In an effort to help recruit and retain quality officers for several positions within the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office, the Piscataquis County Commissioners approved a request from Sheriff Robert Young to adjust hourly pay rates for part-time patrol deputies, dispatchers, and corrections officers during a Jan. 22 meeting.

A brief vacancy at sergeant in the Dover-Foxcroft Police Department created when Todd Lyford departed at the start of the new year to become the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy has been filled with the appointment of retired Maine State Police Cpl. Matt Grant. Grant was officially appointed by the selectmen during a Jan. 14 meeting for a term to expire on June 30.

Maine game wardens were busy responding to a number of serious snowmobile accidents last weekend, and with substantial snow in the forecast for the coming days, wardens say focusing on snowmobile safety makes a lot of sense as more sledders will be hitting the trails.

A Maine snowmobiler drove his sled eight miles Friday night, Jan. 11 with a fractured leg after he was involved in a chain reaction snowmobile accident started by a moose, game wardens said.

County officials are making preparations for Atkinson to join the Unorganized Territory (UT) on July 1 -- the community voted 187-19 (nearly 91 percent) at the November referendum to deorganize. Many of the plans for how municipal services will be provided by the county have been set, but a few are still to be finalized prior to the start of the 2019-20 fiscal year when Atkinson joins the UT.

A man from midcoast Maine and his son were rescued from Mount Katahdin on Sunday, Jan. 6 after blowing snow caused whiteout conditions along the Knife Edge Trail, according to park officials.

The Dover-Foxcroft Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating family members of a Steadman’s Landing Road resident whose body was discovered on his front porch by a neighbor on New Year’s Day, after apparently being there for days.

The body of a Steadman’s Landing Road resident was discovered on his front porch by a neighbor on New Year’s Day and had apparently been there for days, Dover-Foxcroft Police Chief Ryan Reardon said on Wednesday morning.

A man with a history of escapes from state correctional facilities is one step closer to trial for his latest escape. The Penobscot County grand jury late last week indicted Arnold Nash, 65, for his September escape from Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston when he had just 14 months left on his sentence. An indictment is not a finding of guilt, but rather a determination that enough evidence exists to bring a case to trial.

The Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office did not have to look far to find the the department’s next chief deputy with the hiring of Dover-Foxcroft Police Department Sgt. Todd Lyford, who also has served as a police chief in Brownville and Milo. Sheriff-Elect and current Chief Deputy Bob Young made the announcement during the Dec. 18 meeting of the Piscataquis County Commissioners.

Maine’s 62 newest police officers have graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, including Stephen Garib of Dover-Foxcroft Police Department. The officers spent 18 weeks in study and training and most will begin patrolling immediately, in time for Christmas and New Year’s Eve enforcement efforts.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday, Dec. 11 upheld the murder conviction of the man who led authorities on the longest manhunt in state history. Robert Burton, 41, of Abbot is serving a 55-year sentence at the Maine State Prison in Warren for the slaying of his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Ginn Gebo, 37, of Parkman after breaking into her home more than three years ago. A jury convicted him of murder in October 2017.

A week after the public hearing for the pair of spending plans, the Piscataquis County Commissioners approved a $4,535,958 Piscataquis County budget for the 2019 calendar year along with an Unorganized Territory (UT) budget of $1,756,657 for the 2019-20 fiscal year during the Dec. 4 meeting.

A proposed $4,535,958 Piscataquis County budget for the 2019 calendar year, along with an Unorganized Territory (UT) budget of $1,756,657 for the 2019-20 fiscal year, was presented at a public hearing on Nov. 26 as part of the process by county officials for developing the pair of spending plans.

In Penobscot and Piscataquis counties, Republican Marianne Lynch beat Democrat Joseph Belisle by a vote of 57.3 percent to 42.7 percent, according to unofficial returns. Lynch, who currently serves as deputy district attorney, was the chosen successor of longtime District Attorney R. Christopher Almy. He was first elected in 1986.

The brother of a Medford woman who went missing two years ago announced a $12,000 reward Thursday for information that could lead law enforcement to his sister, who was 71 when she went missing.

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and local police arrested a man in Dexter on Monday evening, Nov. 5 following a month-long investigation that involved purchasing drugs directly from the suspect. They seized heroin worth at least $15,000 and more than $2,600 in drug proceeds in the process.

A long-term agreement for beyond 2018-19 is still pending, but the SeDoMoCha School will have a school resource officer from the Dover-Foxcroft Police Department in the building for eight hours per week as an agreement was approved by the school board during a Nov. 6 meeting at the Monson Arts Center.