The public board that oversees Mayo Regional Hospital has voted to begin a merger with Northern Light Health, the statewide health care organization that’s based in Brewer and includes Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. The board members, who are elected from 13 Piscataquis County communities served by the hospital and who oversee a quasi-municipal entity known as Hospital Administrative District No. 4, approved the merger agreement in a 15-3 vote during a meeting Wednesday night, Feb. 27.

Maine's highest court has denied another appeal of a Guilford man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend and the toddler she was babysitting. Jeffrey Cookson sought a new trial for the 1999 killings in Dexter based on a provision of Maine's DNA statute.

Following four weeks of budget advisory committee meetings, a public hearing on the proposed 2019-20 Dover-Foxcroft municipal budget is scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, March 27 -- potentially at 6:30 p.m. but a formal start time will be announced. The March 27 date was set by the selectmen during a Feb. 25 meeting, and the board will hold its annual joint session with the budget advisory committee on Wednesday, March 20.

The public board that oversees Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft will vote Wednesday on whether to go forward with a proposed merger with Northern Light Health, the statewide health care system that’s based in Brewer and includes Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

On Wednesday night, Feb. 27, following months of due diligence, planning, and gathering public input, the board that oversees Mayo Regional Hospital (Hospital Administrative District 4) plans to vote on a non-binding merger agreement with Northern Light Health, a statewide health care system.

Plans for Atkinson to join the Unorganized Territory (UT) on July 1 -- the community voted 187-19 (nearly 91 percent) at the November referendum to deorganize -- are still on track.

If Maine lawmakers pass a bill endorsed by the Legislature’s judiciary committee, pay for jurors in state courts would more than triple, rising to $50 per day -- the same rate paid to jurors by the federal court system.

Directors from Dexter and the other dozen communities making up HAD 4 are awaiting negotiation details between officials with Mayo Regional Hospital and Northern Light Health on a potential merger of the Dover-Foxcroft facility serving the region with the statewide healthcare system, the town council learned during a Feb. 14 meeting.

Mayo Regional Hospital has been awarded participation in a remote, technical assistance program with the Texas A&M University Center for Optimizing Rural Health. Mayo Regional Hospital is one of five hospitals in the state to be selected for support and training through the year-long program. Technical assistance will begin this spring.

After some Foxcroft Academy seniors objected to a plan to eliminate the use of white graduation gowns for female students in favor of everyone wearing burgundy, the head of school said that members of the Class of 2019 will have input before a final decision is made. Graduation is scheduled for Sunday, June 9 and a decision on the attire could be made next month, a specific timeline and method are to be determined.

Sen.Paul Davis, R-Sangervlle has submitted LD 784 “An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Eligibility for Unemployment Benefits.” If passed, this legislation would require individuals who are collecting unemployment benefits to accept and attend interviews for jobs they are reasonably fitted for. Failure to attend would result in disqualification from benefits.

Five rural Maine hospitals, including one that recently filed for bankruptcy protection and others that have cut key services in recent years, will receive expert help in stabilizing their business models after winning a rare federal award.

The precise wording is still being finalized, but when Dover-Foxcroft residents head to the polls in June they will be voting on an amended shoreland zoning ordinance after the selectmen passed a motion to put the final version of the document on the ballot during a Feb. 11 meeting.

MONSON — Once upon a time many years ago, when horses pulled carts and carriages, winter transportation required sleighs to get around.

Four snowmobilers encountered thin ice on Sebec Lake early Saturday morning, Feb. 9. Shortly after midnight the four men encountered thin ice on the lake, Carignan and Smith escaped going in but Lynch and Taylor became completely submerged along with their snowmobiles. Both men managed to get out of the water and onto the ice. Taylor drove one of the two remaining snowmobiles to an unoccupied camp to find warmth.

RSU 68 officials are in the midst of putting together the components that will make up the 2019-20 academic year budget.

During a Feb. 5 meeting of the county commissioners, County Manager Tom Lizotte said the final Atkinson annual town meeting before deorganization would be held on the evening of Monday, Feb. 11. “I don’t anticipate any issues,” Lizotte said.

Dexter Family Practice has joined Mayo Regional Hospital to become the hospital’s fifth rural health center in the region.