By Paul Sylvain

The calendar may show that Christmas is still about a month away, but for the faithful who call Sawyer Memorial Congregational Church in Jonesport their spiritual home, Christmas arrived a bit early this year, and the gifts were not delivered from a sleigh driven by a jolly old man in a red suit with long white hair and beard.

Instead, Santa recruited a crew of elves from Alabama, and on Nov. 22, these merry elves from the Yellowhammer State delivered a brand new church steeple in four pieces on a flatbed truck. 

By Will Tuell

Legislation ending the partial federal government shutdown two weeks ago included approximately $1.5 million in Congressionally Directed Spending for Washington County, U.S. Senator Susan Collins said in a press release. 

The Marshfield Volunteer Fire Department will receive $756,000 towards the construction of a fire station, Collins said, noting that the funding is part of a larger, $12 million package for fire station construction and emergency services across the state. 

By Nancy Beal

Jonesport’s share of the county debt, which has commanded so much ink and attention lately, is $375,088. Last week, the town’s selectboard convened an informational meeting to explain to townspeople how they could save money by paying the town's full share now and, at the same time, help the county by contributing to an $8 million short-term loan known as a tax anticipation note (TAN) due by the end of the year.

By Will Tuell

If Machias Christian Fellowship Pastor Aaron Dudley and Arise Addiction Recovery Executive Director Paul Trovarello had met for coffee and a meal in the Elm Street School gymnasium on a cold November Saturday night ten years ago, the police might well have hauled them off for trespassing. Yet on Saturday, Nov. 15, the two — joined by upwards of 300 of their closest friends — packed into that gym to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Arise, the faith-based recovery program born from a simple conversation all those years ago.

By Paul Sylvain

The Machias Police Department joined with the Maine State Police last week in remembering fallen MSP Trooper Jeffrey Parola, who was tragically killed on Nov. 13, 1994, when his cruiser crashed in Sidney while responding as a member of the MSP’s Tactical Team to a domestic violence call. He was 27 and had been with MSP since 1989.

By Nancy Beal

Jonesport selectmen met in a hastily-called special session Nov. 12 to decide what to recommend to townspeople about paying its share of the outstanding county loan from Machias Savings Bank due at the end of the year. The county debt is in the form of a tax anticipation note (TAN) — money the county, whose fiscal year corresponds with the calendar year, borrows every year to pay its bills before tax money from towns starts being received in the fall. Jonesport’s share is estimated to be $375,088.

By Nancy Beal

At its Nov. 11 meeting, the Beals Selectboard opened two bids for work on the town’s Backfield Park, where the January 2024 storms had caused severe erosion around the shore. Repairing a set of steps leading down to the “little beach,” where many baptisms have been held, is also a requirement in the restoration plan.

by Jonathan Reisman

Most Favor DoT Recommended In-Kind Dike, Flapper System Replacement

By Paul Sylvain

The second in a continuing series of public hearings and discussions on the Upper Machias Bay Master Plan was held at the Lee-Pellon Center in Machias on Nov. 3. Its focus was on options for the more than 140-year-old failing Machias Dike and causeway separating the Middle River freshwater ecosystem in Marshfield from the tidal Machias River.

Analysis by Paul Sylvain

Washington County voters -- or at least a majority of the 11,015 who cast ballots last week -- sent County Commissioners Billy Howard, Courtney Hammond, and Chairman David Burns a clear message framed in the form of a paraphrased county song title: Take This Bond and Shove It!

By Paul Sylvain

When it came to last week’s county bond referendum, Machias town officials were clearly prepared for the worst. 

Meeting just hours following the bond’s defeat at the polls, the Shiretown’s selectboard quickly put into motion a plan to deal with a massive jump in the county's 2026 budget, needed to fully repay a 2025 tax anticipation note (TAN) by Dec. 31.

The University of Maine at Machias has opened a new on-campus food pantry to give students convenient access to groceries and everyday essentials. The pantry officially opened on Monday, Nov. 3, and will be located in the Student Success Center on the second floor of Torrey Hall.

Open during regular building hours, the pantry offers non-perishable food items and common toiletries for any UMM student to access as needed. The initiative was made possible through generous funding from the University Credit Union (UCU) and will be maintained by the Office of Student Life.

Jane Honeck, CPA turned award-winning mystery writer, has released “Double Entry,” the second book in her Ellen Hartmann series, published by Reversing Falls Press. Blending financial intrigue with emotional depth, Honeck continues to explore themes of grief, ethics, and the human side of financial decision-making — inviting readers into a mystery where the clues are emotional, the stakes are personal, and the truth is never just black and white.

By Phil Stuart

The 2025 fall school sports season ended over the weekend, and to nobody’s surprise, both Washington Academy and Narraguagus High School won state divisional volleyball championships.

Washington Academy played in a state volleyball championship for the 12th time and eked out a seat-squirming 3-2 win over a top-seeded York Wildcats volleyball team that shattered their hopes of a perfect second perfect season in a row. 

By Nancy Beal

Two dozen lobster fishermen, their wives, and town officials gathered in the Beals town office meeting room Oct. 30 and, after an hour of discussion, unanimously approved a 28-page regulation titled Coastal Waters Aquaculture Ordinance (please see the Oct. 29 Machias Valley News Observer for a description of the contents).

by Jonathan Reisman

I’m writing this as Halloween approaches and the election is less than a week away. I know how I’m voting, but I can’t say I have a lot of confidence in any poll or partisan analysis, including my own. I expect turnout and sharp differences between the Congressional Districts to determine the statewide outcome. 

By Paul Sylvain

The Machiasport Selectboard on Oct. 27 voted 2-0, with one member recusing herself from the vote, to transfer $3,000 from the town’s Liberty Hall account to help pay an architect for services that could lead to a $50,000 preservation grant for the historic building.

Pay Hikes ‘Difficult to Ignore in the Face of Bankruptcy’ says Edwards

By Paul Sylvain

The county Budget Advisory Committee’s (BAC) daylong session on Oct. 22 got off to a rocky start when officials from two of the three unions representing all but a handful of county employees slammed the door on reopening salary discussions over three-year contracts agreed to last fall by former county commissioners Vinton Cassidy, John Crowley, and Chris Gardner.

By Will Tuell

Fifty-nine years after It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown first aired on American television, Jeff Bossie and Heidi Nelson of East Machias have brought a bit of Peanuts joy to life by growing what Charles Schulz himself might have called “The Great Pumpkin.” Though not the first to achieve such a feat, their massive melon tipped the moose scale at an impressive 422 pounds, Nelson said in an email on Oct. 16, setting off what’s sure to be a Downeast pumpkin-palooza. 

By Will Tuell

Gorham Superintendent Heather (Gardner) Perry has been tapped by the Maine School Superintendents Association (MSSA) as their 2026 Superintendent of the Year, the organization said in a media release Oct. 22. 

Perry, the daughter of longtime Elm Street School principal John Garder, grew up and got her start in education Downeast, teaching and serving as principal at area schools before moving on to her first superintendency in Greenville and then to the Gorham School Department in 2015. 

By Nancy Beal

For over a year, a group of Beals fishermen and town officials has been writing an ordinance governing aquaculture enterprises in the waters surrounding the island town. The resulting document was sent to town lawyers, who proposed some changes that were approved by the aquaculture committee. This week it goes before voters: 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 30, in the town office.