much of daily life. Two other counties, Aroostook and Washington, both recorded their first cases last week.

The death toll started on a Monday -- Sept. 23, 1918, to be exact. William Lawry, a 36-year-old Augusta resident, had fallen ill while visiting Camp Devens, an army facility in Massachusetts that had been stricken by influenza, and had returned home a few days earlier to recuperate. 

Will Wedge arrived at work on March 12 anticipating a typically busy Thursday at his grocery store in downtown Dover-Foxcroft. What he got instead was his first glimpse of a brand new world for grocers large and small as the coronavirus pandemic arrived on America’s doorstep.

President Trump has approved a federal disaster declaration for Maine due to the coronavirus, Gov. Janet Mills said Saturday. The "major" disaster declaration will unlock federal funding assistance for the state and municipalities throughout Maine.

With the order set to last through April 30, here’s what you can (and can’t) do while that is in place.

With 9,053 coronavirus deaths as of the start of April, Spain trailed only nearby Italy among nations with the most fatalities stemming from the current global pandemic. That grim reality leaves 14-year-old Lucia De Villota uneasy.

Warning that “more people will die,” Gov. Janet Mills on Tuesday ordered Mainers to stay home except to shop for necessities or to go to jobs deemed essential through April, putting Maine among a majority of states to take similar action to fight the coronavirus.