The start of the next school year and the status of high school sports remain up in the air because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brewer High School athletic director David Utterback has submitted a proposal to the Maine Principals’ Association to help make it easier for athletes to compete during the fall season if students have returned to the classroom in some capacity.

On the morning of June 12, the long-awaited project for creating a waterfront park at the beginning of Lakeview Street in Greenville has come closer to completion with the signing of documents between landowner EJ Richardson and Steve Levesque, president and executive director of the Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corporation (MLREDC), which spearheaded this ambitious project for the people of Greenville and those that visit this beautiful part of the world.

It is only natural for people in the midst of a deeply emotional event to lash out at what they see as the cause of their grief and anger. Understandably, this reaction often overreaches and leads to calls for drastic measures that will not solve the problem in the long term.

Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville has received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in his primary election to return to the Maine State Senate in District 4.

On Saturday, as has become an annual affair, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will draw the names of this year's crop of lucky moose hunters. Unfortunately for this year's crop of permit-winners, this permit lottery won't be an in-person event attended by hundreds. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, it'll be held virtually, and streamed online instead. That means that when hunters start shrieking and cheering when their name is drawn, hundreds of strangers won't start cheering for them, as has also been the custom.

The Commons at Central Hall is collaborating with community partner organizations to present a series called “PTSD Conversations: Our Communities Response.” This series of four virtual presentations over the next four months will appear on Facebook Live and Zoom.  The first of the series called “A Journey Towards Healing” focuses on equine therapy for veterans and will occur at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24.

Maine local governments are still waiting for financial aid assistance from the federal government. Maine state and local budgets will be decreased by many thousands of dollars in the coming months due to decreases in revenue sharing, excise tax revenues, loss of property taxes and the overall economic impact of COVID-19.

I have wonderful neighbors here in Guilford. We don’t always agree about politics. That’s OK. But for me President Donald Trump’s words are personal. I am American, born and raised. My father was not so lucky -- refugees from Hungary, his family came here with nothing but hope. Like many “white” Americans -- Irish, French Canadian, Italian, the list goes on -- we were the “wrong type” of immigrant at the time. Although I consider talking about this with my neighbors, usually I choose not to.

On Thursday the Maine Department of Education released a draft framework to assist schools in planning for return to school scenarios in the fall. The framework was developed with input from multiple stakeholder groups, including the Department of Education’s Student Cabinet, community health experts and educators representing the many roles in schools.

Penobscot County voters will not be asked in November to approve funding for a new jail as officials consider whether operational changes imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak will become permanent. It could be November 2021 before the measure appears on the ballot.