Schools start Christmas and New Year’s holiday break with relatively sustained illness and quarantine rates.
Nicole Carter
Staff Writer
Nicole joined Sun Journal’s Western Maine Weeklies group in 2019 as a staff writer for the Franklin Journal and Livermore Falls Advertiser. Later she moved over to the Advertiser Democrat where she covers Oxford Hills communities and School Administrative District 17. She seizes every opportunity to research and write about local history and she enjoys writing features that leave readers with a smile. Nicole graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern Maine with a B.A. in history and concentration in creative writing. She held audience development and marketing positions at several Maine-based trade media companies in the Portland area before taking on community news. When not working she is an avid reader and fiber artist and enjoys observing local wildlife, from snakes and blue frogs to large game and carnivores. She and her husband, Greg, share their secluded homestead in Peru with an assortment of cats, dogs, alpacas and chickens.
Agnes Gray takes education outdoors
Last week the Advertiser Democrat dropped by Agnes Gray Elementary School to see what teacher Betsy Cooper’s third grade class was studying as it wrapped up several outdoor learning days (in the cold and the sunshine).
Harrison Food Bank awarded $25K grant for COVID operations
HARRISON — The Agnes M. Lindsay Trust has awarded a $25,000 grant to the Harrison Food Bank to assist with COVID-19 operations. With demand for support increasing and winter conditions already here, it is not a minute too soon, according to its founder and Operations Manager Sandy Swett. The grant makes it possible for the […]
COVID-19’s Oxford Hills invasion marches on
OXFORD HILLS — Despite being part of Maine Department of Education’s county-wide yellow designation, SAD 17 continues to maintain safe spaces within its schools. As of Dec. 15, the district website lists 12 students or staff having confirmed cases of COVID-19. None of those cases have been detected as spreading within the schools themselves. One […]
Oxford Hills winter sports will be delayed, restricted
School districts in counties designated moderate risk for COVID-19 cannot practice yet.
OHTS students’ learning more difficult without hands-on classes
PARIS — Oxford Hills schools have had go from green to yellow to green and back to yellow all fall – usually due to COVID-19 outbreaks in other parts of the county. Still, a few have closed for periods due to outbreaks, others have had to close because there are not enough educators available to […]
Asselin delays retirement for 90 days
OXFORD — Seven months after Oxford’s town manager announced he would retire at year’s end, Oxford is still searching for Butch Asselin’s replacement. Asselin came to Oxford in 2017 from Houlton, where he first served as its police chief before moving into the position of town manager. Previous to that he spent 10 years as […]
Fryeburg family learns how invisible and virulent COVID-19 can be
Despite rigid precautions taken by the Orlando family, all three members fell ill with COVID.
SAD 17 board authorizes $4M emergency loan for payroll
Directors clash over borrowing due to required COVID-19 relief spending.