Bub Pierce whistles to the Belgian horses he trains to get into the barn and out of the snow at the McGee Farm in West Gardiner on Monday. Pierce conditions two pairs of the draft horses for pulling; the teams finished in third place at the North American Belgian Championship this fall.

Gov. Paul LePage administers the oath of office to representatives on Wednesday at the State House in Augusta.

Demetrius Phillips, 4, covers his ears as his aunt Rep. Rachel Talbot-Ross and other new representatives clap after being sworn in on Wednesday at the State House in Augusta.

Members of Temple Academy's basketball team practice on the basketball court's new wooden floor in Waterville on Thursday.

Alexis Allen, 8, sleds down the hill next to the Waterville Girls and Boys Club on North Street as her dog Oakley chases her on Wednesday.

Winslow Elementary School students Alyssa Spaulding, left, and Bella Morris practice a duet on Wednesday. The school was filled with the sights and sounds of holiday celebrations this week. Concerts were held three separate evenings with different grades, including fifth-grade students rehearsing on Wednesday.

Cornville Regional Charter School teacher Ashlee Savage, second from right, speaks with students at the school on Tuesday. It was announced Monday that the school can expand grades from existing kindergarten throught eighth-grade to pre-kindergarten through grade 12 next year. From left are Tyler Perry, Amber Savage, Ashlee Savage and Ayden Bosworth and Lydia Dore in foreground.

Maddie Genthner, left, and Jade Lopez got bundled up to sing Christmas carols with members of area Girl Scout troops during the Unity Yuletide Tree Lighting ceremony in Unity on Sunday. Santa arrived later in a town firetruck as the tree was lit and 75 people sang carols and ate holiday goodies.

Farmer Mike Brown stands beside a chained gate at his Meadowbrook farm in China on Thursday. Someone unchained and broke locks on the gate and let some of his black angus cattle escape from the pen recently. The farm and others in central Maine have been vandalized recently.

Scott Knight carries the new Christmas tree for he and his wife, Mary, after cutting it down at Plantation Christmas Tree Farm in Cornville on Saturday, Dec. 3. )

Gardiner Public Works employee Jay Jamison washes a plow truck Tuesday at the city garage.