Many older Mainers are worried about having to make tough choices concerning the purchase of food and fuel to heat their homes.

The Maine Community Foundation Animal Welfare Grant Program has awarded 25 grants totaling $342,884 to organizations and projects across the state that advance animal welfare.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — It will cost Piscataquis County $5,940,331 to operate next year, plus $2,205,199 to run the unorganized territories.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Piscataquis County’s economic development group recognized William “Bill” Thompson — a Guilford resident, teacher and longtime Select Board member — as this year’s Warren “Pete” Myrick Award winner.

It starts with a few sniffles, a scratchy throat, and a couple of sneezes.

By Mehr Sher Mainers learned earlier this year that the state is approximately 75 percent carbon neutral, based on a first-of-its-kind analysis of Maine’s greenhouse gas emissions.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — It was February 1964, and Joseph Guyotte, after several months of waiting, heard from Fire Chief “Old Red” Whitman about an open reserve position at the fire station.

Grade 12, high honors: Justice Batchelder, Ava Benson, Olivia Berce, Gunnar Berling-Haugh, Cody Chambers, Adam Conner, Le Nguyet Anh Jennie Duong, Mackenzie Goodine, Emma Hardy, Leah Hill, Olivia Hill, Logan Hinson, Cierra Jackson, Abrielle Kemp, Abigail Knapp, Jada Lewis, Lauren Martin, Eion McCloskey, Kylie Merritt, Rachel Mullis, Ivan Mutafchiev, Kirsten Nakajubi, Joseph Nelson, Nghi Phu Phuong Nguyen, Nguyen Khoi Nguyen, Bach Chi Pham, Carter Pratt, Aliza Pulkkinen, Anna Raynes, Laney Reardon, Carlos Rodriguez Sainz, Raven Sawyer, Shallynn Stevens, Anh Trinh Van Amelia Tran, and Brooke Weston; honors: Courtney Barnett, Quynh Anh Jane Bui, Cameron Chase, Keegan Clark, Caden Crocker, Fernando D’Avila Oliveira, Pedro Gauterio Bizzotto, Anthony Harmon, Cadence Herrick, Kirsten Marshall, Emily McLeish, Mateo Mendez Pinillos, Baden Mercer, Ella Molaghan, Bosco Monforte Espallardo, Kholton Perry, Gage Roy, Kiernan Schriver, Quan Le Bob Son, Kilian Thaler, Anh Viet Phuong Ana Tran, Hayden Warren, Destiny Weymouth, and Nathan Weymouth.

By Kathleen O’Brien, Bangor Daily News Staff A major company that runs testing sites and medical laboratories across the country will take over much of Northern Light Health’s lab services operation next spring.

By Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News Staff Maine is on track again to see a record number of overdose deaths by the end of the year.

Abbot resident Walter Boomsma was recognized at the 156th annual National Grange Convention in Reno, Nevada as a Cultivator of the Year by the National Grange Membership and Leadership Development Department.

By Kathleen O’Brien, Bangor Daily News Staff After working with Bangor’s homeless population for nearly 20 years, Jen Weatherbee no longer trudges through snow looking for unsheltered people to offer them help.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The roof of the newly-opened Jim Robinson Field House on Foxcroft Academy’s West Main Street campus will be the site of a rooftop solar project.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Piscataquis County’s commissioners agreed to raise the daily boarding rate for prisoners from outside the county during a meeting Tuesday.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The GFWC Miosac Club met on Nov.

DEXTER  — A new adoption program that aims to boost the well-being of seniors who live alone pairs them with cats in need of homes.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Foxcroft Academy Key Club is holding its annual Festival of Stockings on Saturday, Dec.

Maine Highlands Federal Credit Union is pleased to announce the promotion of Maria Wooten from her current role as executive vice president to president beginning in January.