The number of the week is 26.

Twenty-six motorcycle enthusiasts have died on Maine roads so far this year. As various media reports all reiterated over the weekend, this number is more than double the total for all of 2014.

The question of whether the Pemaquid Watershed Association should merge with four other conservation organizations is the most important decision the PWA membership has ever had to make.

The entire month of August generally always feels like the last weekend of vacation. Things are still suitably vacation-like but you can see the end coming.

We are sad to report that Dominik Lobkowicz will work his last day at The Lincoln County News Friday, Aug. 7.

In last week’s Lincoln County News it was announced that Wiscasset had received a $20,000 grant from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry to conduct an engineering study to create a plan for the protection of the wastewater treatment plant from flooding and sea-level rise.

I was born to a father who is an identical twin. He and his brother ran a lumberyard together in rural Minnesota for many decades. Sure there were arguments concerning priorities, ways to do things, credit policy, standards, equipment etc. over the years, but in the end things were better for both “Sliver” and “Splinter,” as they called themselves.

Newton’s first law of motion states that a body at rest will remain at rest, and conversely, a body in motion will continue its motion, unless the subject is acted upon by an external force.

In last week’s LCN there were two commentaries and one letter in the Letters to the Editor section which referred to the opinions of executive directors of three of the five local land trusts considering the proposed merger.

I am writing to urge drivers to lower their high beam lights when approaching another car. True, it’s a courtesy, but more important, it’s a safety step.

The lupines needed their field and the village saved it for them.

The budget woes of Two Bridges Regional Jail have been a consistent headline for the past seven years and a story veteran reporters could write in their sleep. Jail administrators and county officials have long lamented the influx of out-of-county inmates under jail consolidation, which the state was eager to take on but reluctant to pay for.

The proposed merger of the Pemaquid Watershed Association involves risk. A risk is taken anticipating hoped for positive outcomes.

I am writing in response to the July 22 article “Midcoast animal shelters enter into management agreement.”

Splitting my time between homes on the Massachusetts/New Hampshire line and Harpswell, I have visited many animal shelters in several states, including the Coastal Humane Society in Brunswick.

Wells-Hussey American Legion Post and Unit 42 in Damariscotta would like to say thank the community for supporting their toll booth fundraiser Aug. 1.