Throughout Maine, there are pockets of wilderness where nature is given free rein. The trees grow old and tall. The moss grows thick. And rare plants and animals find safe haven.

I didn’t grow up ice fishing. I loved to play outside in the snow, and we neighborhood kids spent plenty of time outdoors, sliding down hills on our sleds until the sun set and we’d waddle on home. But ice fish? Nope. Didn’t catch that bug until my late 20s, when I met a man who introduced me to the sport and its customs.

Laura Feaga, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and a Piscataquis County native, has opened a new psychiatric practice in Dover-Foxcroft. Healing Partners Psychiatric Services, LLC, located in The Mill, provides psychiatric diagnosis, consultation, medication management and supportive therapy for clients by appointment.

The local board will be holding a meeting to discuss the operations and funding at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at the Peakes House located next to the Piscataquis County Courthouse. 

In 2018 a committee formed to create a play area for the younger students at Penquis Valley Middle School. The group was later given approval by the SAD 41 school board to pursue fundraising opportunities and work with volunteers on prepping a parcel of land behind the school that was first cleared two and a half decades ago by the Army Corps of Engineers. During a Feb. 5 school board meeting at the Penquis Valley School, the directors authorized the committee to apply for a grant from the Libra Foundation as well as the Maine Community Foundation.

On Saturday, Feb. 1 the Dover-Foxcroft Republican Committee held its biennial caucus. During the caucus, new municipal officers were elected and delegates to the Maine Republican Convention were selected. At the caucus, the committee also voted to make every registered Republican a member of the committee and elections were held for the executive committee.

Should a disaster strike the region when Piscataquis County Emergency Agency Director Tom Capraro is out of town and/or on vacation, the response may not be delayed as Deputy Director Debra Hamlin can now step up and fill in.

Maine voters approved a bond package in November 2017 that included $5 million dollars for vital improvement projects including stream crossing and culvert upgrades. More than two dozen grants have been awarded by the Maine DEP for projects across the state, including $95,000 for the Mountain Road in Blanchard and another $95,000 for Crooked Brook in Charleston.

After all these years, I realized there weren’t any donations made as she requested. My brother-in-law Fred in England gave me the idea to grow my hair and beard, get pledges from folks, set a date to get the haircut and beard shave and then take the money raised and donate it to her cause.

Squaretail. It’s been awhile since that word has been used around anglers, but I like it, and miss hearing people use it. It’s one of those words that triggers the synapses and gets gray-haired anglers thinking back to canvas-covered Old Town boats and bamboo rods.

Piscataquis County Democrats gathered to prepare for the upcoming March 8 caucuses on Jan. 18 at party headquarters on North Street. April Thibodeau from the Maine Democratic Party provided training to conveners from virtually every town in the county.

Rep. Paul Stearns, R-Guilford is pictured with Dorothy Flint of Guilford. Flynt’s brother Guilford native Maurice Rollins (pictured) now of of Bellingham, Washington served as gunners mate in World War II, the Korean war and in Vietnam.

Most of us who hunt have heard a version of this quip many times before, generally offered up in a light-hearted way by a friend who doesn’t hunt: “You going out to shoot Bambi?”

At 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at The Commons at Central Hall, NAMI Piscataquis County will present the video “Healing Your Brain With Food.”  You can learn how sugar-laden food can cause inflammation in the brain from Dr. Daniel Nuzum, DO. From Dr. William Davis, MD, you can learn about the evolution of wheat in the United States from the 4.5-foot tall “amber waves of grain” to the now 18-inch tall plant with different nutritional properties that may be the cause of some gluten sensitivities.

A Maine moose hunt can be one of the best adventures you’ll ever embark upon. Or, if you’re not careful and don’t do your homework, it could turn into a miserable experience. From the permit lottery to tagging your moose to choosing a meat cutter, here are many of the answers to questions that may crop up.

Mayo Regional Hospital has announced a “Ski Day” for its employees and families in February. The first 100 employees to register are able to ski for free. Officials at the hospital say that this is to encourage employee wellness while calling attention to American Heart Month, which is recognized throughout February.

The people who are trying to develop the Moosehead Lake region into more of a tourism hub have spent years waiting for timber giant Weyerhaeuser to deliver on its plans to build two resorts, 1,000 second-home lots, a golf course and other attractions in the area.

A lease agreement between the town of Dover-Foxcroft and the Maine Highlands Senior Center, on the first floor at The Commons at Central Hall, was amended to assist the organization in applying for a kitchen grant. The adjustment from 15 to 20 years as of March 1 was approved during a Jan. 27 selectmen’s meeting.