Recycling just got harder, thanks to China’s “National Sword” policy on importing paper and plastics from the U.S. and other nations. One might not think that China’s importing policies would affect what goes into one’s recycling bin, but the recycling industry across the country is scrambling to find new markets for its materials.

Lincoln Academy is the regional one-act champion for the 11th time in 12 years, despite moving from Class B to Class A this year. On Saturday, March 10, Lincoln Academy’s one-act play “Blood Wedding” earned first place in Class A at the regional one-act festival hosted by Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro. The play will move on to the state drama festival later this month.

March is National Reading Month and the Lincoln County Historical Association is taking a look at one of the book lovers who lived at the Pownalborough Court House, one of the three historic sites under the association’s stewardship. From the journal and letters of Sarah “Sallie” Prescott Goodwin emerged a fan of Sir Walter Scott.

Christopher Rigaud, University of Maine’s diving operations manager, traveled in February to Catalina Island, Calif. as one of four instructors for a two-week dive leadership workshop at the University of Southern California’s Wrigley Institute for Environmental Sciences. 

Maine Emergency Management Agency staff and partner agencies, including the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency, are coordinating preparedness efforts in advance of a severe snowstorm expected to bring as much as a foot and a half of wet, heavy snow to some areas of the state.

The historic farmhouse at DRA’s Round Top Farm in Damariscotta will be undergoing renovations this year, with work scheduled to begin in mid-March. Damariscotta River Association, the land trust and conservation organization that owns the property, plans to relocate its administrative headquarters to the farmhouse when work is complete this fall. 

Nobleboro Girl Scout Troop No. 144 had its most successful cookie booth ever this past Saturday, March 3. The remaining booths will be at 441 Main St. in Damariscotta, across from Dunkin’ Donuts, on Saturday, March 10 from 9 a.m. to noon; on Saturday, March 24 from 9 a.m. to noon; and Saturday, March 31 from 9 a.m. to noon.

Feb. 26 to March 2 was National Invasive Species Awareness Week, entomologists from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry remind people that now is the time to remove browntail caterpillars from trees that are accessible. Browntail caterpillars cause a poison ivy-like rash and they are impacting a broad swath of Maine. Contact with this caterpillar’s hairs can cause severe reactions for some individuals.