Leaders of Mayo Regional Hospital say the merger they’re pursuing with one of the state’s largest hospital systems is critical for the Dover-Foxcroft facility’s survival after years of operating losses. But the negotiated merger agreement with Northern Light Health would only obligate the hospital system to keep operating Mayo in its current form for five years after the merger.

Guilford Town Manager Thomas Goulette was recognized in the Maine House of Representatives with a Legislative Sentiment presented by Rep. Paul Stearns, R-Guilford March 15 in Augusta. During his visit Goulette also met with Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville.

Like a true rite of spring, the opening of Stutzman’s Farm Café & Brick Oven Bakery on Friday, April 5 ushers in the beginning of the farming season. This third generation family farm located at 891 Douty Hill Road, enters its sixth season as a field to fork restaurant and its 40th anniversary since operators Sid and Rainie Stutzman took over the family farm.

DOVER-FOXCROFT -- For the seventh year students and teachers at SeDoMoCha Middle School celebrated the 14th day of the third month with various events for Pi Day. The activities connect to the dessert which is a homophone of the term for the non-terminating ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.

SAD 41 voters heading to the polls on Thursday, March 14 overwhelmingly approved -- via a combined count of 152 to 25 pending verification of voting results from the towns -- a referendum for a $2.4 million funding package to carry out a heating system upgrade converting from steam to hot water and energy efficiency project at the Penquis Valley School. The referendum was approved in each district community: 7-1 in Atkinson, 55-9 in Brownville, 19-5 in LaGrange and 71-10 in Milo.

Each month the SeDoMoCha School recognizes “Students in the Spotlight,” celebrating pupils from kindergarten to grade 8 who teachers and staff have determined best demonstrate a specific positive attribute or characteristic chosen for the timeframe from the Habits of Mind (a set of life skills for educators and parents). Following a snow day last month, the February and March Students in the Spotlight were honored together during an all-school assembly in the gym on the morning of March 14.

Mayo Regional Hospital has announced four community forums to provide updates and answer questions regarding the potential merger with Northern Light Health, a statewide health care system. The forums will be held in four of the 13 towns that make up Hospital Administrative District (HAD) 4 and will provide an opportunity for citizens in the district to learn more about what a merger might mean for the hospital and local access to quality care.

The 2019-20 academic year budget continues to be developed by district officials, but SAD 4 is scheduled to receive approximately $234,000 more in state subsidy than for the 2018-19 Superintendent Kelly MacFadyen reported during a March 12 meeting at Piscataquis Community High School.

A Dover-Foxcroft resident whose body was discovered on his front porch by a neighbor on New Year’s Day, after apparently being there for days, died of a heart attack, according to the state medical examiner.

With the HAD 4 board of directors voting 15-3 last month to start a merger with Northern Light Health, Mayo Regional Hospital officials are looking to hold four public information nights across the region to share details of the process and hear from residents and answer their questions. One session is tentatively scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2 in the Morton Avenue Municipal Building Gymnasium.

On Saturday, March 9 before the Foxcroft Youth Wrestling Tournament a special ceremony took place. Josh Pelletier, a 2006 graduate of Foxcroft Academy, had his singlet retired in front of a packed gymnasium. Pelletier is the second Pony wrestler to receive the honor -- four-time state champion Jerod Rideout was the first.

Ridge View Community School seventh-grader Kaleb Ranquist, the son of Erin and Robert Ranquist, has been notified by the National Geographic Society that he is one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2019 National Geographic GeoBee Maine State Competition. The contest will be held at the University of Maine Farmington on Friday, March 29.

The Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office plans to keep its patrol division housed in Guilford at the former primary school building -- the law enforcement space more recently was the home of the SAD 4 administrative office suite -- for another three years after the county commissioners approved extending the space lease through the end of 2022 during a March 5 meeting. A formal document should be signed during an upcoming session.

A revised energy infrastructure upgrade project, which per an agreement between SAD 41 officials and the town will not result in any new debt for Atkinson now and after the town deorganizes at the end of June, will be voted on at the polls on Thursday, March 14.

Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville introduced LD 555 “An Act To Reduce Colorectal Cancer Incidence and Mortality by Updating Screening Coverage” late last month to the Legislature’s Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee. With this bill, Sen. Davis hopes to remove the reference to the minimum age at which insurance companies must cover colorectal cancer screenings.

Local resident Wendy Weiger is planning an exciting adventure this month. She is embarking on a hike on the relatively new American Discovery Trail (ADT). This trail system of 6,800 miles is, according to the ADT website, “a new breed of national trail — part city, part small town, part forest, part mountains, part desert — all in one trail.” It stretches from the east coast at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Pt. Reyes National Seashore in California.

After several budget committee meetings over the previous few months, RSU 68 officials are looking at a 1.5 percent increase in the spending plan for the 2019-20 academic year.

Rico Portalatin of Milo said weather conditions ahead of the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races had him concerned, but he was relieved and pleased when he encountered the trail conditions while competing in the Willard Jalbert Jr. Can-Am Crown 100.