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Dee Menear is a staff writer for The Franklin Journal. She has reported local news in Oxford and Greater Franklin counties since 2013 and has a passion for connecting with local people and communities. Dee covers community and school news with a focus on Regional School Unit 9 and the Town of Wilton. She enjoys coffee, fly fishing, frequent trips to Seattle, learning local history, exploring the mountains of western Maine, and live music. If The Mallet Brothers Band or Ghost of Paul Revere are playing nearby, she is most likely in the front row. Dee earned her associate degree at Central Maine Community College and has won several Maine Press Association awards.

Latest
  • Published
    April 22, 2020

    COVID-19 community resource newsletter

    REGION — Greater Franklin Development Council has developed a comprehensive resource to help businesses, families and individuals navigate ever-changing information during the coronavirus pandemic. “GFDC is seen as the economic and community development office for the region, and as such our goal is to have our communities be as strong and resilient as possible,” said […]

  • Published
    April 22, 2020

    Staying at home with the Smiths: ‘Hanging in as best as we can’

      JAY — Monday, April 20, marked the first day of what should have been spring break for most students in Maine. “Typically, we go visit my family in Massachusetts but we are going to have to get creative this week,” Liz Smith of Jay said. The first Maine coronavirus cases were announced in March. As schools […]

  • Published
    April 17, 2020

    RSU 9 directors approve 2020-21 calendar

    FARMINGTON — The Regional School Unit 9 board of directors Tuesday, April 14, discussed the last day of school for students this year and approved the calendar for the upcoming academic year. “June 16 is the last school day right now,” Superintendent Tina Meserve said. “I may come to the next board meeting with a request for a few waiver days for students at […]

  • Published
    April 15, 2020

    Staying at home with the Smith’s

    JAY — “We got the call that school is probably done for the rest of the school year,” Liz Smith of Jay said on Wednesday, April 8. “It kind of hurt to hear and dropped my mood. That was a hard hit.” “It made it more real,” her husband Josh Smith said. That was the day Superintendent […]

  • Published
    April 15, 2020

    Wandering: Simple

    “I admire you for being able to touch a fish. I mean, I could if I had to but I don’t want to,” my co-worker said to me back in the days before the pandemic scattered us from our office to work from home. It has been only a month but it seems like a […]

  • Published
    April 14, 2020

    RSU 9 directors approve grading, graduation policy changes

    Educational opportunities provided to students through distance learning will not be graded.

  • Published
    April 8, 2020

    Staying at home with the Smith’s

    How one family from Jay is coping with changes and uncertainty in an ever-changing world.

  • Published
    April 3, 2020

    RSU 9 no longer delivering weekend meals

    FARMINGTON — Due to an overwhelming response, Regional School Unit 9 School Nutrition Program meals will no longer include extra weekend meals. “Since March 17, the second day of our district wide school closure, RSU 9’s school nutrition and other staff have prepared and packaged close to 15,000 breakfast and lunch meals for pick-up, drop-off, […]

  • Published
    April 3, 2020

    Libraries closed? No problem!

    Farmington’s Twice Sold Tales Books for Kids program is getting books into the hands of local children during school and public library closures.

  • Published
    April 1, 2020

    Wandering: Lonesome

    March 15. The day it all started. The day I was directed to work from home. The day I began to limit my contact with others in an effort to keep myself, my family, my friends and my community healthy. My contact with the outside world was, and continues to be, limited to picking up […]