Piscataquis Observer

Screenshot (95)

Bangor Daily News photo/Linda Coan O’Kresik SHERIFF CANDIDATES — The three Republican candidates running for Piscataquis County Sheriff are, from left, Chief Deputy Todd Lyford, Sgt. Guy Dow, and Lt. James Kane. The primary will be held on June 9.

Bangor Daily News photo/Linda Coan O’Kresik SHERIFF CANDIDATES — The three Republican candidates running for Piscataquis County Sheriff are, from left, Chief Deputy Todd Lyford, Sgt. Guy Dow, and Lt. James Kane. The primary will be held on June 9.

3 co-workers are running against each other in one of Maine’s most contested sheriff’s races

By Marie Weidmayer, Bangor Daily News Staff DOVER-FOXCROFT — Three colleagues are running for Piscataquis County sheriff — making it one of the most contested county-level races in Maine’s June primaries. The county of roughly 17,000 people has three current Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office employees running for the seat that will be vacated later this year by Sheriff Bob Young.

News BrowseNews

Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife releases 2025-2035 Maine Wildlife Action Plan

AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has completed the 2025-2035 Maine Wildlife Action Plan, a wildlife conservation blueprint that provides voluntary, non-regulatory strategies for protecting Maine’s most vulnerable fish and wildlife and leverages additional federal conservation funding.

State senate rejects bill to establish direct state oversight of probate judges

By Sabrina Martin, Bangor Daily News Staff Despite coming under scrutiny in the past year because of Hancock County’s suspended probate judge, a bill to reform how probate judge positions are filled and overseen was rejected March 26 by the state Senate.

Maine passes law to prioritize affordable electric rates

By Peter McGuire, Maine Public A new Maine law will require state utility regulators to focus on lowering consumer energy costs.

Get re-acquainted with these Maine basketball legends heading into the hall of fame

By BDN Sports The Maine Basketball Hall of Fame is set to get even bigger in August, with a group of 10 new inductees, six legends of the game and two teams slated to join the hall’s prestigious membership.

MDF’s Maine Downtown Center wins $750,000 National Park Service grant for historic preservation

AUGUSTA – The Maine Development Foundation’s Maine Downtown Center program is pleased to receive a $750,000 grant from the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants Program.

Thompson Free Library represented at Maine Arts Day

AUGUSTA — Maine Arts Day was held at the State House earlier in the month.

Sports BrowseSports

Observer file photo/Stuart Hedstrom FRESHMAN HONOR — Then Foxcroft Academy senior Hayden Strout on the mound during a game at Central in 2025. Strout recently earned a collegiate rookie of the week award playing for the University of Southern Maine.

Observer file photo/Stuart Hedstrom FRESHMAN HONOR — Then Foxcroft Academy senior Hayden Strout on the mound during a game at Central in 2025. Strout recently earned a collegiate rookie of the week award playing for the University of Southern Maine.

Strout earns collegiate rookie honor

GORHAM — University of Southern Maine freshman Hayden Strout, a resident of Charleston and 2025 Foxcroft Academy graduate, has been named the Maine College Baseball & Softball Association Rookie of the Week, USM announced. The first batch of MCBSA weekly awards included stats for all games played on or before March 15.

Four local players selected for Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic

Three players from Foxcroft Foxcroft Academy and another from Dexter Regional High School football team have been selected for the 2026 Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic, scheduled for Saturday, July 18 at Lewiston High School.

Maine referendum to ban trans athletes from girls sports teams qualifies for ballot

By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff A referendum to ban transgender athletes from girls sports teams has qualified for Maine’s November ballot.

Opinion BrowseOpinion

Free community college is a sound investment in Maine

By John Baldacci and John McKernan Making the Maine Free College Scholarship permanent for the high school graduates of the Class of 2026 and beyond delivers on a promise the two of us made decades ago — and maintained since — to keep a community college education affordable to as many Mainers as possible.

AARP Maine’s News You Can Use

By Joyce Bucciantini, AARP Maine community outreach volunteer Maine is the oldest state in the nation with 23% of its population over the age of 65.

It’s Trump, not immigrants, picking your pockets

To the Editor; President Lyndon Johnson observed that “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket.

Ice stories and statistics

The North Woods isn’t the same without this visitor

By Al Raychard I read somewhere there are about 300 species of birds that live in or visit Maine and at least 200 are year-round residents.

Maine shouldn’t be the last state to protect victims with real-time alerts

By Anna Nasset and Troy Morton In the quiet moments of a survivor’s life, the most dangerous thing isn’t always a person: It’s the unknown.

Living BrowseLiving

UMaine Extension to host webinar on the role community gardens play in food security

University of Maine Cooperative Extension will complete its Spring Gardening Webinar Series: Building Food Security in Maine with “Community Gardens and Food Security in Maine” from 6–7:15 p.

Chase elected to membership into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi

Candace Chase of Milo was recently elected to membership into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society, at University of Maine.

Calendar of events

|Recurring Events Mondays DEXTER: The Abbott Museum is open 10 a.

Make all your wishes come true with ‘Disney’s Aladdin JR.’

DOVER-FOXCROFT — “Disney’s Aladdin JR.

Dover-Foxcroft seeking Opportunity Zone 2.0 status

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The town of Dover-Foxcroft is pursuing an Opportunity Zone 2.

Inside the years-long effort to dissolve a Penobscot County town

By Kasey Turman, Bangor Daily News Staff Nearly three years after Drew Plantation ceased to be a town, the community is still in need of a shed to store salt used on local roads during winter months.