Tom Lizotte, who has served as Piscataquis County manager since 2014, on April 9 announced his plans to retire this summer. The Piscataquis County Commissioners will begin the search process for a new manager and intend to hire a replacement for Lizotte by July 5, his final day of work.

In Dover-Foxcroft a question on the future of Mayo Regional Hospital will be on the warrant for the annual town meeting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 27 at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building Gymnasium. The warrant was signed by the selectmen during an April 8 meeting.

Guilford Medical Associates closed permanently on April 5. Patients looking to transfer within Mayo Practice Associates (MPA) are encouraged to contact the New Patient Intake coordinator at 564-1224.

The Center Theatre, the county’s most iconic landmark, recently underwent some significant renovations, and on Thursday, April 25 from 5-7 p.m. area business owners are invited to the Piscataquis Chamber’s Business After Hours event for the big reveal, in addition to an enjoyable evening of networking and socializing. This will be a member-only private event, and an RSVP is appreciated but not required. Those who plan to attend can call the Chamber to RSVP at 564-7533.

When residents head to the polls in two months on Tuesday, June 11 to vote on the town and RSU 68 budgets they will also be making decisions on a revised land use ordinance and an amended shoreland zoning ordinance. Both were the subjects of public hearings during an April 4 planning board meeting.

A proposed 2019-20 academic year budget totaling $11,784,238 was brought forward by the finance committee to the full RSU 68 school board during an April 2 meeting at the SeDoMoCha School. This figure is up by nearly $225,000 from the current approximate $11.6 million spending plan.

Mayo Regional Hospital officials told community members Monday night, April 1 they are working toward a goal of keeping as many medical services in the region as possible as part of a proposed merger with Northern Light Health, a statewide system comprised of hospitals across Maine.

Partners for Peace, the domestic violence resource center serving Piscataquis and Penobscot counties, celebrated its community partners during the organization’s annual meeting at The Commons at Central Hall on March 21.

For the last several months eighth-graders at SeDoMoCha Middle School have been developing projects, on their own or in pairs, for the annual science fair. On the evening of March 27 the students presented their findings to the public with their projects on display in the cafeteria.

Enter: Abby Moore. “There were qualified applicants with great job experience and stability, with management or marketing backgrounds; but Abby stood out to me; she was well-rounded and capable in every area specific to the job, [she is] a local who loves this area and knows everything about it; she demonstrated her amazing personality in the first five minutes of our conversation, and I knew she had the right temperament for the job,” said Buzzelli.

A Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant who has served as the DARE officer in area schools for more than two decades, goes above and beyond the call of duty and who gives back in other ways is now the Grange Northeast Region Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. Lt. Jamie Kane received news of the honor during a surprise presentation by Valley Grange Lecturer and Program Director Walter Boomsma during a morning grade 5 DARE class on Friday, March 29 at Piscatquis Community Elementary School.

On Saturday, April 27 residents will gather in the gymnasium at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building at 9 a.m. to vote on a nine-article warrant during the annual town meeting. Items approved on April 27 go to a referendum ballot on Tuesday, June 11.

Premium Choice Broadband is nearing the final stages of its latest project to bring high-speed fiber internet connections to rural Maine. The company has invested $2 million in private funds and installed over 40 miles of fiber-optic cable connecting Dover-Foxcroft and downtown Monson with what is the fastest internet connection in the state.

SeDoMoCha Builders Club Adviser Heather Whitten presents a $750 check to Foxcroft Academy Key Club President Kelli Black for the club’s Thirst Project fundraising to benefit the non-profit organization with an aim to bring safe drinking water to communities around the world where it is not immediately available.

Citizens of the 13 Hospital Administration District 4 member communities should have a voice in determining the fate of the potential merger between the district’s Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft and the statewide Northern Light Health system, Sebec residents indicated with their vote at a special town meeting during the evening of March 21 at the Harland A. Ladd Municipal Building.

A Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to halt the ongoing merger between Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft with Northern Light Health, the statewide health care organization that includes Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

The Foxcroft Academy Marching Band’s most recent fundraiser for a return trip to Disney World involved selling Krispy Kreme donuts to the community. On March 22 Foxcroft Academy/SeDoMoCha School Resource Officer Pete Dennis volunteered his time to help deliver the donuts around town, joking that what is funner than a cop delivering donuts.

A 23-year-old LaGrange man who stole two separate vehicles last spring -- a Dexter police cruiser and a Toyota Celica belonging to a veteran of the Iraq War -- and led authorities on a high-speed chase that ended when he crashed the Celica will serve five years of a 10-year sentence.