by Nancy Beal

The Canadian aquaculture giant Cooke Aquaculture, currently the holder of three licenses for salmon pens in Eastern Bay between Beals Island and Jonesport’s Head Harbor Island, is poised to ask for a fourth site: 44.4 acres in the middle of Mud Hole Channel between Mink Island and Beals’ Mud Hole Point, the southern bound of a long inlet known as the Mud Hole.

by Ruth Leubecker

In a significant step forward, Slow Money Maine will come to Machias on October 10  to confer with stakeholders about connecting to funding sources and building technical food systems and flourishing communities.

Over the past nine years, SMM, a statewide network of more than 1,700 people, has focused on food deficiencies and communities that need a boost. Since 2010 the group has connected more than 366 farmers, fishermen and related food businesses to funding sources. 

On Friday, Oct. 19 hometown pride teams up with the local funny bone when Porter Memorial Library presents The Downeast Fashion Show Gala to kick off its capital fundraising campaign. The library is raising money for major construction at its 92 Court Street location. The expansion will create access for everyone by means of a new addition and elevator.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A.O.S. 96 Superintendent Scott Porter spoke with the Machias Selectboard during their normal bi-weekly meeting held Wednesday, Sept. 12. Porter updated the board on the Machias schools’ effort to hire a resource officer, a position the district advertised to no avail. A school resource officer provides a law enforcement presence on school campuses.

Porter said Machias Town Manager Christina Therrien suggested a candidate for the part-time officer role, Bill Sternberg, who then interviewed successfully with the school. 

by John Rogers

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Emma Rogers was in high school when the University of Maine started looking at ways to attract students into the field of engineering. By the time she was ready to apply to college, the new Engineering Pathways program looked like a perfect fit. 

by Ruth Leubecker

Up against two favored major party candidates, Will Hoar is relying on a strong double-pronged message in his candidacy for Maine’s congressional District 2 seat.

Rep. Bruce Poliquin, the GOP incumbent running for a third term, faces Jared Golden, a young Democrat, politically backgrounded, aiming to make government more responsive. They both have healthy financial coffers and prime-time advertising running nearly non-stop as November 6 approaches.

A very interesting story of how and when electric lights first came to Machias appeared in a January 31, 1903 issue of the Machias Republican. The following is a condensed version of that article.   

MACHIAS ELECTRIC COMPANY

In the 1890’s interest in electric power grew very strong in Washington County and it was in that decade that electric companies began operating in a number of towns throughout the county.

The Eastport Arts Center’s KinderArts program’s popular Tiny Yogis sessions have been extended and will run weekly on Thursdays from 9:30-10:15 a.m. through November 15. Instructor Caroline DiLio will teach yoga through music, dance and storybooks, and young participants will even learn meditation.

Owner of Maine Moon Kids Yoga, DiLio is a certified children’s yoga teacher and a mother of three. She takes a creative approach to teaching children, including games, crafts and sometimes even Minecraft poses. Learn more about her at mainemoonkidsyoga.weebly.com.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

It’s no accident that the 70th wedding anniversary is marked with one of the most precious metals on earth — platinum — because couples who reach their 70th anniversary are part of a small, exclusive club. So small, in fact, that the U.S. Census Bureau doesn’t have statistics on marriages that last so long.

by Amy Dowley

Editor’s note: Local hiker Amy Dowley recently completed the renowned Pacific Crest Trail, the western cousin to Maine’s beloved Appalachian Trail. I asked her to share her extraordinary and impressive experience with us, and am very pleased to bring it to you here in the first of this two-part series.

by Hazel Stark

by Ruth Leubecker

Launching an ambitious capital expansion focused on accessibility and enhanced community involvement, Porter Memorial Library may be an aging Machias dowager, but her sights are set on the future.

“This is long overdue. Many boards have struggled over the past 20 years (with the issues of expanding the library),” says Sarah Dedmon, in her third year as library board president.

by Lura Jackson

by Ronie Strout

Saturday, Sept. 29 started with a foggy morning with the fog soon burning off. Sixteen folks got on a bus to hear Nancy Willey speak about the Epping Base Line in Columbia. The bus tour started at the Union Hall in Columbia Falls at 9 a.m. and we traveled up to Centerville to begin learning about kames, kettle holes and to ride across a natural bridge.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The historic Nash building will soon pivot from a symbol of Main Street decline to an agent of change for the wider Washington County business community. Last week Machias Savings Bank announced it has partnered with the Sunrise County Economic Council (SCEC), and that the Nash Building, located at the end of Centre Street and Main Street in Machias, will be given new life as the Machias Valley Center for Entrepreneurship. The bank purchased the building in June, 2017.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Janine Hawkins and her daughter Emily have always had big dreams for their family horse farm in Wesley. Janine dreamed of breeding a horse to compete at the Morgan Grand Nationals in Oklahoma, and Emily dreamed of training a horse she would ride in the grand nationals, a contest considered the pinnacle of achievement in the Morgan horse world. 

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A permit request for a storage shed spurred a lively conversation about town planning at a special meeting of the Machias Planning Board meeting held Thursday, Oct. 11.

Nancy Manchester, owner of Smoke Solutions LLC, requested the addition of a storage shed to her property, which contains a retail medical marijuana business as well as a greenhouse. 

Wyatt Fritz works on his lace-up apple craft.

Students and teachers visited Antill’s Orchard in Wesley for an apple-picking field trip. Submitted photos

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The Washington County Commissioners have scheduled another public discussion to gather feedback on the proposed addition of three new deputies to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Early this year the commissioners held a series of public conversations about the possibility of adding three new deputies to the county law enforcement branch. The addition would increase the countywide tax by approximately $400,000 in 2019 when all of the necessary equipment must also be purchased, then go down in 2020 and 2021.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

During their bi-weekly meeting held Wednesday, Oct. 24, the Machias Board of Selectmen resolved to ask the Machias Police Department to enforce the speed limit on Court Street with regular patrols.

In recent weeks a speed-measuring sign was placed in two different locations in Machias. Over a 12-day period on Court Street, the sign counted 15,253 cars with 10,833 of them breaking the speed limit. 

“That’s two-thirds of the people speeding, coming into a school zone,” said Machias Town Manager Christina Therrien.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A congenial tone permeated the two-hour local candidate forum hosted by the University of Maine at Machias on Thursday, Oct. 25. Nine of ten local House and Senate candidates attended the event, representing Senate District 6 and House Districts 138-140. The event was also live-streamed on www.machias.edu. 

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

On Saturday, Oct. 27 the Washington Academy volleyball, football and track teams all took their games to the next level. In the case of volleyball, they took it all the way to the pinnacle, bringing home the state championship title for the second time in four years.