An act of the Legislature is needed if Mayo Regional Hospital’s merger with a statewide health care system is to go forward in the way administrators at the Dover-Foxcroft hospital are proposing. But no legislator from Piscataquis County has publicly committed yet to sponsoring the legislation that would eliminate the charter the hospital has operated under since the 1970s.

On Feb. 27 the board that oversees Mayo Regional Hospital (Hospital Administrative District 4) voted 14-2 to tax the 13 communities it serves should it need to in order to balance its debt service. Two board members abstained and one member was absent.

The public board that oversees Mayo Regional Hospital has voted to begin a merger with Northern Light Health, the statewide health care organization that’s based in Brewer and includes Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. The board members, who are elected from 13 Piscataquis County communities served by the hospital and who oversee a quasi-municipal entity known as Hospital Administrative District No. 4, approved the merger agreement in a 15-3 vote during a meeting Wednesday night, Feb. 27.

The public board that oversees Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft will vote Wednesday on whether to go forward with a proposed merger with Northern Light Health, the statewide health care system that’s based in Brewer and includes Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

A few significant projects in Senate District 4 include bridge replacement on Route 150 in Athens, highway construction and rehabilitation on Route 6 in Abbot and bridge improvements on Pleasant Street in Milo.

On Wednesday night, Feb. 27, following months of due diligence, planning, and gathering public input, the board that oversees Mayo Regional Hospital (Hospital Administrative District 4) plans to vote on a non-binding merger agreement with Northern Light Health, a statewide health care system.

Plans for Atkinson to join the Unorganized Territory (UT) on July 1 -- the community voted 187-19 (nearly 91 percent) at the November referendum to deorganize -- are still on track.

If Maine lawmakers pass a bill endorsed by the Legislature’s judiciary committee, pay for jurors in state courts would more than triple, rising to $50 per day -- the same rate paid to jurors by the federal court system.

Eight rail cars on an Eastern Maine Railways train left the tracks in a remote area of Piscataquis County on Friday, Feb. 8, according to a spokesperson from J.D. Irving, the Canadian conglomerate that owns the rail company.

Directors from Dexter and the other dozen communities making up HAD 4 are awaiting negotiation details between officials with Mayo Regional Hospital and Northern Light Health on a potential merger of the Dover-Foxcroft facility serving the region with the statewide healthcare system, the town council learned during a Feb. 14 meeting.

Mayo Regional Hospital has been awarded participation in a remote, technical assistance program with the Texas A&M University Center for Optimizing Rural Health. Mayo Regional Hospital is one of five hospitals in the state to be selected for support and training through the year-long program. Technical assistance will begin this spring.

Sen.Paul Davis, R-Sangervlle has submitted LD 784 “An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Eligibility for Unemployment Benefits.” If passed, this legislation would require individuals who are collecting unemployment benefits to accept and attend interviews for jobs they are reasonably fitted for. Failure to attend would result in disqualification from benefits.

Five rural Maine hospitals, including one that recently filed for bankruptcy protection and others that have cut key services in recent years, will receive expert help in stabilizing their business models after winning a rare federal award.

Nearly a year after residents of the four SAD 41 communities voted down a referendum on an approximate $2.3 million funding package for a heating system upgrade, converting from steam to hot water, and energy efficiency project at the Penquis Valley School, a revised project will be brought forward for a vote at the polls on Thursday, March 14 with an information meeting the week before at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6.

Three tiny bear cubs are resting peacefully in new dens after their original winter home was disturbed by a logging operation on Jan. 31, and their startled mother fled.

During a Feb. 5 meeting of the county commissioners, County Manager Tom Lizotte said the final Atkinson annual town meeting before deorganization would be held on the evening of Monday, Feb. 11. “I don’t anticipate any issues,” Lizotte said.

Dexter Family Practice has joined Mayo Regional Hospital to become the hospital’s fifth rural health center in the region.

Gabrielle Heuttener and Susannah Heuttener of Monson, Tyler Libby of Parkman, Ingrid Halvorsen of Guilford, and Tyler Judd of Athens served as honorary pages in the Maine Senate on Jan. 31. They were visiting the Statehouse with the 4-H Youth Development Program and they met with Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville.