Renovations and recruiting have now begun for the Somerset County expansion of a Guilford company that makes the nasal swabs that are critically necessary to test patients for the coronavirus. Beginning in early July, Puritan Medical Products expects to start churning out the foam swabs from its new Pittsfield factory overlooking the Sebasticook River. 

In Piscataquis County, one of the poorest in Maine, food is flying off the shelves of the Dover-Foxcroft Area Food Cupboard. On a recent day, cars started arriving an hour ahead of the scheduled grocery pickup. By 10 a.m., the line stretched down a long driveway and onto the street.

Maine recorded its worst year for Lyme disease in 2019, with 2,079 reported cases statewide. Experts in infectious disease weren’t surprised. And there’s no indication that the upward trend won’t continue this year.

Annis, born on the Cape, is a business-savvy guy who owned and operated restaurants in the Boston area for 30 years before his intense desire to travel sent him across the country for a stint, eventually returning to Boston, where he would meet the love of his life. Several years ago, and two children later, the couple moved to Dresden, motivated by a pursuit for a simpler life for their daughters. While in Dresden, they began a search for their slice of heaven; a family farm, which eventually landed them in Dover-Foxcroft, and Maison de Chevre (translated as goat house) was born.

Piscataquis County residents will be asked to vote on the purchase of the former Key Bank location in downtown Guilford to be the new home of the sheriff’s office patrol and investigation divisions when they head to the polls on Tuesday, July 14.

Maine reached a milestone in its pandemic response on Monday by opening up COVID-19 testing to a greater range of people. 

A new bill in the U.S. Senate could provide more than $2 billion to state and local governments in Maine to help offset lost revenues due to coronavirus-related economic shutdowns. The proposal, co-sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, includes $500 billion for state and local governments nationally and also frees up $1.25 billion previously allocated as part of a stimulus package that passed at the end of March.

This spring, tick experts at the University of Maine Tick Lab have noticed a big increase in the number of ticks that the public is submitting for testing. They think this upward trend might be linked to people spending more time outdoors than usual during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

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 SAD 4 school board gave approval to a 2020-21 budget totaling $7,397,862 during a May 12 meeting conducted remotely. The directors also scheduled the district budget meeting for Thursday, June 25 -- time to be announced at Piscataquis Community Elementary School. The total approved that evening will then be moved to a referendum for a “yes” or “no” vote on Tuesday, July 14 in the district member towns of Abbot, Cambridge, Guilford, Parkman, Sangerville and Wellington.

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.

Teachers from all 16 of Maine’s counties were honored May 14 in a virtual announcement that was broadcast live on the Maine Department of Education Facebook page. Piscataquis Community High School English instructor Jessica Gregory was named the 2020 Piscataquis County Teacher of the Year.

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 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.

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.