For a man who shuns the limelight, former Whitefield fire chief and First Responder Jim Brann seemed right at home in the school gym Sunday.

An 86-year-old Somerville woman perished Oct. 16 in a fire that destroyed her home. Firefighters from five towns responded to the scene, but officials said the damage to the home was so extensive the exact cause of the fire may never be known.

Lincoln County’s Emergency Management Agency is advising the public to keep an eye out for what county EMA Director Tim Pellerin said, “could be major Nor’Easter,” that could pass through Lincoln County sometime Friday.

Recently, while digging through the town’s archives, Newcastle Town Clerk Lynn Maloney uncovered two long-forgotten parking ordinances from 1946 and 1989.

At their regular meeting on Oct. 4, the Jefferson School Committee, AOS 93 Superintendent Bob Bouchard announced construction on the new Jefferson Village School is a little behind schedule, but is probably still on track to open for the 2011/12 school year.

In a regularly scheduled meeting Oct 19, the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen approved a warrant for a Dec. 7 town vote to authorize a revised budget for the planning board, for the rest of the fiscal year.

The challenge of getting a new fire station and a reorganized Whitefield fire department has “paid off.”

Maybe Whitefield needs a town manager, not an expanded board of selectmen.

The suggestion came from resident Jim Fitz-Patrick at a public hearing Monday on the question of whether to enlarge the present board from three to five members.

The 2010 Damariscotta Pumpkinfest and Regatta brought “more people than ever” to Lincoln County to enjoy the event’s growing array of attractions, Pumpkinfest co-founder Buzz Pinkham said.

The Library Journal has named Skidompha Public Library in Damariscotta a Star Library based on community use of the services it offers. This is the second time in two years that the library has received national recognition.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced today that Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences has received a $9.1 million construction grant to build the Laboratory’s Center for Ocean Health (COH) on its new Ocean Science and Education Campus in East Boothbay. COH scientists will conduct advanced research on marine microbial ecosystems and their role in maintaining the health of the oceans.

A Waldoboro man is missing and believed to be somewhere between Waldoboro and New Bedford, Mass., according to a press release issued by the Waldoboro Police Department.

RSU 12 school board member Ralph Hilton, of Alna, has petitioned the board to amend its funding formula to one based on per-student cost only.

On Oct. 17, Central Maine Power spokesperson Gail Rice said that during the height of the Oct. 15 Nor’easter, “just under 3800 customers were without power around noontime in Lincoln County.”