Again in the 2017-18 academic year SeDoMoCha Elementary School families will have the opportunity to read together as part of a shared reading experience through the eighth annual One Book, One School program. For about a month through early October students and family members will read and discuss “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” and then be able to attend an ending celebration on Thursday, Oct. 5.

The resignation of Penquis Valley High School/Middle School Principal Jeremy Bousquet was accepted and the nomination of new building principal Daniel Ross was accepted during a Sept. 6 meeting of the SAD 41 school board.

How does that saying go? “Fool me once shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me?” Why is it that some of us never learn from our mistakes? In my book, “Backtrack,” chapter four is titled The Lightning Thing. Here is an excerpt:

M. Michelle Hood, FACHE, president and CEO of EMHS announced that Teresa “Terri” Vieira, MHA, FACHE, has been named president of Sebasticook Valley Health (SVH) and Charles A Dean Memorial Hospital. Vieira has led SVH since 2013 and has been acting president at C. A. Dean since 2017.

Starting for the current academic year SAD 4 students in grades 7-8 have been moved up the hill from Piscataquis Community Secondary School, which now is the home of just grades 9-12, to Piscataquis Community Elementary School (PCES) to join their younger peers.

Much of the community’s railroad history, including previously missing components, has now been captured in “More than a Train Yard and a Whistle Stop: The Canadian Railway’s Brownville Division 1886 to 1963.” The book by former resident Ken Hatchette, who now lives in Dartmouth, Mass., is full of photographs and features cover art from a mural painted by resident Suzette East which was a contest-winning submission. Book proceeds will help fund a heat pump for the Brownville-Brownville Junction Historical Society’s Parish House Museum.

Scuba divers Ryan Robbins and Matt Kane swam along the ship’s railings, descending slowly to the stern of the vessel, more than 40 feet below the surface. The two divers were capturing footage for a historical documentary “Sunken Steamboats of Moosehead Lake.” This summer, the Moosehead Marine Museum received two separate $10,000 grants from the Libra Foundation and the Fisher Charitable Foundation to support production of the film, which will include underwater footage and other imagery, combined with stories told by local residents.

Tuesday night I watched and listened to President Trump's remarks, and the outline for his plan, on tax reform. The President was in Missouri, I was in my living room in Maine. An email arrived from the White House inviting me to watch the President speak live. All I had to do was click a link included in the email and in an instant I could listen to the President unfiltered live or later.

Exact percentages vary, but news from Texas consistently paints a bleak picture regarding the number of homes protected by flood insurance – with the vast number of homes impacted by Hurricane Harvey reportedly uninsured.

A day after a $6,879,013 SAD 4 budget for the 2017-18 academic year was approved -- via a count of 251 to 244 across the six district communities -- the school board set the town assessments during a special meeting on Aug. 30 at Piscataquis Community Elementary School (PCES).

Truth be known, the bloom is off the rose for me when it comes to upland bird hunting. It just isn’t the same when your favorite gun dog is no longer of this earth. But my memory still works, and the intense pleasure of breathing cool fall air against a color-coated autumn backdrop, while watching my Sally on point, is never forgotten.

A man who helped engineer some of the largest public land conservation deals in state history has died. Alan Hutchinson, 70, died at his Orono home on Sunday, Aug. 26 according to an official at Brookings-Smith Funeral Home of Bangor.

With Piscataquis County government department heads making their initial requests for the 2018 budget -- the county fiscal year follows the calendar year -- the county commissioners are getting ready to put the budget advisory committee in place so the group can start its work in October.

Three girls will reign as Miss Maple in their respective age groups for the next year after being crowned during the third annual Miss Maple Pageant on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 26 at the 130th Piscataquis Valley Fair.

A close friend, driving one of Maine's suburban roads, came upon an accident scene. A maroon SUV was stopped on a grass median. Police were trying to save the life of the unconscious young man lying on the grass. The driver had overdosed on drugs. The police were acting to save his life. One officer, using a special nasal injector, administered into the young man an overdose blocker called Narcan. Within moments, the driver came to. Did he thank the police for saving his life? No, he screamed at the officer for "ruining his high."

Maine outdoor writer Steve Carpenteri, in a recent article in the Northwoods Sporting Journal, posed a number of questions related to the baiting of deer by hunters. He then answered those questions in an informative and useful way. While many states allow the hunting of deer over unnatural bait, including neighboring New Hampshire, Maine is not one of them. Here, hunting deer over unnatural bait is illegal.

A proposed $6,879,013 budget for the 2017-18 school year was approved during a district budget meeting on Aug. 24 at Piscataquis Community Elementary School. The near $6.88 million budget is now moved to a referendum in Abbot, Cambridge, Guilford, Parkman, Sangerville, and Wellington on Tuesday, Aug. 29 with residents of the half dozen communities voting either “yes” or “no” to make a district-wide decision on the 2018 budget.

The Maine Highlands Senior Center, to be housed on the first floor of Central Hall on East Main Street, has received two grants.