SULLIVAN - A senior is leaving a mark at Sumner High School that will be hard to ignore. Lizzy Arey was asked by her industrial arts teacher to design a snack shack and tennis courts for the school and community to enjoy. And now her drawings are in the process of becoming a reality.

"Lizzy's one of the best students I've had," said John Wells, Sumner High School industrial arts teacher. "She had taken my architectural design class last year and did very well. [Plus] Lizzy is a tennis player. She has tennis in her family and I thought she might be interested in this and do a design for a snack shack and she said, 'Sure.'"

BANGOR - Jaime Wood and her son aren't letting their therapy dog Zoe out of their sight ever since the Tea Cup Yorkie slipped out of her Walter Street home last week and wandered around the city before being dropped off at the Bangor Humane Society.

"She's only three pounds and so friendly. I really thought someone had just scooped her up and taken her," said Jaime Wood.

BANGOR - The Greater Bangor Bark For Life event is next month and organizers are hoping for a big turnout. This one lap walk around the Hollywood Casino Raceway is an American Cancer Society Relay For Life fundraiser and the only one of its kinds that includes bringing your four-legged family members along for the experience. 

"Right now we have 13 teams all from the local area. Our goal is to have 20 teams for the event," said Shannon Small, Greater Bangor Bark For Life teams chair. "All our teams are working really hard to raise money. Team Wolf Pack came up with window decals, and Team Bangor Pet Resort and Spa had a team member make purple Paracord rope ribbon key chains to sell to raise money."

The red headed, fair skinned, self proclaimed geek John Cochran of Washington, D.C. is in a league of his own. He successfully won Survivor Caramoan this week by securing the vote of every single member of the jury which was made up of contestants he had a hand in knocking out of the game. The Harvard law student has been watching the show since he was 13 and even wrote a paper about it in law school. He got the opportunity to see the game from the inside when he was invited to participate in Survivor South Pacific, but he was the 13th person voted out during that season. This season, he made it all the way to the end when he aligned himself with former Survivor South Pacific player, Dawn Meehan of Utah and newcomer Sherri Biethman of Boise, Idaho. The trio lasted 39 grueling days on the island, but in the end it was Cochran who pulled out the win. I recently spoke with the Washington, D.C. native about his winning strategy and what he plans to do with his one million dollar prize.

ORONO - Things tend to get a little hairy during finals week at colleges and universities around the state, but the University of Maine in Orono helped ease the stress its students may have been feeling by bringing therapy dogs on campus.

"Studies have proven that petting a dog can lower blood pressure and reduce anxiety," said Rebecca Henderson of Renaissance Dogs in Holden. "What other time are students more stressed than during finals week?"

Hermon car show to benefit Project Graduation

HERMON - The seniors at Hermon High are revving things up. The students are hosting their very first car show at the school in order to raise funds for Project Graduation.

"I've grown up with cars in the family and been to many car shows, so I know quite a bit about antique cars and car shows," said Hermon High School senior Brendon Dyer. "My favorite classic car is a 1976 Pontiac Trans Am T-Top. I talk about it all the time."

Levant Corner Store needs public votes to win 

LEVANT - Two small Maine businesses are anxiously awaiting to see if wishes do come true. The owners of the Levant Corner Store and My Happy Pace in Old Town are competing to win a $5,000 grant from Intuit's Love Our Local Business Challenge, but they need the community's help to pull it off. 

"Intuit is offering up 15 $5,000 grants to small businesses. We stumbled upon it [the challenge] on Facebook," said Jamie Clark, owner of the Levant Corner Store. "They're granting wishes. They asked you to submit your wish, and they're basing the results on how many people vote for the business and what type of effect the grant would have on local business in the area."

One of the three amigos (the name of the three Survivor contestants not a part of the core alliance) was voted off the island this week. Twenty-five year old Malcolm Freberg of California fought hard to stay in the game by winning challenges and finding hidden immunity idols when he needed to. However, in this week's episode Freberg paid $480 at the 'Survivor auction' for a clue to where another immunity idol was hidden. I recently spoke with Freberg about that purchase that he was never able to cash in on.

Fifty four year old Phillip Sheppard, one of the most outspoken Survivor: Caramoan contestants, was taken out of the game this week when the three players outside of the tribe's strong alliance (known as 'Stealth R Us') all received immunity or played their hidden immunity idols. 

Over and over again, Sheppard shared with viewers and Survivor players how good he was at reading people and knowing when they were lying since he is a former FBI special agent. However, that special power wasn't enough for the remaining players to keep him around. The California native now becomes the second member of the jury, a position he's never been in before since he made it to the final three during his first time playing on Survivor Redemption Island. I recently spoke with the Sheppard and asked if he had any regrets.