By Lia Russell, Bangor Daily News Staff As a handful of small Maine police departments struggling to fill positions close or weigh whether they can keep their doors open, state figures show the number of officers in local police departments has dropped nearly 6 percent since 2015.

The state of Maine is launching a new program aimed at helping Mainers with disabilities stay safe.

By Lynne Fort, Bangor Daily News Staff A 59-year-old Missouri man was airlifted from Chimney Pond Ranger Station Sunday morning, June 20 after spending more than 60 hours on Katahdin, News Center Maine reports.

By Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News Staff Maine has received a $300,000 federal grant that will allow three district attorneys to review how they’ve handled domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking cases, and bring a consistent approach to prosecuting the cases, whose victims are primarily women and children.

By Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News Staff The man who was shot in the back after allegedly robbing a Dover-Foxcroft convenience store last week made his first court appearance Thursday.

By David Marino Jr.

By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff The man shot last week when he allegedly robbed a Dover-Foxcroft store reportedly told police he was “in a bad way” and needed money for drugs.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — After recently replacing a ladder truck, the Dover-Foxcroft Fire Department will also be switching out a 1999 pumper truck for a new model sometime in 2022.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Early on Saturday, June 12 Dover-Foxcroft Police responded to a reported motor vehicle vs.

By Josh Keefe, Bangor Daily News Staff A bill that would have created more oversight of Maine’s county sheriffs died in the Legislature.

By Lynne Fort, Bangor Daily News Staff This story will be updated.

By Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News Staff A federal judge appeared skeptical Wednesday that a delay of up to four business hours between the time civil complaints are filed in the Maine judicial branch’s new electronic filing system and they become available to the public violates the First Amendment.

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Piscataquis County Economic Development Council recently submitted a grant application to the ConnectMaine Authority seeking a $30,000 grant for a study to identify specific broadband issues in the region.

By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff Two people were killed in separate crashes over the weekend in Piscataquis County.

By Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News Staff A LaGrange man whose passenger was killed July 7 when the SUV he was driving went off the road and rolled onto its roof was indicted May 26 by the Penobscot County grand jury on charges of manslaughter and aggravated operating under the influence of intoxicants.

T7, R13  — The Maine Warden Service, with the help of an Allagash Wilderness Waterway Ranger, rescued two capsized canoeists on Chamberlain Lake in Northern Piscataquis County on May 23.

By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff An Androscoggin commissioner unsuccessfully pushed a “health freedom” proposal to ban the county from requiring elected officials, staff and jail inmates to get COVID-19 vaccines.

Together with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s two-week Click It or  Ticket Campaign, the Maine Buckle Up.