The Bill and Joan Alfond Foundation has awarded Good Shepherd Food Bank, Maine’s largest hunger-relief organization, a $200,000 grant to fund strategies for eliminating food insecurity in Piscataquis County and central Maine, including Dexter.

A proposed budget totaling $11,559,908 and 11 budget warrant articles making up the spending plan were approved by the RSU 68 school board during a May 8 meeting at the SeDoMoCha School. The directors also scheduled the annual district budget meeting for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29 with an information session right before at 6 p.m. in the school cafeteria/multipurpose room.

Greta Schroeder of Biddeford has been hired as the new director of library services for the Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft. Schroeder, who starts in her new position on May 18, will replace Helen Fogler, who is retiring after serving for 21 years in that role.

The search for the next principal of the Penquis Valley School is now underway, with interviews scheduled for later in the month, the school board learned during a May 2 meeting.

On Thursday, May 17 there will be two assemblies held in SAD 41 schools to honor 34 students who will be awarded $100 scholarships from the Maine College Circle’s College Aspirations Scholarship program.

Players, coaches, teams and individuals who have made significant contributions to the Piscataquis Community High School athletic program and/or past educational institutions in towns that today are part of SAD 4 will have the opportunity to be honored in the newly-formed PCHS Athletic Hall of Fame.

Paving on stretches of roads in Blanchard and Moosehead Junction will be done this summer by Vaughn D. Thibodeau II, Inc. of Bangor after the company’s low bid of $146,160 was approved by the Piscataquis County Commissioners during a May 1 meeting.

On Thursday, May 10 residents of the SAD 41 towns of Atkinson, Brownville, LaGrange and Milo will head to their respective polls to vote on an approximate $2.3 million heating system upgrade and energy efficiency project at the Penquis Valley School.

On the morning of Saturday, April 28 hundreds of participants took part in the Abbot-based JD Foundation’s third annual 5K Walk/Run to Wake the Silence, raising funds for the organization, honoring those who have died by suicide and supporting survivors and families impacted.

A proposed $7,087,042 SAD 4 budget for the 2018-19 school year was approved -- with all 20 articles being passed as written over about 20 minutes with nearly 50 registered voters present -- during a district budget meeting on May 3 at Piscataquis Community Elementary School.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, in May and June, you could catch a fresh run Atlantic salmon on the Penobscot River. And you could play your king of game fish within eyeshot of downtown Bangor. As a result, salmon clubs popped up along the river banks like ostrich ferns.

Mayo Regional Hospital has selected Cerner, a global leader in health care technology, to implement a new integrated electronic health record (HER) and revenue cycle solutions across it acute and ambulatory facilities. This agreement provides the hospital with sophisticated health care technology that will support Mayo doctors, nurses and staff as they work to streamline operations and improve patient care.

Organizers are getting ready for the 2018 Arts Alive event at Piscataquis Community Elementary School in Guilford. The Arts Alive tradition dates back to 1982 and this year’s event is scheduled for Friday, June 8. Over 100 volunteers will be coming to the school to share their talents and skills as students in pre-kindergarten through grade 8 take part in various activities and projects, which in past years from ranged from shaving cream art to drumming to karate.

Two days before Memorial Day and the annual mid-morning parade through downtown Dover-Foxcroft, American Legion Post 29 will honor the service and sacrifice of veterans with the inaugural five kilometer (3.1 miles) Warrior Race & Fun Run at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 26.

The latest group of Students of the Month at Piscataquis Community Elementary School were honored in front of their peers during an April 27 morning meeting, a session moved back one week from the usual third Friday of the month due to the April vacation.

All seven items passed as written during the 2018 annual town meeting on the morning of April 28 in the gymnasium at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building. The articles making up the 2018-19 municipal budget will now go to a referendum vote on Tuesday, June 12.

On April 27 SeDoMoCha Middle School art teacher Bobbi Tardif of RSU 68 in Dover-Foxcroft was presented with the 2018 Maine Art Education Association's Outstanding Service Through the Profession honor during a ceremony at Lewiston Middle School.

The Lakeshore House in Monson is ramping up for the long-awaited summer season just a little early. They began by hosting a special intimate sushi night on Monday, April 23. It was a big success, so much so that the event will be repeated in the near future. Simply check their Facebook page for upcoming events.