Brook trout are among the state’s most treasured natural gifts, and Maine is lucky to have more places to catch wild brookies than any other state in the lower 48. And according to a state fisheries biologist, anglers on the state’s largest lake have been hauling in some huge brookies of late.

Dexter Family Practice has joined Mayo Regional Hospital to become the hospital’s fifth rural health center in the region.

Gabrielle Heuttener and Susannah Heuttener of Monson, Tyler Libby of Parkman, Ingrid Halvorsen of Guilford, and Tyler Judd of Athens served as honorary pages in the Maine Senate on Jan. 31. They were visiting the Statehouse with the 4-H Youth Development Program and they met with Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville.

Nikki Hamilton has always been an athlete. When she was a kid you’d likely see her exploring the woods, playing sports or riding her horse Blackjack. No sitting around indoors for her! One winter when she was 12 years old her dad, Kirk, encouraged her to consider ice racing.

The meeting schedule is still to be finalized -- last year the group met weekly from late February across four sessions leading up to a public hearing the last Wednesday in March -- but the 2019-20 Dover-Foxcroft budget advisory committee is in place with four positions set by the selectmen during a Jan. 28 meeting.

The 12th annual Moosehead Lake Togue Derby with Ricky Craven is in the books. The event is organized by the Natural Resource Education Center at Moosehead (NREC) to raise funds for programming. Anglers from all over made the trek north to Maine’s largest lake for the action. As would be expected, Mainers make up the vast majority of participants, but organizers also sold tickets to folks from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Quebec, and Florida

The Dover-Foxcroft Police Department did not have to look very far to fill the sergeant vacancy with the hiring of retired Maine State Police corporal and town resident Matt Grant.

Mayo Regional Hospital has announced the closing of its primary care office in Guilford. The official closure date for Guilford Medical Associates, which is housed via lease from the town at the C.H. Lightbody Medical Center on Park Street, will be Friday, April 5.

Kim Cavanagh, a local lawyer and Foxcroft Academy alum, was celebrated recently at the Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Board of Director's annual meeting. The meeting was Cavanagh's last after being on the Center Theatre board since 2012.

In an effort to help recruit and retain quality officers for several positions within the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office, the Piscataquis County Commissioners approved a request from Sheriff Robert Young to adjust hourly pay rates for part-time patrol deputies, dispatchers, and corrections officers during a Jan. 22 meeting.

Greenville is going to the dogs on Saturday, Feb. 2 -- sled dogs that is. It’s an exciting time of year to be here – watching enthusiastic dogs and their mushers pulling sleds through the snowy, wooded trails around Greenville in the Wilderness Sled Dog Race. Amy Dugan and John Osmond of Shirley began this event more than a dozen years ago. This is the eleventh time this event has occurred – there were a few years in between where conditions were prohibitive and the race was not held.

Deep in the Maine woods, crews of biologists, technicians and interns are busily “recruiting” new subjects who will help state wildlife officials better understand the role that winter severity plays on white-tailed deer mortality.

A problem at an electrical substation in Corinth caused thousands of Emera Maine customers to lose power in central Penobscot and southern Piscataquis counties early Thursday morning.

The sound of skates cutting into the ice, pucks bouncing off the boards and glass, and more will be heard starting this summer according to the plan for opening the Piscataquis County Ice Arena on West Main Street at the former Brothers Chevrolet property. The $5 million project is being funded by the Libra Foundation, and the arena will be managed day-to-day by Foxcroft Academy.

Maine game wardens were busy responding to a number of serious snowmobile accidents last weekend, and with substantial snow in the forecast for the coming days, wardens say focusing on snowmobile safety makes a lot of sense as more sledders will be hitting the trails.

Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville has sponsored legislation, LR 514 “An Act To Give the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife the Authority To Adjust the Black Bear Hunting Season and Bag Limit,” to give state wildlife biologists more control in the management of Maine’s growing black bear population.

The Center Theatre announced recently that Ashlie McLeish, who joined the Theatre in 2016, has been promoted to Theatre operations manager. According to Patrick Myers, the Center Theatre's executive director, the new position better describes what McLeish's role in the Theatre has become during the past year.

Those affected by abuse and domestic violence throughout Piscataquis and Penobscot counties are able to receive a wide variety of information, support, and services from Partners for Peace. Starting next month a change in office hours for the 8 Mechanic Street location will help Partners for Peace advocates to get out and reach more people and increase the agency’s presence in the community.