A federal judge is expected to rule soon on whether Maine should release two prisoners vulnerable to the coronavirus, but he urged parties on June 2 to resolve whether all prisoners should get the same level of review before moving forward.

Photos of the region’s National Honor Society chapter members.

President Donald Trump will make an official White House visit to a medical manufacturing plant in Guilford on Friday, June 5 his first trip to Maine since taking office and a seismic event for a town of 1,500 in the state’s least populous and most conservative county.

Not many superintendents have had to coordinate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Secret Service and the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department just to put on a high school graduation ceremony.

President Donald Trump will hold a roundtable discussion with parties involved in the commercial fishing industry during his visit to Maine on Friday, according to a White House official. The president is slated to come to the Pine Tree State to visit the Puritan Medical Products facility in Guilford, which manufactures medical swabs used in coronavirus testing. The Guilford company is one of the two largest swab manufacturers in the world and is opening a new swab manufacturing facility in Pittsfield this summer to meet the surging demand for swabs.

The 133rd edition of the Piscataquis Valley Fair in Dover-Foxcroft has been postponed until next year due to factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fair, originally scheduled for Aug. 27-30, will be held next on Aug. 26-29, 2021.

Extension staff will have seedlings available at several other locations while supplies last: Tradewinds in Milo, 7 to 11 a.m. on Friday, June 5; Smith’s Grocery and Lunch in Brownville, noon to 3 p.m. on June 5; Whitney’s Supermarket in Guilford, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 6; and the Piscataquis County Extension Office in Dover-Foxcroft, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, June 8.

Maine police agencies are planning for President Donald Trump’s planned Friday visit to a medical swab manufacturer that could involve a complex and costly transfer from the Bangor airport to the Piscataquis County town roughly 45 miles away.

Next month citizens of the region will be voting on the $145,000 -- plus interest -- 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. Before the referendum, county officials will be holding several late June information meetings across the region on the bond question.

Behind the steady stream of shoppers entering Whitney’s Family Supermarket late Monday afternoon was an anticipation of what is to come Friday -- a visit to this quiet milltown of some 1,500 residents by President Donald Trump.

Penquis Valley High School Spanish Club students and parents are going to be counting bottles at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2 between Trask Insurance and the little red warehouse on the Sebec River in Milo.

The 2020 Piscataquis River Festival, which was scheduled for Saturday, July 25, will not be happening.

President Donald Trump will visit a medical swab manufacturer in Guilford on Friday despite pushback from Gov. Janet Mills, who told the president his trip could create unrest and later said he is failing to assert leadership as protests rage across the country.

Without overnight service, residents suffering urgent medical issues past normal business hours in one of the most remote areas in Maine and all of the northeastern U.S. would have to travel at least 50 miles to hospitals in Skowhegan or Greenville on their own or in an ambulance.

Valley Grange of Guilford recently announced that in a joint agreement with the administration of SAD 4, the Parade of Pirates scheduled for Wednesday, June 10 is being canceled. In announcing the cancelation, Valley Grange Program Director Walter Boomsma explained, “After reviewing the recent changes to Gov. Mills’ Executive Order, we made the unhappy decision to cancel the event in keeping with the spirit of the order and everyone’s safety.”

Foxcroft Academy Head of School Arnold Shorey is pleased to announce the honor parts for this year’s graduating class, the 197th class in school history.

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King announced that HealthReach Community Health Centers, the Maine Hospital Association, Inc., the Penobscot Community Health Center, the Katahdin Valley Health Center -- which has a clinic in Brownville -- and the Maine Primary Care Association have been awarded a total of $5,794,031 to support their efforts to provide health care to Mainers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barely three weeks ago Matt Tibbetts awoke to the biggest snowstorm of the year in southern Piscataquis County. The weighty and wet dose of frozen precipitation left him and other homeowners in the area with considerable storm carnage to clear -- particularly broken branches from virtually every tree in every yard.