The Piscataquis County Soil & Water Conservation District is excited to announce they are entering into a three-year contract with the Maine Chapter of The Nature Conservancy that focuses on implementation of stream restoration and aquatic organism passage projects.

Observer photo/Keri Foster FIND THE SHOP LOCAL TREE WINNER — Bill Cleaves of Sangerville is the grand prize winner of the Piscataquis Observer’s annual Find the Shop Local Tree contest.

By David Marino Jr.

Grade 8, high honors: Lili Bisson, Thomas Day, Corey Goodwin, Jenna Hartford, Samantha Kinney, and Madison Sands; honors: Zaid Abed Elnoor, Prudence Bridge, Kameryn Coelho, Teagan Conrad, Alli Cook, Marion Deitz, Sabrina Douglass, Payson Hall, Joseph Knapp, Hailey Nutter, David Richards, Garrett Rogers, Aiden Sickler, Joshua Sinclair, Julia Smith, Kristin Thomas, and Maddox Weidman.

PORTLAND — The Maine Connectivity Authority has launched a critical public education campaign called Correct the Dots, a call to action for individuals to check their addresses on new federal internet maps and to file a challenge if the information is incorrect.

WASHINGTON, D.

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.

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.

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.