Bath Iron Works has signed a contract with a Guilford company to deliver machines needed to ramp up its production of testing swabs used to detect the new coronavirus. The Bath shipyard will deliver 30 machines to provide sterile packaging for Puritan Medical Products’ testing swabs, according to a company statement.

Following a month and a half of remote learning for students and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, this method of instruction will continue for about four more weeks as the SAD 46 school board approved Friday, June 5 as the final remote learning day of 2019-20 during a May 6 meeting conducted via Zoom.

Fewer Mainers have responded to the 2020 census than the national average, mainly because the coronavirus outbreak has halted U.S. Census Bureau field operations in less populated areas of the state.

Maine began to reopen businesses faster than most other states amid the coronavirus outbreak, but public pressure on Gov. Janet Mills has focused on sectors most sensitive to the summer tourist season as changing plans begin to roll out across the country.

Piscataquis Community High School Principal John Keane has announced that Megan McLaughlin is this year’s recipient of the MPA Principal’s Award.

In early April, the Department of Education delivered 500 internet-enabled tablets to schools in Piscataquis County made possible through donations.

Piscatquis Community High School Principal John Keane has announced the valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2020, Melissa Burdin and Macee Pearl respectively.

Democratic candidate Margarita Contreni announced her candidacy for the Maine House of Representatives for District 119. The district includes the unorganized territories of Northeast and Northwest Piscataquis; Barnard, Blanchard and Elliottsville townships; and the towns of Abbot, Beaver Cove, Bowerbank, Greenville, Greenville Junction, Guilford, Monson, Parkman, Sangerville, Sebec, Shirley and Willimantic.

Puritan is one of the world’s top two makers of the specialized swabs that are used to collect samples from people’s nasal cavities so that they can be tested for the coronavirus that has now infected more than 1 million Americans, including at least 60,000 who have died. That flurry of outreach to the manufacturer has now led to a federal contract worth up to $75.5 million, which will help it to rapidly grow into a new Pittsfield facility and staff it with at least 150 additional workers, according to Wellman. 

Minority Republicans in the Maine Legislature want to reconvene and end the coronavirus state of emergency declared by Gov. Janet Mills, which would allow all businesses to reopen but would require unlikely Democratic support.

Over 40 fourth-graders from Piscataquis Community Elementary School were challenged to create an advertisement for Valley Grange as part of the annual “Newspapers in Education” program sponsored by the Piscataquis Observer. This is the 12th year the Grange has sponsored the program.

Amid criticism of her plan to reopen Maine’s economy from hospitality and other businesses, Gov. Janet Mills on Friday stood firm on allowing businesses to restart in stages over the next few months.

Out of concern for the health and well-being of Partners for Peace staff, volunteers and the survivors and community members we serve, all Partners for Peace in-person services will continue to be “on pause” at least until June 1 or until further notice. Our 24-hour helpline will remain open and available to anyone affected by abuse or violence, including community partners, at 1-800-863-9909.

Following the announcement by Gov. Janet Mills that Maine will take a phased approach to reopening certain business operations tomorrow, Northern Light CA Dean and Mayo hospitals are joining other Northern Light Health facilities across the state in taking steps to prepare for the phased launch of critical services delayed by COVID-19.

Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage teased a run against his successor in the strongest terms yet so far on Wednesday, telling a radio host he will return to Maine from Florida and “challenge Janet Mills or the Democratic Party in 2022.”

A Guilford company that makes the medical swabs necessary to test for the coronavirus has identified a location in Pittsfield where it would open a second manufacturing facility to help meet the spike in demand for its products.

As health care systems in coronavirus hot spots are stretched thin, Maine hospitals and the state prepared for a much larger onslaught of coronavirus cases than the one that has materialized so far here.

Certain Maine businesses can reopen on Friday as part of a gradual plan to lift coronavirus-related restrictions, though many hospitality businesses could remain closed deep into the summer, Gov. Janet Mills said Tuesday.