“There is a lot of talk recently about guns and mental illness. I don't know much about guns.., but I know…about mental illness.” So begins a 2/19/18 Facebook post by Randy Seaver, posted after a shooter killed high school students in Florida. Randy’s first Facebook about mental illness last year was autobiographical.

At its roots, pemmican is simply a ball of dried meat , powdered and mixed with fat. The word “pemmican” comes from the Cree Indian word “pimikan,” which translates to “manufactured grease.”

“The list was published late yesterday, there were three finalists and we were the third-ranked finalist,” SAD 46/AOS 94 Superintendent Kevin Jordan said on Feb. 15.

Students across the region will have opportunities to take part in new emergency medical technician (EMT) and multimedia videography programs at the Tri-County Technical Center (TCT) next year, with the programs being funded with state monies.

In September the Category 5 Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico. The recovery effort is continuing five months later and Piscataquis Community Elementary School grade 5-6 teacher Grace McGeehan will be spending a portion of her February vacation helping a school on the island in the Caribbean Sea.

Thirteen-year-old Nathaniel, left, and Brody -- who celebrated his ninth birthday on Sunday, Feb. 18 -- Lovejoy from Williamsburg each had two successful days of fishing during the 56th annual Schoodic Lake Ice Fishing Derby on Saturday and Sunday.

Have you ever had a queasy feeling after swallowing a multivitamin on an empty stomach? If so, you know how I felt after reading a recent Bangor Daily News story about the first Maine gubernatorial candidate to qualify to receive Clean Election Funds for the 2018 elections.

Selectmen reviewed the the first draft of the 2018-19 municipal budget during a Feb. 12 meeting, with the amount to be raised up by $126,040 or 4.66 percent from the current figure of just under $2,718,000, which is part of the total $5,074,820 approved by residents at the town meeting referendum last June.

But on Sunday, March 4, the parish community will gather together on the same patch of land on Pritham Avenue. This time, tears of sadness will be replaced with joy as parishioners walk into the new Holy Family Church for a 10 a.m. Mass of Dedication, celebrated by Bishop Robert P. Deeley. All are welcome to attend.

The Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) winds from Old Forge, New York to Fort Kent, Maine. Established in 2000, it is the longest mapped inland paddling route in the country: 740 miles.

Month by month outstanding pupils in grades 5-8 at Piscataquis Community Elementary School are honored by being named Students of the Month. On the third Friday of the month the honorees are presented with certificates in front of their peers during the morning meeting.

At a Feb. 6 select meeting of the Milo selectmen, PCEDC Executive Director Chris Winstead said a year prior he met with the county commissioners and then the dozen-plus selectboards. “We worked our way to each of the communities asking if you would like to be part of a broadband initiative,” he said.

Last month Gov. Paul LePage’s administration unveiled a restructuring proposal to hand oversight of the state’s 15 county jails to a new state commission and potentially close five jails -- including Piscataquis County’s -- while regionalizing the system.

A month after passing a 60-day emergency moratorium ordinance regarding retail recreational marijuana, the town council passed another ordinance on the issue during the Feb. 8 meeting. The moratorium ordinance will be in effect for 180 days through Sept. 6 -- residents can still use recreational and medicinal marijuana within the law -- as the document covers all retail recreational marijuana activity and the location, operation or licensing of all such retail marijuana establishments and retail marijuana social clubs.

The Piscataquis Regional Food Center (PRFC) wishes to thank the Bangor Savings Bank Foundation for its generous support of PRFC’s warehouse renovation project. The Bangor Savings Bank Foundation recently awarded the organization a $,5000 grant

It dawned on me yesterday that my radio talk show and music listening have largely been replaced by listening to podcasts. One definition of podcast is: "a digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, …which can be received by subscribers automatically."

A Sangerville man died Feb. 9 as a result of a snowmobile crash in Corinna. Jeffrey Wiley Jr., 44, was travelling south along the rail-bed snowmobile trail when he struck a tree.

Managing Maine’s incredible sport fishery -- and its associated regulations -- is complex and always subject to second guessing by arm-chair fisheries “biologists,” who may sincerely believe that they know how better to manage the fish in their favorite angling waters.