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.

Earlier in the summer the former Spruce Run-Womancare Alliance announced a name change to Partners for Peace. The organization, which provides support services to anyone affected by domestic abuse and violence in Piscataquis and Penobscot counties, celebrated its new identity with an open house and free barbecue at the 8 Mechanic Street resource center on Aug. 18

The truth is, I'm stumped on the best way to approach this week’s column topic. I am aware of the Charlottesville, Va., protests, the groups involved, the senseless death of a young woman, and of others near her who were seriously injured. But I have not been, nor will I be, digging deep into the Virginia mayhem details.

Steve and Diana Hobart have made a lifetime commitment of being land stewards through forestry and farming at Breakneck Ridge Farm. The Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District is pleased to present the Hobarts with a Lifetime Achievement Award for their decades of contributions to natural resource stewardship and for sharing their knowledge and guidance with so many others over the decades.

For some reason, there is a popular misconception that anyone who hunts -- say a grouse hunter who kills and eats a game bird -- would not also be a bird-watcher. Not necessarily so. Hunting and bird-watching are not mutually exclusive.

The 2017 Maine Hire-A-Vet Campaign kicks off at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 29 at the Augusta Armory, 179 Western Avenue, in a statewide effort to commit at least 100 employers to hire at least 100 veterans and military family members during the 100-day period.

Throughout the year the Piscataquis County Democratic Committee is holding a series of non-partisan information forums on various issues facing the region. The most recent “Ensuring the Success of Our Youngest Mainers: A Conversation about Children and Families in Piscataquis County” during the afternoon of Aug. 2 at Mayo Regional Hospital examined related challenges such as poverty, food insecurity, and barriers in accessing care, and the discussion featured Maine Speaker of the House of Representatives Sara Gideon, D-Freeport.

Lightning flashed in the distance and rain began to fall, each drop forming a tiny bubble on the surface of Moosehead Lake. We’d watched the dark clouds gather during our short paddle, and with a few words, we agreed it was time for us to turn our kayaks around and get back to Seboomook Wilderness Campground, where we were staying.

Members of the Sebec Village Associates were recognized at the start of the annual town meeting on Aug. 7 at the Harland A. Ladd Municipal Building as the organization is the community’s 2017 Spirit of America Award recipient.

The purpose of the meeting is assessing public sentiment regarding six proposed industrial wind projects and CMP’s Maine Clean Power Connection 145-mile high voltage transmission corridor.

The bottom line is this: At a critical time in Maine’s deer recovery the state has ostensibly been without a seasoned, experienced deer research leader for far too long. It’s a typical bureaucratic situation: sudden departure, slow replacement.

Non-union, full-time county employees will be receiving a 2 percent wage increase in the 2018 county budget after a motion for the increase was approved by the Piscataquis County Commissioners during an Aug. 8 meeting. The raise matches the 2 percent the county’s union employees will receive per their contract starting on Jan. 1, 2018.

The 2017 Dover-Foxcroft Shiretown Homecoming parade on Saturday, Aug. 5 celebrated the 95th anniversary of the union of the towns of Dover and Foxcroft and representing the municipal merger was engaged couple Kylie Sands and James Watson. The mid-morning procession was the first in town since 2014 and Homecoming organizers hope to now bring the parade back every five years.

A proposed 2017-18 SAD 41 budget of $8,500,571 was approved with all 12 articles passing, without any discussion, over 17 minutes during a district budget meeting on Aug. 2 in the cafeteria at the Penquis Valley School. The $8.5 million total is now moved to a referendum in the district towns of Atkinson, Brownville, LaGrange, and Milo on Thursday, Aug. 10 for a “yes” or “no” vote.

In June SAD 41 residents - approved an approximate $474,000 loan from Maine’s school revolving renovation fund for sprinkler and elevator upgrades at the Penquis Valley School. Under the program the state covers 70 percent of the costs, meaning a little more than $142,000 would be paid back by the district over five years at zero percent interest.

With pre-kindergarten through grade 8 students at the SeDoMoCha School scheduled to have their first day of classes on Tuesday, Aug. 29, the RSU 68 board of directors had its last meeting of the summer on Aug. 1 to prepare for the 2017-18 academic year and learn more about the summer lunch program which is running through Friday, Aug. 18.