By Stuart Hedstrom  Staff Writer    MILO — Residents of SAD 41 gave their approval to a 2013-14 school budget totaling $7,841,319 during the district meeting on June 20 at Penquis Valley High School.

Photo courtesy of Abbott Memorial LibraryBOOK CLUB SALUTES THE SIXTIES — Raising their glasses of Tang, members of Abbott Memorial Library’s Book Club saluted the 1960s on May 29 when the club met to discuss “Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream” by Doris Kearns (Goodwin).

    NEWTON, Mass.

By Mike LangeStaff Writer    GUILFORD — Redneck Riverfest is set for Saturday, July 27 in Guilford, and the mid-summer event – now in its ninth year – is easily the biggest drawing card of the year for the riverfront community.

Photo courtesy of Bangor Savings Bank    COMMUNITY MATTERS MORE — Rox-Anne St.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom    TABLE MANNERS NOT REQUIRED — Competitors in the children’s whoopie pie eating contest see who can eat four of the miniature chocolate and cream desserts the fastest during the annual Maine Whoopie Pie Festival on June 22 in downtown Dover-Foxcroft.

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — Special summer programs begin Thursday, June 27 at Thompson Free Library with baby goats and lambs at 10:30 a.

    Editor’s note: Here is a brief summary of local lawmakers’ votes on key issues during the 126th Session of the Maine Legislature.

    WATERVILLE — Thelma Regan, director of the Piscataquis Valley Adult Education Cooperative (PVAEC), received the MAEA Adult Education Outstanding Administrator Award at the recent Maine Adult Education Association Conference held at Colby College on June 19.

  Photo courtesy of David A.