This week I was smack dab in the middle of a situation where a business’s customer relations went from good, to worst, to best. There is customer service wisdom here for all business owners.

The man who fatally shot his ex-girlfriend then led police on the longest manhunt in state history was sentenced Friday, Dec. 15 to 55 years in prison. Robert Burton, 40, of Abbot, was convicted on Oct. 5 of murdering Stephanie Ginn Gebo, 37, of Parkman.

Starting the first of next year, the sport hunting of migratory caribou will be indefinitely suspended in Quebec and Labrador. This measure was announced by Quebec’s minister of forests, who cited “sustainability of the species” as the reason for the hunt closure.

Baxter State Park Director Jensen Bissell is retiring at the end of this year after 30 years working for park administration and 12 years as park director.

Crystal Saunders, center of Dover-Foxcroft, is the winner in the Piscataquis Observer’s annual Find the Shop Local Tree Contest. Saunders was awarded a grand prize package of goods from numerous area businesses after her name was drawn from a pool of 10 weekly prize winners

A missing North Carolina man was found dead early on the morning of Dec. 13 by authorities. Willard L. Hartsock, 55, from Old Fort, N.C., has died in a snowmobile related incident near Rockwood.

A fire crackled in the woodstove as Mary Margaret Ripley chopped carrots and ginger root. Her husband, Gene Ripley, helped their 20-month old daughter, Harriet, sort the vegetables into glass jars. They then added a scoop of curry powder and a simple mixture of salt and water, brine that would ferment the vegetables over the course of five to seven days. For the Ripleys, fermented vegetables are a way of life.

A 2018 Piscataquis County budget totaling just under $4.25 million and a near $1,489,000 Unorganized Territory (UT) spending plan for the 2018-19 fiscal year were both formally approved by the county commissioners during a Dec. 5 meeting.

With the calendar year nearing a conclusion, RSU 68 officials have started preparations for developing the 2018-19 budget. During a Dec. 5 school board meeting, Superintendent Stacy Shorey said the directors have now all received a budget meeting calendar.

After several meetings learning more information about the proposed facility, the SAD 41 school board voted to join both SAD 46 of the Dexter area and the Guilford-based SAD 4 in the application process for an Integrated, Consolidated grades 9-16 Educational Facility pilot project during a Dec. 6 meeting at the Marion C. Cook School.

Several inches of snow fell on Dover-Foxcroft over the weekend, leaving a lasting white coating over the town. More snow was forecast for Tuesday to help create a winter wonderland for the holiday season.

Representative Paul Stearns, R-Guilford has announced his intention to run for the Maine House of Representatives in District 119. Stearns is currently serving his second term in that seat.

Chief Deputy Robert Young has announced that he is seeking the office of sheriff of Piscataquis County in 2018.

All my life I wanted to be either a writer or a musician. At age 18, figuring I didn't have enough life experience under my belt to write anything worth reading, I refocused most of my energies on becoming a professional musician: someone who earns a living playing music.

When it comes to the quality of the sport fishery, once-fabled fishing lakes like Branch Lake, Green Lake and Beech Hill Pond have had their ups and downs. When I was a kid, Branch Lake was a red hot game fishery. Beech Hill gave up a record lake trout that has never been bested.

SANTA AND MRS. CLAUS COME TO TOWN -- The weekend’s annual Hometown Holidays celebration across the region began on Friday, Dec. 1 in Guilford with an evening tree lighting at the downtown Braeburn lot. After the singing of Christmas carols in front of the Guilford Historical Society and next to a bonfire across the street, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived at the corner of Water and North Main streets. With the assistance of a dozen young helpers, Santa used his magic to light the Christmas tree.

Throughout Maine, old mills are empty, idle, and crumbling. Or they're converted to apartments, shops, and museums. Mostly, Maine's mills are ghosts of the era when textile, shoe, and lumber mills were Maine's largest employers.

A LITTLE BIT OF ICE -- A thin layer of ice coats Little Lake Wassookeag by the Dexter Public Beach & Recreation Area shortly before sunset on the first day of December. Soon the body of water will be dotted with ice fishing shacks and crisscrossed with snowmobile tracks.