The Skidompha Secondhand Book Shop in downtown Damariscotta will reopen on Monday, February 2 at 10 a.m., ending its annual winter break.

During the break, according to Rosie Bensen, co-manager, “Book shop volunteers have been busy building new shelves, making new signs, reorganizing sections, and adding hundreds of new donated books. We think our regular customers will be pleased with the changes, and we hope new customers will stop in and see what we have to offer.”

Our winter-loving friend, the penguin, was the topic of story hour this week at the Wiscasset Library Children’s Room. We all enjoyed "Lost and Found" by Oliver Jeffers where a penguin shows up at a young boy’s door looking for a friend. Also read was "Sergio Saves the Game!" by Edel Rodriguez about a very enthusiastic penguin who loves soccer and trains to be the team goalie.

A winter storm watch has been issued by the National Weather Service, beginning on Saturday, January 24 at 8 a.m. and extending through midnight on Sunday. The watch covers all of Kennecbec, Sagadahoc, Lincoln and Knox counties along with coastal regios of York, Waldo and Cumberland.

The budget for year two of the Wiscasset School Department may be somewhat easier on taxpayers, according to Interim Superintendent of Schools Lyford Beverage. “I remain cautiously optimistic that the budget will be more appealing to the community than it was this year,” Beverage said Jan. 22. “It won’t be quite as much of a bitter pill to swallow.”

Lincoln County Democrats, in a well attended first monthly meeting of the year January 20 in Wiscasset, chose Jim Torbert of Whitefield as their new chair. Torbert, a retired public school teacher, part-time farmer, board member of the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association, and Democratic party activist for 50 years, replaces Lisa Miller of Somerville, who had held the position for two years.

Wiscasset Police Dept. recorded the following in its log for Jan. 12-18, including 47 property checks made and secured and nine services of paperwork among other services rendered:

Sgt. Kathy Williams investigated a report from a Hodge Street resident complaining a town plow truck damaged her mailbox.

River Arts in Damariscotta is inviting the public to the opening reception for “Black, White and Tones of Grey” exhibition on Friday, Jan. 23 from 5 to 7 p.m. The show includes 100 artworks by artists, in a wide variety of media, including sculpture and fine crafts.

The exhibition will hang until Feb. 19. Visitors can also view the continuing exhibition in the West Galley featuring the the work of the Midcoast Printmakers of Damariscotta.