Everybody, and everything, loves a smelt. The sleek, silver fish -- officially known as a “rainbow smelt” -- is prevalent in many lakes and ponds, and is the preferred food of landlocked salmon and other larger fish. In streams, they might be gobbled up by opportunistic mammals or birds. And humans? Well, if we’re not using them as bait to catch other fish, we eat ‘em, too.

On Monday, Jan. 21 the United Bikers of Maine, Piscataquis County presented Heather Sylvia, of PAWS in Milo, with a check for $850 at the Bear’s Den in Dover-Foxcroft.

State regulators have cleared the way for Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft to join Northern Light Health, the Brewer-based health system that includes nine other hospitals stretching from Portland to Presque Isle.

Maine’s ATV task force, created by Gov. Janet Mills to address opportunities and issues associated with increasing ATV registrations, submitted a report and recommendations to the governor, which include limits on ATV sizes and weights and recognizes the importance of private landowners who allow public use of their land.

Gov. Janet Mills allowed the passage of Rep. Norman Higgins’, I-Dover Foxcroft bill to create a comprehensive career & technical education system to examine a comprehensive 4-year high school career & technical education program.

After more than two weeks of searching, divers from the Maine Warden Service and State Police found the body of a missing man in the Sebec River in Milo on Tuesday, according to Milo police.

The Maine Department of Transportation released a three-year road and bridge funding plan on Tuesday, Jan. 14 that will use more money to fund fewer projects, a symptom of rising construction costs and chronic underfunding of the state system.

On Jan. 8 Penquis Valley High School junior Joslyn Black, 16, received an invitation in the mail from the education organization Envision. This group provides summer learning programs to students from elementary through high school. Black’s invitation is to the Stanford Law School outside of San Francisco, California to learn and engage in a 10-day intensive law and trial program.

Amid all the wild words and phrases that weather reporters bandy about during the winter -- polar vortex, bombogenesis -- there’s one panic-inducing term that dates back hundreds of years, predating modern-day snowmageddons: nor’easter.

Rep. Norman Higgins, I-Dover-Foxcroft announces his candidacy for a fourth term in the Maine Legislature.

I recently received two emails from readers looking for great places to snowshoe in Maine. They were looking for trail suggestions, and boy did I have a lot to say. Too much to say, really. So I decided to write a whole advice column on the topic.

The details, including where the necessary funding would come from, are still all to be determined but officials in SAD 41 are considering creating a resource officer position to work across the three district schools. The possibility was a topic of discussion during a Jan. 8 school board meeting at the Penquis Valley School.

Doug Thomas of Ripley has announced he is a Republican candidate for the Maine Senate District 4. Thomas is a successful small business owner and entrepreneur with customers across Central Maine. Thomas believes that the government of Maine needs to put the welfare of Maine people first.  There are a lot of problems around the country and around the world and it is not up to the people of Maine, with their hard-earned money, to pay for those problems through their tax dollars. We need to help our own people first.

As part of the Maine Department of Education’s ongoing efforts to highlight Maine’s outstanding teachers, nominations are now open for the 2020 County Teachers of the Year and 2021 Teacher of the Year. Members of the public are encouraged to nominate educators who demonstrate a commitment to excellence and nurturing the achievement of all students. Nominations can be made through the Maine Teacher of the Year website at mainetoy.org/nominate through 5 p.m. on Feb. 3.

The Three Rivers Milo-Brownville Kiwanis Club is pleased to give Book Awards in the amount of $500 to a pair of Penquis Valley High School graduates who apply for in the spring and complete their first semester of college.

Ticks have spread throughout Maine over the past few decades, carrying with them a cocktail of crippling diseases. In response, healthcare providers, researchers, educators, non-profit organizations and the government have been working to protect people from this dangerous pest.

I’m not one of those guys who starts every new year with a list of resolutions that I’ll begin ignoring on Jan. 3. In general, I’m one of those guys who works more generically, and tries to screw up less than I did the year before. I keep a few goals in mind, I admit, but rarely do I resolve to achieve them. Instead, I hope to get better, then plod onward, doing the best I can.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension has named Emily Mott as the new 4-H community education assistant for Piscataquis and Penobscot counties.