By Ethan Andrews, Bangor Daily News Staff Along with $300 relief checks, a millionaire tax and free community college gaining permanent status, the state budget signed by Gov.

PORTLAND — Pets are family, and they need emergency plans too.

PARKMAN — The Parkman Grange is pleased to announce that the 24th annual Mother’s Day Tea will be held from 10 a.

By Dyan McCarthy-Clark SANGERVILLE — Diana Bowley, a seventh generation Sangerville resident, vividly captures her hometown’s history in her new book “Sangerville Over the Centuries: Town of Two Knights”.

GUILFORD — Valley Grange has announced its annual Celebration of Community to be held on Friday, May 15 at the Guilford Grange Hall.

By Ethan Andrews, Bangor Daily News Staff Despite the seasonal return of rain, April and May in Maine often come with an elevated risk of wildfires, according to the Maine Forest Service, who issued a warning on April 10.

WASHINGTON, D.

By Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli, The County Staff A southern Aroostook high school consolidation could meld technical and traditional education to better prepare students for the workforce, school officials said.

By Daniel O’Connor Conservatives are rushing to critique the state’s wording of a ballot question that could ban transgender public school students from sports teams and private spaces that align with their gender identities.

ORONO — Ruth Griffith of Parkman, who is majoring in economics with minors in mathematics and international affairs, is the 2026 University of Maine valedictorian.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A month and a half after the Piscataquis County Commissioners voted to have $10,000 in county opioid settlement money go annually to the non-profit Recovery Wellness Community Center of Sangerville, county officials heard about the impact of the funds during a commissioners meeting on the morning of April 7.

By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff The wording of this November’s referendum to ban transgender athletes from girls sports teams has been released.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the appointment of Kerry Glover as interim executive director as part of a planned leadership transition.

By Michael Shepherd, Bangor Daily News Staff AUGUSTA — A Democratic bill to expand the use of ranked-choice voting would violate the Maine Constitution, the state’s high court said in an April 6 opinion.

SANGERVILLE — Earlier this year Sangerville had its application for a $250,000 Maine Historic Community Building Grant for the town hall turned down.

The Maine Department of Transportation has begun road work in Greenville, Shirley, Monson and Abbot for a pavement preservation and improvement project.

By Kevin Miller, Maine Public A federal appeals court ruled Friday, April 3 that Maine’s 72-hour waiting period on gun purchases is likely constitutional, handing gun control advocates a significant victory in a high-profile Second Amendment case.

Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District is gearing up to present two Mushroom Log Inoculation Workshops, one on April 25 at Two Knights Brewery, Sangerville and a second on May 2 at the Railyard Brewery in Milo.