At the March 18 meeting of Guilford American Legion Post 119 Collin Bickford of Abbot, center, was presented a certificate for his 50 years of continuous membership in the American Legion.

A historic inn located on Chesuncook Lake in the Moosehead Lake region was destroyed by fire early on the morning of Saturday, March 17. The Chesuncook Lake House, located on Chesuncook Lake and accessible through a 52-mile drive up the Golden Road and another 15 miles on snowmobile trail, lost everything to the blaze, but everyone at the inn escaped without injury.

Penobscot County’s longtime Democratic district attorney will not run for re-election, leaving an open path for one of his colleagues to replace him. R. Christopher Almy, D-Charleston, indicated he would run for re-election when he filed signed nomination papers to the Maine secretary of state earlier this month.

Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville testified before the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee on March 16 in support of LD 1810, “An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Expedited Permitting for Wind Energy Development.” His testimony was as follows:

Most sport fishermen, if they have some years on them, develop a sixth sense about how big a fish is when it is on the line, even when the fish is still fighting deep.

Maine’s Libra Foundation, as part of its broader efforts to rekindle new activity and investment in Piscataquis County, is constructing a state-of-the-art ice arena on property adjacent to Foxcroft Academy.

The Piscataquis Community High School Drama Club won a second-place trophy at the Maine Drama Festival on March 10 in Skowhegan. The name of the club’s production was “TATTERED,” a student-written play on the effects of bullying cyberbullying and suicide with the message … words hurt.

Maine Drug Enforcement Agents (MDEA) have arrested a couple from Brownville and charged them with selling heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine in Piscataquis County.

On Feb. 19 a new business opened in Dover Foxcroft. When one walks into the Butter Stick Bakery, located on East Main Street in the same space previously occupied by Shiretown Pizza, they will feel like stepping back into another era and the journey is delicious.

For more than two years The Outlet has provided a mixed martial arts (MMA) training center for all abilities, including those actively competing, others looking to take part in fitness programs related to the sport and children starting out in martial arts such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). The Outlet Mixed Martial Arts Training Center now has several champions in both MMA and BJJ.

In an effort to alleviate cramped conditions at the current facility, the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department is looking to lease space at the former Guilford Primary School -- which more recently was the home of the SAD 4 administrative office suite -- to house its patrol division

This week I received an email from a stranger. “I’m a producer/film director based in NYC. I would like to talk [with] you about…your interview with Jim Gordon.”

Somewhere, tucked away in the southeast corner of Piscataquis County and nestled into the town of Milo, is Derby. Prior to the early 1900s, Derby was known as Milo Junction, because it was a junction point for the Bangor and Aroostook trains.

At the T-dock, where Diane and I winter over on a houseboat in the Florida Keys, the word was spreading fast.

The Fisheries Division of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries (MDIFW) received national attention for its work restoring native Arctic charr to Big Reed Pond in northern Piscataquis County.

A draft of the budget for the 2018-19 academic year is nearing completion, the RSU 68 school board heard during a March 6 meeting at the SeDoMoCha School.

Game wardens are investigating the death of a Greenville man found dead on Wednesday morning in Moosehead Lake.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chairman of the transportation appropriations subcommittee, announced that the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) will receive $10,836,220 to replace three bridges in Piscataquis and Penobscot counties that are either structurally deficient, in a fracture-critical state, or both. Among the three is the Pleasant River Bridge in Milo on outer Pleasant Street.