By Daniel O’Connor The proportion of Mainers registered to vote as Republicans has grown in the past five years in a warning sign for Democrats trying to maintain control over Augusta.

GUILFORD — SAD 4 officials have started developing the 2026-27 academic year budget.

GUILFORD — Community Fitness is calling all heroes to action! On Saturday, April 4 at 2 p.

By Marie Weidmayer, Bangor Daily News Staff A former Maine prison official will plead guilty to theft and accepting a bribe.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Maine Whoopie Pie Festival organizers announced that the Festival won second place as the best Specialty Food Festival in USA Today’s 10Best Reader’s Choice Award.

Photo courtesy of Dexter Regional High SchoolSTUDENTS OF THE MONTH — Dexter Regional High School is pleased to announce the February Students of the Month as selected by the faculty and staff for being exemplary students.

MILO — Amara Driscoll of Milo, a senior at Penquis Valley High School, has been selected to receive the 2026 Principal’s Award, Principal Katie Joyner announced.

BREWER — Northern Light Health is excited to release our 2025 Annual Report.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension recently completed installation of an advanced weather station in Orono, the third such station in what will become a statewide Mesonet — a network of research-grade weather stations designed specifically for agriculture.

By Molly Enking, Maine Public Despite normal snowfall this winter, Maine remains in a years-long drought with record low stream flow, which puts the state at below normal flood risk this spring, according to the Maine Emergency Management Agency.

MILO — SAD 41 and the town of Milo are working together to have a sidewalk put in over the summer along Penquis Drive between West Main Street and the Penquis Valley School, to allow students to walk to and from the building and not be in the road with all the vehicle traffic before and after school.

DEXTER — SAD 46 is looking at a $183,920 reduction in state subsidy for the 2026-27 budget, Superintendent Kevin Jordan said during a March 4 school board meeting at the Ridge View Community School.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Emma Alden, a senior at Foxcroft Academy, has been selected to receive the 2026 MPA Principal’s Award.

By Kathleen O’Brien, Bangor Daily News Staff The percentage of vacant homes fell statewide in recent years but it hasn’t made renting or buying in Maine any easier.

By Kasey Turman, Bangor Daily News Staff A new Penobscot County Jail could hold nearly twice as many inmates as the existing building and provide space for medical and mental health services, early plans for the facility show.

AUGUSTA — University of Maine at Augusta Provost Joseph Szakas announces the fall 2025 full-time president’s list and full-time dean’s list.

By Kasey Turman, Bangor Daily News Staff Penobscot County lost more than $5 million in 2023 due to underfunding, underbudgeting and mismanagement, a long-awaited audit showed.

Colorectal cancer, one of the most common cancers, is highly curable if found early.