News

FORT KENT - The trucks and trailers have been arriving all week, carrying the odd-shaped dog boxes, displaying colorful signs and logos for sled teams and sporting dogsleds strapped to the tops of the vehicles like intricate crowns.

Monday, Feb. 23, 2015 – Sunday, March 1, 2015

AROOSTOOK COUNTY - The following is an ongoing list of obituaries submitted to the Fiddlehead Focus during the month of January, 2015. The staff at Fiddlehead Focus send their deepest condolences to family and friends of the deceased.

For detailed obituaries, please refer to the obituary section of the Fiddlehead Focus by clicking on "Obits" on the homepage menu bar.

VAN BUREN - Van Buren middle school students Jayde Violette and Sophie Rioux, with the assistance of teachers and staff at Van Buren District School (VBDS), have organized a 100-mile club for the middle school community.

EAGLE LAKE - Jason and Fancy Drolet of Eagle Lake are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Monroe Janelle Sharon Drolet. Monroe was born February 26, 2015 at the Northern Maine Medical Center.

ST. AGATHA - The second annual Angel Snowfest benefit for Angel Flight New England and the Edgar J. Paradis Cancer Fund (in Memory of Dick and Carol Derosier) will take place March 7 from 11:00 a.m. until midnight at the Lakeview Restaurant in St. Agatha.

FORT KENT – On Wednesday, Feb. 25, the Fort Kent Outdoor Center hosted several dozen guests with special needs for an enjoyable day of snowmobile rides and lunch sponsored by Pat's Ride For All.

FORT KENT – People will see a free print edition of the Fiddlehead Focus hit the newsstands on Thursday, February 26, as the local web news outlet celebrates the Can-Am Crown Sled Dog Races. The edition, which is similar to the informative flier that launched the young company five years ago, is free.

SOLDIER POND – (Updated at 12:20 p.m., Feb. 26, 2015: According to a Maine State Police press release, on February 24, 2015 at approximately 10:20 p.m., Tpr. Dan Marquis responded to a single vehicle rollover on the Soldier Pond Rd in Wallagrass.

Dear Editor,

Lawmakers recently had the opportunity to meet with nearly 100 employers, workers, students and community leaders during our three day jobs tour in Aroostook County. We were grateful for the opportunity to listen and hear from so many people.

MAINE – In a move that reflects the demographic, economic and competitive challenges facing Maine’s universities as well as national trends in the not-for-profit higher education sector, Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) revised its long-term outlook this week on the University of Maine System’s (UMS) outstanding revenue debt from stable to negative.

FORT KENT – Organizers, volunteers, and public workers are right on schedule as they prepare Fort Kent's West Main Street for the 23rd annual Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races, which kick off Saturday, Feb. 28.

FORT KENT – Fort Kent Community High School (FKCHS) senior Jared Michaud is living proof that with the right combination of hard work and community support, dreams really can come true.

PRESQUE ISLE - The Northern Maine Museum of Science at the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) and Caring Area Neighbors for Cancer Education and Recovery (C-A-N-C-E-R) are pleased to announce that the ninth annual Planet Head Day, held on Feb. 14 in UMPI's Wieden Gymnasium, had strong participation and raised more than $11,000.

FORT KENT - The Fort Kent Knights of Columbus have announced the winner of their ongoing lotto fundraiser for the week of Feb. 23 - March 1, 2015.

WALLAGRASS - The game was important to these young players on Friday, Feb. 13. Pirates from Wallagrass Elementary School used their newly honed skills to compete in a basketball tournement as a culminating project for students who learned essential basketball skills this winter during an all-volunteer, after-school basketball program which former educator Elaine Desjardins spearheaded in an effort to overcome a lack of athletics training at the school due to district budget cuts.

FORT KENT – Volunteer firefighters with the Fort Kent Fire Department (FKFD) quickly contained a chimney fire on Saturday morning, Feb. 21, on Sunnyfield Drive.

FORT KENT - Doris (Soucy) Boucher, 85, died unexpectedly February 23, 2015 while visiting family in Florida. She was born in Fort Kent, February 21, 1930, the daughter of Baptiste and Victorie (Charette) Soucy.

MADAWASKA - Roger Thibodeau, 72, died on February 22, 2015 at a Fort Kent health care facility. He was born in Madawaska on July 30, 1942, son of the late Ernestine Thibodeau and Arthur H. Martin.

