A record 61 Unified basketball teams representing 67 Maine high schools were free to hold their first preseason practices Thursday, Jan. 2. But how the season should conclude for those teams, which blend student-athletes who have intellectual disabilities with non-varsity partners, is being re-evaluated.

Team Iron Will, a powerlifting team from Dexter, recently traveled to the WABDL World Championships in Las Vegas. The team is comprised of four lifters that train together at Iron Will gym in Dexter. The gym is located in the old Dexter Shoe building. The group grabbed international attention with 11 first-place trophies, three best lifter awards and seven second-place medals.

With New Year’s, this is a good time to look at a couple of new regulations that will go into effect when the clock strikes midnight.

When Aleya Pelletier was filling out information on a form before taking her SATs, she had to list her extracurricular activities. Even though she had been a skier for Greenville High School and didn’t play basketball her first three years, she decided to check off the “Senior Basketball” box.

Ice anglers looking to find a safe place to fish on the traditional opening day of the season might want to consider a trip north, as the superintendent of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway reports that there is some fairly thick ice on AWW lakes and ponds. In much of the state, ice fishing is allowed as soon as safe ice forms. In the AWW, the season still begins on Jan. 1, as used to be the custom statewide.

As the saying goes, change is the only constant, and 2019 was no  exception. For the outdoor community in Maine, some of the change was good, some not so good. Let’s check out our backtrack.

The Foxcroft Academy boys finished sixth among nine schools with a score of 33 points during a Penobscot Valley Conference/Eastern Maine Indoor Track League meet on Dec. 28 at the University of Maine. Pony junior Logan Martin won both the 55 meters and long jump to pace the team

The more years I spend on earth, the faster each year speeds by. Not an original thought, I know: “Older” people have been telling me similar things forever. Now, it seems, I’ve finally reached an advanced enough age that their nonsense finally makes sense.

Visiting Baxter State Park in the winter takes extra planning. The main road that leads into the park is unplowed and therefore closed to vehicles. Plus the cold, wet conditions of winter in Maine add more risk to any outdoor adventure. But the sight of Katahdin and surrounding mountains cloaked in snow makes the planning worth the effort.

Just two coaches have led the Dexter Regional High School boys basketball program since the current building the Tigers call home opened in 1968. Now each has more than 300 victories. Peter Murray joined his predecessor, the late Ed Guiski, in that club last Thursday with a 56-47 victory at Piscatquis Community High School of Guilford, extending a remarkable level of consistency within the program.

Families of Maine hunters will be eating plenty of venison this winter, as nearly 30,000 of those hunters successfully filled their tags. Nathan Bieber, the state deer biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said a total of 28,314 deer were tagged by hunters using bows and arrows, crossbows, rifles and muzzleloaders this year. That total is considered “preliminary,” and could be adjusted if new data becomes available.

The Foxcroft Academy boys indoor track and field team opened the 2019-20 Penobscot Valley Conference/Eastern Maine Indoor Track League season on Dec. 21 at the University of Maine, scoring three points to finish seventh among eight schools.

Whether hunting in Colorado High Country or the Maine North Woods fir forests, you always keep a close eye on the weather. In some cases weather vigilance can make the difference between being comfortable or uncomfortable – or downright miserable, or even in harm’s way.

The basics of the Dexter boys basketball program for generations -- disciplined offense and assertive defense -- were on full display Dec. 21. The Tigers yielded just seven field goals to Bucksport and defeated the Golden Bucks 62-20 at Guiski Gymnasium.

But Mount View and other Little Ten Conference Class D North schools, including Washington Academy of East Machias and Houlton, also are reportedly among those considering the eight-player option. That would change the dynamics of 11-player competition in that conference considerably

The Forest Society of Maine welcomes Nordic skiers of all ages and abilities to enjoy the trails, this winter, at Nickerson Tree Farm. Located behind the Moosehead Lake Region Visitors’ Center -- just a few miles south of town -- the tree farm offers a 2.3-mile network of looping routes that will be groomed throughout winter, as conditions allow.

Upcoming sporting events around the region.

Two men from southern Maine will assume key leadership roles in the Maine Sports Hall of Fame beginning in January. Former television broadcaster Bill Green and Brian Corcoran, the chief executive officer of Shamrock Sports & Entertainment, are set to help guide the organization.