Corinna native William “Bill” Pearson has been hired as a staff reporter for the Piscataquis Observer, covering county government, Dexter, Guilford, Sangerville and School Administrative Districts 4 and 46 as a general assignment reporter.
He comes to the Dover-Foxcroft-based weekly after two years as a reporter for the Sebasticook Valley Weekly where he covered Newport, Dexter and the local school boards.
“My ambition is to work and live in the Penquis Valley as a newspaper reporter. I have strong roots in the community which is a major asset in developing sources for news and sports,” said Pearson.
Pearson, 43, has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Maine at Orono and attended the Young Writer’s Conference sponsored by the Hartford Courant in 1997.
A 1984 Nokomis Regional High School graduate, he has also reported for the Calais Advertiser and WDME radio.
“The Piscataquis Observer has an excellent reputation and my experience, education and writing ability make me an ideal fit,” Pearson said.
Pearson joins veteran reporter Stu Hedstrom at the newspaper to cover news and sports in the Penquis region.

Brunswick native Samuel J. Baldwin has been hired as a staff reporter for the Lincoln County News, covering Waldoboro, Jefferson Somerville, Nobleboro and Bremen as a general assignment reporter.
He comes to the LCN after a brief stint as an outdoors writer at the Casper Star-Tribune in Casper, Wyo. He covered hunting and fishing, as well as some health, home and garden and entertainment stories.
“I’m glad to be back in Maine, and you can only write about archery and fly fishing for so long before you miss telling readers about issues that really matter,” Baldwin told the weekly newspaper.
Baldwin is currently living in Brunswick, but said that he hopes to move to Lincoln County with his fiancée soon.
“There are a lot of beautiful areas up here, and it seems like a place where people have a stake in what their neighbors do,” Baldwin said. “Any good leads on rentals would definitely be appreciated.”
Baldwin graduated with a journalism degree from Arizona State University in Phoenix, Ariz., in May.
“After writing in Phoenix and Casper, working for the LCN will be a very welcome change,” he said. “It’s definitely small-town politics; and to me, that means politics where even the politicians care what happens. I’m looking forward to finding out what people here need to know and trying to give that to them.”

Eugene M. “Gene” Townsend, the co-publisher of the Machias Valley News Observer, died at a Bangor hospital on Friday, Dec. 18. He was 89.
Gene Townsend was a lifelong resident of Calais and once worked as the sales manager for WQDY in his hometown.
Townsend and his friend, Jay Hinson, purchased the Machias Valley News Observer in 1967 and Townsend also worked as the advertising manager for the weekly for 42 years.
In 2006 their wives, Patricia Townsend and Karen Hinson became partners in the company.
In his early years, Townsend served in the U.S. Army Air Corps at the outbreak of World War II with tours of duty in England, North Africa and Italy.
While working as a B-17 engineer, his artistic talents were soon discovered and he was enlisted to put the names and art work, known as “nose art,” on many of his squadron aircraft. Several Web sites featuring much of his work have been created by military historians.
Townsend was a past president of the Calais Lions Club, a member of the Frontier Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Baileyville and a life member of Sherman Brothers American Legion Post No. 3 in Calais.
A celebration of his life was held on Dec. 22 at Calais United Methodist Church Condolences and memories may be shared at www.maysfuneralhome.com.

Greetings!
Welcome to the new Maine Press Association Web site.
We’re in the early stages of the transition right now, but please be patient. We’re experimenting with different page themes, links, pages, feeds, etc.
We’ll have links to our member newspapers, a classified section, industry news, obituaries, a Freedom of Access link and much more.
Eventually we hope to have some slide shows and videos of our major events and activities.
We’re also in the process of moving our archives to the new site from now until Jan. 1. But don’t worry. We won’t be taking the www.mpa.org site down until we’re 100 percent sure that our new “home” is operating smoothly.
Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy the new site, and don’t hesitate to drop us a note if you have any comments – good and bad.

Mike Lange, Executive Director