Preliminary budget figures from Regional School Unit 18 administrators seem to be holding the peace between the forces that clashed about proposed budget numbers last year.

Maine has the natural resources necessary to produce all of its own sugar, but the state’s maple sugar industry is a long way from making that a reality, producers said on the 30th annual Maple Syrup Sunday.

On Monday, the Legislature’s budget-writing committee will hold a public hearing in Brewer; Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, proposes selling the Blaine House; Rep. Lawrence Lockman, R-Amherst, sponsors “straight-on-red” bill.

Some 40 Richmond residents last week voted overwhelmingly, in a non-binding straw poll, in favor of building a new library for less than the $245,000 in privately contributed funds already available to do so.

A donation of 45 acres of land along the Kennebec River will help connect a network of trails in the area and provide a new link to a 2,500-mile mostly paved trail that connects cities from Maine to Florida.

Some teachers worry the proposed Augusta school budget up for approval this week relies on them to go without so the district can weather tough economic times.

On Sunday, scores of people flooded Old Fort Western and its nearby grounds to watch the maple syrup manufacturing process from tree to sugar and to inhale the heady smell of sticky-sweet steam.