First, kudos to Wiscasset Superintendent of Schools Terri Wood and Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 Superintendent of Schools Howie Tuttle for their letters in recent days addressing coronavirus, the five syllables said and read everywhere of late. The topic has dominated, even saturated mass media around the clock and is enough on people’s minds for it to be impacting the economy and some people’s travel plans. You may have heard, Italy closed.

The superintendents’ letters acknowledging local concerns and sharing what the schools are doing can help prevent panic or anything close to it. The talk of this virus is everywhere, and is justified. People need to be following tips like those in Jane Carpenter’s column this week.

I didn’t used to use those wipes the stores have for carts. Now I do. And if I’m not getting much, I carry the items instead of using a basket. Are you doing anything different, to be on the safer side?

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My eyes are tired as I have just finished judging four categories of an Oklahoma newspaper contest that turned out to take several hours over several days. Judging is serious business, out of respect for the entrants, the organizers and the profession. State contests help sustain quality, which helps everybody who writes or reads the papers or advertises in them.

Plus, it’s always interesting to look at publications elsewhere to see how they are different and the same as ours and other Maine papers. Every paper has an energy, a cadence all its own via what it covers and how it covers and presents it on the page or website. 

On trips growing up, we always got the local papers or read them at the hotel, just like we listened to the radio stations and watched the local  evening  news. It was part of immersing ourselves in the place we were visiting. If you are doing the same, reading us for the first time, thank you. Besides the hard news of budgets, courts and more, we try to always show the everyday local experience of the spots, events and ways of life we love around here. It’s a big part of who we are.

Week’s positive parting thought: Keeping up with the countdown at day.to, Thursday, March 12 makes one week until spring, breaking like a welcome dawn, ironically right before midnight, but just as welcome.