It has been a challenging and emotionally draining last several weeks. We’ve been encouraged to stay at home to keep each other safe and many of us have been relegated to that same (in my case tiny) space for work. Day after day. It got old. Quickly. I had no idea how much it had dampened my outlook on things -- until I went fishing.

Piscataquis County may not be at the epicenter of Maine’s battle against the COVID-19  pandemic -- as of Sunday there is only one positive test among its 16,800 residents. That’s not to say the impact of the coronavirus stops at the county line, including the food insecurity that comes with rapidly expanding unemployment around the state.

More and more, the government’s nationwide COVID-19 mitigation measures are resembling a fictional nightmare from the pages of “1984,” George Orwell’s dystopian novel about oppressive government run amok.

All 16 of the state’s counties have confirmed cases with the first case confirmed in Piscataquis County on Sunday. It was last Maine county to report a case.

Gov. Janet Mills’ leadership has kept Maine’s coronavirus infection and death rates among the lowest in the nation.

I’ve been entering information from vital records (birth, marriage, death) into my genealogical software program. When you do the same chore remember that every category on the form can hide a valuable clue. Yes, it takes time and the temptation to skip all that in favor of researching is great, but if you don’t enter everything you take a chance you’ll eventually forget all the details and some of those may be what you need in the future.  

University of Maine Cooperative Extension has a new online resource designed to encourage all the gardeners who are waiting for warmer weather and soil ready for planting.

I call for the release of as many jail and prison inmates as possible in light of the threat to inmates of the COVID-19 virus. If anyone going into a locked facility, where inmates and staff have no good option of safe distancing, has the virus, it will be almost impossible to prevent a health and safety crisis.

Harry Oakes started life as a shy, small town kid, growing up in the 1870s and 80s in the Piscataquis County towns of Sangerville and, later, Dover-Foxcroft, the third of five children. His life ended in 1943, as one of the wealthiest men in North America, and as the victim of a mysterious, violent murder that remains unsolved.

While the initial phase of the plan included work packet distribution from day one, and collection in the following weeks, SAD 4 concurrently began moving into the online classroom. We sent iPads home with all students in grades 3-8 on day one, and with students in grades pre-K-2 as appropriate, to provide greater opportunity to access learning.