Santa Claus had some help this year from the staff at Piscataquis Community Elementary School in making sure about two dozen students received a needed item of winter clothing and had something fun for Christmas.

Before athletes from around the world will be representing their countries in PyeongChang, South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics in February, students at Piscataquis Community Elementary School will be representing their county against schools from across Maine in the inaugural WinterKids Winter Games.

A month after meeting with representatives from RealTerm Energy -- which has contracted with about two dozen Maine communities and other towns across the U.S. and Canada -- the selectmen discussed having a proposed uniform plan for upgrading municipal street lights, during a Dec. 18 meeting.

In early February bids will be due for a pair of projects on the Piscataquis County campus. The first is for renovations to provide for more room at the district attorney’s office on the first floor of the courthouse and the second bid is for the construction of a roof enclosure over the exercise yard at the Piscataquis County Jail.

Leading by 11 early in the fourth quarter, Piscataquis Community High School would see its advantage drop to zero during a Class C North girls basketball contest against Searsport District High School on Dec. 20. The visiting Vikings would tie the game at 26 but PCHS had a 4-2 advantage in the last near three minutes to escape with a 30-28 victory.

On Dec. 2-3, as part of the annual Hometown Holidays Celebration, over two dozen decorated trees and accompanying goods were on display at the Mill Event Center. The trees served as more than decorations for the season, but a fundraiser hosted and sponsored by the SeDoMoCha Middle School Builders Club. Inspired by the Anah Temple Shriners’ Festival of Trees, Builders Club Adviser Heather Whitten said $10,490 was raised through the purchase of raffle tickets

At the November referendum, citizens narrowly approved a non-binding question asking “Are you in favor of of the town of Dexter opening public ways to the operation of All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)?” via a vote of 400 to 393. “I would like council to formulate a proposal at a future meeting to appoint a committee, really a task force,” Town Manager Jim Chandler said during a Dec. 14 meeting. He said the task force would be authorized by the council to conduct research and collect data to then bring back on what town roads may be opened up to ATVs to help community businesses and promote economic development.

A 2018 Piscataquis County budget totaling just under $4.25 million and a near $1,489,000 Unorganized Territory (UT) spending plan for the 2018-19 fiscal year were both formally approved by the county commissioners during a Dec. 5 meeting.

With the calendar year nearing a conclusion, RSU 68 officials have started preparations for developing the 2018-19 budget. During a Dec. 5 school board meeting, Superintendent Stacy Shorey said the directors have now all received a budget meeting calendar.

After several meetings learning more information about the proposed facility, the SAD 41 school board voted to join both SAD 46 of the Dexter area and the Guilford-based SAD 4 in the application process for an Integrated, Consolidated grades 9-16 Educational Facility pilot project during a Dec. 6 meeting at the Marion C. Cook School.