BANGOR — National Blood Donor Month is a time to recognize and celebrate blood donors, and to remind people of the importance of donating blood.

ORONO — Ask anyone who frequents the forests of New England and they will likely speak of unwelcome companions — ticks.

By Billy Kobin, Bangor Daily News Staff The push to require Mainers to provide photo identification at the polls is a state-level issue that voters will settle in November, but Maine’s members of Congress also have thoughts on this year’s high-profile referendum.

To encourage students in Maine who are exploring careers in journalism, the Maine Press Association each year awards MPA scholarships to current university students and high school seniors planning to attend college in the coming year.

BANGOR — Husson University is pleased to celebrate the academic achievements of students recently named to the president’s, dean’s, and honors lists for the spring 2024 semester of the 2023-24 academic year.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — During the fall Piscataquis County officials heard an update from consultant Normand Boucher of Communications Design Consulting Group of Barrington, New Hampshire on the emergency radio system project.

By Leela Stockley, Bangor Daily News Staff KENDUSKEAG — At least two people were injured in a crash on Route 15 on Monday morning, Jan.

By Elizabeth Walztoni, Bangor Daily News Staff Maine saw a record-breaking number of tick-borne disease cases in 2024 for a second year in a row.

By Billy Kobin, Bangor Daily News Staff Maine lawmakers have plenty of work ahead of them in 2025 to tackle a projected transportation funding shortfall, with a $100 million bond and other tax changes potentially on the table.

By Billy Kobin, Bangor Daily News Staff The year 2024 was a busy one for politics in Maine, with high-stakes elections, legislative responses to the Lewiston mass shooting and local housing debates among the many notable events.

By Elizabeth Walztoni, Bangor Daily News Staff A number of agriculture-related laws passed this year were geared toward farmers, such as new rules for salmonella prevention, and monitoring at commercial egg farms; support for well-drilling to respond to droughts; and a new task force finding ways to support the state’s dairy industry.

The Maine Department of Education and Educate Maine are excited to announce that nominations are officially open for the 2025 County Teachers of the Year and the 2026 State Teacher of the Year.

By Michael Shepherd, Bangor Daily News Staff Working Mainers will notice lighter paychecks starting Wednesday, when a tax funding the state’s new paid family and medical leave program goes into effect with the new year.

By Billy Kobin, Bangor Daily News Staff Maine has a small population and a part-time Legislature, but state leaders and lawmakers have plenty of big problems to tackle in 2025.

By Nicole Ogrysko, Maine Public In its first year of operation, Maine’s state-sponsored Roth IRA savings plan has enrolled nearly 12,000 workers.

By Marie Weidmayer, Bangor Daily News Staff More than a year after a leaked federal government memo connected illegal marijuana grow houses in Maine to Chinese organized crime, “well below” 100 such properties are believed to be left in the state, according to the U.

Jane Stitham of Dover-Foxcroft, Maria Wooten of Bowerbank, and Thomas Watt of Greenville have joined the Maine Community Foundation’s Piscataquis County Committee.

By Zara Norman, Bangor Daily News Staff Mainers consider the housing crisis to be a bigger problem than any of the others facing our state.