News

ST. JOHN VALLEY - On Tuesday morning, Jan. 31, at around 10 a.m., someone looked at the 700,000th web page for the month at FiddleheadFocus.com, marking a milestone in the progress of the fledgling news organization.

MADAWASKA - The Pride of Madawaska Marching Band will be taking orders for $5 foot-long subs until Feb. 2 for pick-up on Sunday morning Feb. 5, just in time for Super Bowl.

Organizers will make the subs fresh to order Sunday morning and they will be ready for pick up from 11a.m. -1 p.m. in the high school cafeteria.

FORT KENT/MADAWASKA - On Wednesday, Jan. 25 the Fort Kent Warriors faced the Madawaska Owls in a packed auditorium due to the long time 'town rivalry.'

The JV boys were first to take the court with Fort Kent beating Madawaska 41-37.

The varsity teams played next.

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FORT KENT - Melissa Manning, one of the Maine Winter Sports Center biathletes living and training in Fort Kent, has achieved the first of her two main goals as a biathlete by making the Junior World Championship team. The eighteen-year-old will head to Kontiolahti, Finland this year to compete against biathletes from all over the world Feb. 20 through Feb. 26.

SINCLAIR - In just a few hours organizers of the Long Lake Ice-Fishing derby will announce the winners at the closing awards ceremony at the Long Lake Sporting Club in Sinclair at 6:30 p.m.

ST. JOHN VALLEY - The weather is ideal for the 7th annual Long Lake Ice-Fishing Derby this weekend as people turn out in droves to spend the day on the lake in ice-cabins, snowmobiles, and even pick-up trucks.

FORT KENT - The Maine Recreation and Parks Association and the Maine Red Claws are announcing their partnership for the MRPA's annual Hot Shot Competition for the second year.

FORT KENT - Jenn Colpitts had game-highs of 22 points and five steals as the University of Maine at Fort Kent women's basketball team avenged a Jan. 8 loss to SUNY Canton by beating the Roos 75-51 Saturday afternoon in a USCAA match-up at home in Fort Kent on Jan. 21.

ST. JOHN VALLEY - Seth Poplaski is a charismatic young man who has the luck of being Maine's Young and Free spokesman for 2011-2012.

ST. AGATHA - A coalition of 30 Aroostook County Communities and 83 unorganized territories are renewing efforts to fund an innovative regional program providing new water and septic systems to low and moderate income residents through an application for the Northern Aroostook Wells and Septic Program (NAWSP).

AROOSTOOK COUNTY - Maine State Police are seeking a man who fled the scene of a snowsled accident on Thursday, Jan. 26, at approximately 8:40 p.m.

According to a press release from Sergeant Brian L. Harris, Ronald McGraw, age 39 of Patten, was driving a snowsled on Heald Ave. in Patten, when he struck a parked tractor trailer that Kerry Swallow of Patten owned.

FORT KENT - Time Warner Cable recently approached the town of Fort Kent about applying to the Connect ME authority for a grant which, if accepted, will pay most of the cost of building infrastructure to supply 66 residents of Violette Settlement with broadband Internet service.

FORT KENT - The University of Maine at Fort Kent will host environmental speaker, Rick Morrill, resource manager of Baxter State Park on Friday, Feb. 3 from 11 a.m. to 12 noon in Nadeau Hall teleconference room.

FORT KENT - The University of Maine at Fort Kent's Alumni Association will host a talent show on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. in the UMFK Fox Auditorium.

Tickets will be sold at the door on the evening of the performance at $5 per person.

The show will feature a variety of local talent for the public to enjoy, including vocal, instrumental, and dance performances.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY - In response to an urgent need to help offset cuts to the federal low income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, Maine's credit unions made a collective contribution to the "Keep ME Warm" Program of $30,000.

ST. DAVID - Postal patrons in St. David may know more about the future of postal service in their town sometime during the first two weeks of March once the deadline for appeals to the proposal to close the town's post office has passed.

"The postal service is just another company in trouble," said Susan Mills, manager of post office operations for ZIP codes beginning 044, 046, and 047.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY - The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the U.S. and Canada have agreed to extend the 2006 U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA) for two years. Michaud, Chairman of the House Trade Working Group, led a bipartisan letter that was sent to USTR last October calling for strong, timely, and effective enforcement mechanisms as a condition for supporting an extension of the SLA.

FORT KENT - University of Maine Board of Trustees chose the University of Maine at Fort Kent campus as one of only three campuses system-wide to host the candidates for chancellor during the position search. The other two campuses were in Orono and Portland.

FORT KENT - Budget crunches at the federal level may cripple Maine's involvement in the World Acadian Congress in 2014.

The project, which has an $11.9 million total budget, originally stipulated a $1 million contribution from the state of Maine and a $1 million contribution from the United States government, said WAC Maine International President Jason Parent.

COLD SHOT JIGSAW - Marc-Andre Bedard of Quebec discharges a cartridge and lines up for his next shot at the NorAm Biathlon Cup on Saturday. - Birden image

To solve an easier version of this puzzle, click on this LINK or the image shown here.

ST. JOHN VALLEY - The United States Biathlon Foundation has partnered with Celebrities for Charity to offer a once-in-a-lifetime Super Bowl experience. Raffle tickets went on sale last week and are being offered at $2 per ticket, with a minimum of five tickets. All proceeds go to support the US Biathlon Team in their quest to win America's first Olympic Biathlon medal. The winning ticket holder will get the following:

My wife and I are taking this opportunity to thank Boonie Theriault, one of Daigle Oil's drivers, and another young man for stopping to help push us out of a snow bank after we lost control on the slippery corner on Violette Settlement Road in Fort Kent on Friday, Jan. 20. Boonie you make us all proud!

David Fernald

ST. JOHN VALLEY - With only a little less than a month remaining and some snow on the ground, anticipation is undiminished at the Madawaska Snowmobile Club and its Second Annual USCC Madawaska100 Cross-Country Snowmobile Race is on schedule for Saturday, Feb. 18.

FORT KENT, Maine - With temperature at -3 degrees Fahrenheit, which is barely 1 degree above the minimum allowable temperature for a biathlon event, 44 biathletes from across the United States and Canada competed in the first day of the Biathlon NorAm Cup No. 3 contest.

As I write this, I am looking out on a typical winter day in Fort Kent, with snow falling gently and trucks and cars making their careful way back-and-forth on Main Street.

Behind me is chaos.

Some folks have noticed that there was little new news on the Fiddlehead Focus website on Friday. There is a reason. Early Friday morning, a man broke into the offices of Fiddlehead Focus and Paper Signs Ink, stealing equipment and vandalizing the interior.

FORT KENT - At some time during the early morning hours of Friday, Jan. 20, an individual or group of individuals burglarized the lower floor of a building located at 267 West Main Street, which houses Paper Signs Ink, and is the operation center for Fiddlehead Focus.

The thieves made away with an undetermined amount of computer and electronics equipment, software, and cash from both of the businesses.