Most of us who spend time deer hunting have had encounters with deer ticks, the bad ones, or know someone with Lyme disease. Earlier this fall, University of Maine Professor Jim Dill, a tick expert, appeared as a guest on my Sunday night call-in radio program, Maine Outdoors. The phones rang constantly the entire hour as listeners cued up to ask their questions of Professor Dill. Dill heads up a new diagnostics research facility at the University of Maine that opened this past April.

Students and staff throughout the SeDoMoCha School have been busy bringing in items for community resident in need by gathering warm clothing accessories and raising funds for Thanksgiving meals.

Growing up in Dover-Foxcroft, Carlson Williams’ family often told stories about local history around the dinner table. One of his favorite tales to hear was also among the most gruesome: the story of the murder of Alvin Watson in the nearby town of Parkman in June 1881.

Piscataquis County winners of the 2019 Spirit of America Foundation Tribute for outstanding community service will be honored at a ceremony on Friday, Nov. 15 starting at 7 p.m. at the Valley Grange Hall (172 Guilford Center Road). The event is open to the public.

Jeremy Loguercio, program and marketing director at The Commons at Central Hall, recently announced the special schedule of events for November

Fifteen pupils in grades 5-8 at Piscataquis Community Elementary School are October Students of the Month. The month’s honorees were presented with certificates in front of their peers and teachers during an assembly in the cafeteria to start the day on Oct. 31.

Written specifically for kids to read and use, “Ten Days in the North Woods: A Kids’ Hiking Guide to the Katahdin Region” blends a fictional story with accurate descriptions of real trails. The book hit shelves earlier this year, and the author, Hope Rowan of Southwest Harbor, hopes it will inspire children to get outside and explore some of Maine’s most treasured natural areas.

The students and staff of SAD 4 are inviting area veterans and the general public to attend the annual Veterans Day celebration at 8:45 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 8.

Two months after the start of classes at the SeDoMoCha School and Foxcroft Academy, the Dover-Foxcroft selectmen learned about the start of the 2019-20 academic year from the respective heads of school during an Oct. 28 meeting.

Dover-Foxcroft selectmen will hold a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building to gather feedback on a proposal to convert the municipal airport on Pine Street into the home of a 4-megawatt solar power project. At an Oct. 28 meeting, the board passed a motion saying they will not be taking any votes related to the project during the evening of Nov. 12.

The board of directors of the Piscataquis Regional YMCA, staff and community members gathered at the PRYMCA Oct. 22 to celebrate another year of service in Piscataquis County during the organization's annual meeting. The meeting began with recognition of the 2019 Piscataquis Regional YMCA Volunteer of the Year, Maureen Doore.

The Penquis Valley High School Key Club is working to change this situation for a village in the Kingdom of Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland a landlocked country in southern Africa, through the Thirst Project. The Thirst Project is a national nonprofit organization bringing safe drinking water to communities around the world where it is not immediately available.

As Maine comedian Bob Marley would say, “Looky, looky, lissy, lissy.” If you are an old guy, like me, who likes to drive his pickup on the logging roads in October looking for a bird to shoot, check your lug nuts before you strike out.

The Dover-Foxcroft Area Food Cupboard would like to invite the general public to attend an open house at the new location in the Piscataquis Regional Food Center building at 76 North Street from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15.

The fall hours for the Abbott Museum, 12 Church Street, are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday -- closed Sundays, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. The museum offers seven exhibit rooms on local history in areas of business, industry, recreation and veterans.

A gun-stealing beaver. A moose looking for love. A paraplegic hunter and handyman. A writer saying goodbye to his dog. These are just a few of the characters -- some of them hilarious, some in the midst of heart-wrenching moments -- readers will meet in the pages of “Evergreens: A Collection of Maine Outdoor Stories.”

More than two dozen students in the younger grades at Piscataquis Community Elementary School are now HEROs for their outstanding conduct. The HERO honorees were recognized with the presentation of certificates during the elementary morning meeting on Thursday, Oct. 24.

Dover-Foxcroft selectmen are considering a plan to convert the local airport into the home of a 4-megawatt solar power project, a proposal that is drawing opposition from pilots who use the facility. In order for the solar project to move forward, Charles A. Chase Jr. Memorial Field would need to be decommissioned, a town official said. A public hearing on the plan has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building.