Single-use items are so ingrained in our culture that nearly all of us — no matter how sustainability-minded we may be — throw things away without even thinking about it.

AUGUSTA — Maine cities and towns will have more time to process absentee ballots ahead of the Nov.

DEXTER — A week before the opening days of classes during the first week of September, teachers, staff and administrators across SAD 46 have been busy making preparations for a school year that will be unlike any other with hybrid instruction and remote learning methods being used.

AUGUSTA — Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap said Tuesday his office will contest a judge’s ruling that a Republican challenge to a ranked-choice voting law made the 2020 ballot before walking the statement back the next day as a key deadline approaches.

A Penobscot County man suffered serious injuries when he was thrown from his pickup truck as it crashed in Corinth on Tuesday night.

The Trump Administration announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $973,172 to help 33 rural businesses, farms, and organizations in Maine with lowering energy costs.

PARKMAN — In this unusual time of pandemic restrictions, the Parkman Grange announces its 2020 Minnie Welts Bridge Scholarship winners.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Center Theatre and Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce in Dover-Foxcroft have announced that the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival will not be taking place as planned on Saturday, Oct.

BANGOR — Dirigo Reads, a program that aims to put a book in the hands of every Maine first-grader each month during the school year by 2025, is announcing the addition of 20 schools that will participate in the program during the next school year.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Perhaps no one in Maine is more eager for the high school football season to begin than Logan Martin.

One thing that unites us as a nation is land: Americans, and especially Mainers, strongly support conserving the open spaces they love.

AUGUSTA — A Maine judge ruled Monday that the state Republican party gathered enough valid signatures from voters to put a challenge to a new ranked-choice voting law on the November ballot, preventing the method’s use in this presidential election.

The group that oversees huge tracts of the state’s industrial forest is warning hunters and other potential travelers to expect plenty of company in the coming weeks, and is asking for visitors to be considerate during their trips to northern Maine.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — University of Maine Cooperative Extension will offer pressure gauge testing at the UMaine Extension office, 165 East Main Street.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Piscataquis County Ice Arena and the Piscataquis Regional YMCA have reopened after shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite recent rainfall, most of Maine is experiencing varying degrees of drought, and it’s left the state’s hay crop largely low and dry.

The Maine Teachers of the Year Association, in partnership with the Maine Department of Education, has created a special “teacher to teacher” back to school message to help kick off the 2020-21 school year.

DEXTER — Many everyday social interactions have come to a halt due to COVID-19 limitations, especially for those who receive care in residential facilities.