MAINE– Representatives from Maine’s credit unions gathered at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport for the 2014 Ending Hunger Campaign Results Celebration Luncheon and announced a record-setting $552,000 will go towards feeding Maine's hungry citizens.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY - When the Washburn Lady Beavers headed to the State Class D Basketball Championship Game a year ago, a special treat was created in their honor to help recognize their accomplishments and wish them well: the Washburn Whoopie Pie, made especially by the food service team at TAMC, had a blueberry cake shell and creamy yellow lemon filling to match the team’s blue and yellow colors.

FORT KENT - On a freezing cold Saturday morning, Feb. 21, snowmobile racers and enthusiasts bravely gathered for the second annual Fort Kent 100 snowmobile races, sponsored by the USCC East snowmobile racing association.

MADAWASKA - In an effort to bring more artistic appreciation to the St. John Valley, the Greater Madawaska Chamber of Commerce will host a monthly artist's reception to serve as a means of acquainting the community with local artists and their work.

SOLDIER POND - Joan Edith (Pelletier) St.Amant passed on to her eternal heavenly home surrounded by her loving family on February 21, 2015 in Fort Kent, She was born on March 9, 1945, in St. John, the daughter of Louis and the late Ethel (O'Leary) Pelletier of Allagash.

FORT KENT – The University of Maine at Fort Kent Board of Visitors’ Business Breakfast Series will present an informational session by the University Maine System (UMS) Chancellor Dr. James H. Page on Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 a.m. in the Nadeau Hall Conference Room on the UMFK campus.

WALLAGRASS – Students at Wallagrass Elementary School (WES) learned essential basketball skills this winter during an all-volunteer, after-school basketball program which former educator Elaine Desjardins spearheaded in an effort to overcome a lack of athletics training at the school due to district budget cuts.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY - Life is anything but boring these days for TAMC nurse Jessica Holmes. Aside from her full-time job caring for patients, she is working hard to prepare two sled dog teams to compete in the upcoming Can-Am Crown Sled Dog Races in Fort Kent on Feb. 28.

MAINE - A citizen initiative petition seeking to amend the Maine Clean Election Act has been found valid, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.

FORT KENT – At approximately 11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, employees at NAPA Auto Parts in Fort Kent called the Fort Kent Police Department (FKPD) to report that a motor vehicle had smashed into the doors of the NAPA building following a motor vehicle accident on Main Street.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY - The National Weather Service in Caribou (NWS) has issued a winter weather advisory. Blowing snow will create hazardous driving conditions Friday, Feb. 20. West winds will gust to as much as 35 mph today and will cause areas of reduced visibility in open terrain.

GRAND ISLE - Roger J. Pelletier, 82, passed away on February 19, 2015 at a Caribou health care facility. He was born in Frenchville on December 22, 1932, son of the late Fred and Helen (Dumond) Pelletier.

PRESQUE ISLE - The Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library has a brand new outdoor reading spot on its grounds, thanks to the snow cave building skills of a University of Maine at Presque Isle faculty member and several UMPI students.

FRENCHVILLE – A group of Maine lawmakers traveling throughout the state met with approximately 30 Aroostook County employers, educators and concerned citizens at the St. John Valley Tech Center in Frenchville on Thursday, Feb. 19, to hear their hopes and fears about the future of employment in the St. John Valley.

FORT KENT – Despite a winter storm warning from the National Weather Service, musicians and eager fans turned out for the annual Fiddlers' Jamboree held Sunday, Feb. 15, at the University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK) Fox Auditorium.

FORT KENT - Floor Covering News, an online news journal for the flooring industry, recently featured Fort Kent business owner Dave Labbe of Nadeau's House of Flooring for an article about small businesses that thrive in rural areas.

ALLAGASH - Guy E. Kelly Jr. (Mandolin Kelly), 83, died Feb, 17, 2015. He was born in Allagash, March 21, 1931, the son of the late John and Fern (McBreairty) Kelly.

MADAWASKA - Rena Mae Dubois, 81, passed away at her home on February 15, 2015. She was born in Fort Kent on February 17, 1933, daughter of the late Eddie and Imelda (Pelletier) Dubois.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bruce Poliquin recently became a cosponsor of H.R. 986, which ensures concealed carry reciprocity.