Memorial Day, Decoration Day, all one in the same. Originally May 30, 1868, a day set aside by the Grand Army of the Republic to decorate the graves of Civil War dead.

The pulse of life. Heroic emergency workers will fight to try and save it. Medical advancements are made in a desperate search to heal and prolong its energy.

Last Thursday, May 9 we received the terrible news that the $7.1 million highway reconstruction project scheduled to begin in Abbot has been pulled. My first reaction, perhaps like yours, is "why us -- how come we never get anything!" That is a natural reaction. In reality, these constructions decisions are made using set criteria.

On behalf of the community of Dover-Foxcroft and the surrounding communities, I want to thank the ladies of Mayo Regional Hospital for putting on a delicious dinner at the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church Monday night, May 6. The meal and services were wonderful.

Climate change is such a polarizing issue that passing bipartisan legislation to address it has been out of range, till now. Citizens Climate Lobby, a national nonpartisan organization, recently helped introduce the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, by a bipartisan group in the U.S. House of Representatives. Enacted into law, this bill would reduce carbon pollution and bring climate change under control by charging a fee on fossil fuels. The idea is called “fee and dividend.”

I was one of the four people that voted against the Mayo Regional Hospital-Northern Light Health (NLH) merger at the Sangerville special town meeting.

On April 25 the Maine Senate passed a bill that would ban polystyrene, or Styrofoam, cups and food containers by 2020. The bill now goes to Gov. Janet Mills’ desk for her signature. Thank you Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville for understanding that solving the plastic pollution problem is not a partisan issue and voting ‘yes’ on the polystyrene ban.

There was plenty of food and conversation and some rousing tunes at the free community luncheon offered at the Brownville Junction American Legion Building on Thursday, April 25. The event was sponsored by the members of St. John’s Episcopal Church and supported by the Brownville Junction American Legion and the Ladies Auxiliary.

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Sangerville and Dover Foxcroft wishes to thank the community for its support of our food cupboard fundraiser, SoupStock. Our major fundraiser was a huge success. Special thanks go to all the businesses and individuals who donated their time and items.

To the Editor; I recently attended the community forum held in Guilford by Mayo Regional Hospital to inform citizens about the proposal to merge with Northern Light Health.

When I hear people complain about the Central Maine Power right of way that is being considered, it makes me think about how people must have felt when they saw the first telephone poles going up.

The impeachment ship is foundering in the breakers of the Mueller report. From blaming Trump election despondency for their obsessive reporting to outright denial, the old guard media is at a loss to explain how their spin got “unspun” before the eyes of the nation. The old ships are taking on water.

With the recent tragedy in New Zealand, Hollywood elitists approved of the recent enactment of stricter gun control in that country. This from a group of writers, directors and actors that spend their lives in a fantasy world.

Our Canadian neighbors to the north want to sell surplus hydropower through Maine to Massachusetts.

Voters in Dover-Foxcroft will have a second chance to weigh in on three proposed land use ordinances (LUO) rejected by the town last November. These ordinances are the result of many years of hard work by the Planning Board (PB) focused on creating a more robust regulatory framework to govern land use within our town.

I am writing to support with enthusiasm Gov. Mills’ work toward making preschool available to all children in Maine. As a teacher of English and communication, I have had the opportunity to work with a broad spectrum of students from middle school through college.

Maine should go after Amazon to build their new headquarters here. Why? Because a massive, modern building would look so much better than a 145-mile transmission line that would supposedly create temporary jobs and destroy acres of forest.

We are fortunate to still have a local newspaper in the Piscataquis Observer. Cities and towns across the U.S. have lost 1,400 newspapers in the last 15 years, and the Observer, like all other Maine papers, has been subject to staff reductions, but at least we still have a source for coverage of board meetings, local events, sports events, etc.