A proposed 2019-20 academic year budget totaling $11,784,238 was brought forward by the finance committee to the full RSU 68 school board during an April 2 meeting at the SeDoMoCha School. This figure is up by nearly $225,000 from the current approximate $11.6 million spending plan.

The pictures on Paul Lancisi’s cellphone are a testimony to his love of baseball and his continuing connection to the game. Newly signed Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper, 2016 National League MVP Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox infielder Yoan Moncada, and rising prospects Pete Alonzo and Jeff McNeil -- opening-day starters at first base and third base for the New York Mets -- all are on display.

Mayo Regional Hospital officials told community members Monday night, April 1 they are working toward a goal of keeping as many medical services in the region as possible as part of a proposed merger with Northern Light Health, a statewide system comprised of hospitals across Maine.

Partners for Peace, the domestic violence resource center serving Piscataquis and Penobscot counties, celebrated its community partners during the organization’s annual meeting at The Commons at Central Hall on March 21.

For the last several months eighth-graders at SeDoMoCha Middle School have been developing projects, on their own or in pairs, for the annual science fair. On the evening of March 27 the students presented their findings to the public with their projects on display in the cafeteria.

Enter: Abby Moore. “There were qualified applicants with great job experience and stability, with management or marketing backgrounds; but Abby stood out to me; she was well-rounded and capable in every area specific to the job, [she is] a local who loves this area and knows everything about it; she demonstrated her amazing personality in the first five minutes of our conversation, and I knew she had the right temperament for the job,” said Buzzelli.

A Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant who has served as the DARE officer in area schools for more than two decades, goes above and beyond the call of duty and who gives back in other ways is now the Grange Northeast Region Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. Lt. Jamie Kane received news of the honor during a surprise presentation by Valley Grange Lecturer and Program Director Walter Boomsma during a morning grade 5 DARE class on Friday, March 29 at Piscatquis Community Elementary School.

Game Warden Investigator Josh Bubier was honored as the Maine Game Warden of the Year as the Maine Warden Service celebrated its 139th anniversary March 27 at the Winslow VFW with the annual awards banquet. Bubier is stationed in Division D in Greenville.

On Saturday, April 27 residents will gather in the gymnasium at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building at 9 a.m. to vote on a nine-article warrant during the annual town meeting. Items approved on April 27 go to a referendum ballot on Tuesday, June 11.

Each month outstanding pupils in grades 5-8 at Piscataquis Community Elementary School are honored as Students of the Month. The 10 March honorees were presented with certificates in front of their peers during morning meeting in the cafeteria on Wednesday, March 27.

January and February Students of the Month at Piscataquis Community High School in Guilford.

Premium Choice Broadband is nearing the final stages of its latest project to bring high-speed fiber internet connections to rural Maine. The company has invested $2 million in private funds and installed over 40 miles of fiber-optic cable connecting Dover-Foxcroft and downtown Monson with what is the fastest internet connection in the state.

SeDoMoCha Builders Club Adviser Heather Whitten presents a $750 check to Foxcroft Academy Key Club President Kelli Black for the club’s Thirst Project fundraising to benefit the non-profit organization with an aim to bring safe drinking water to communities around the world where it is not immediately available.

Citizens of the 13 Hospital Administration District 4 member communities should have a voice in determining the fate of the potential merger between the district’s Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft and the statewide Northern Light Health system, Sebec residents indicated with their vote at a special town meeting during the evening of March 21 at the Harland A. Ladd Municipal Building.

A Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to halt the ongoing merger between Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft with Northern Light Health, the statewide health care organization that includes Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

The Foxcroft Academy Marching Band’s most recent fundraiser for a return trip to Disney World involved selling Krispy Kreme donuts to the community. On March 22 Foxcroft Academy/SeDoMoCha School Resource Officer Pete Dennis volunteered his time to help deliver the donuts around town, joking that what is funner than a cop delivering donuts.

Dexter Regional High School’s Seeds Of Peace students led a dialogue session on Tuesday, March 19. Student leaders from clubs and organizations at the high school were invited to address issues and begin to discuss solutions.

A 23-year-old LaGrange man who stole two separate vehicles last spring -- a Dexter police cruiser and a Toyota Celica belonging to a veteran of the Iraq War -- and led authorities on a high-speed chase that ended when he crashed the Celica will serve five years of a 10-year sentence.