1. UMM’s 114th Commencement Highlights Native Culture

    By Will Tuell

    Not even a dreary, drizzly, mid-May morning could dampen the spirits of the 70 University of Maine Machias students receiving diplomas on Saturday. Friends, family, professors, and community members packed into the Reynolds Center gym for the 10 a.m. right of passage. Yet remarks by Class of 2025 Valedictorian Emma Soctomah and Passamaquoddy Tribal historian Dwayne Tomah, the ceremony’s keynote speaker, gave the proceedings a distinctly Passamaquoddy feel. 

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  2. Efforts to Boost Rural Patrol Advance in Maine Legislature

    By Paul Sylvain 

    A pair of bills designed to reduce response times and fight crime in rural areas has made their way through the Legislature in recent weeks. On May 1, LD 477, sponsored by Madison Rep. Jack Ducharme, a Republican, cleared an early procedural vote on the House floor by a 117-26 margin. That same day, a similar proposal exclusive to Washington County, LD 461, sponsored by Calais Republican Sen. Marianne Moore and the local legislative delegation, cleared the Senate on a voice vote.

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  3. Moosabec School Boards Grapple with Title IX Issues

    By Nancy Beal

    The national discussion of transgender rights under Title IX that began in the Maine state house, when a Republican legislator posted pictures of a transgender student competing on a girls track team, and exploded in the White House when Governor Mills told President Trump “see you in court” after he chastised Maine’s transgender student policy, has come full circle back to Maine.

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  4. Machias Off to a No Start on Solar Farm Ordinance

    By Paul Sylvain

    On March 26, a handful of Machias voters enacted separate 180-day moratoriums on solar and wind farm applications to give town officials time to draft regulatory ordinances addressing both. Seven weeks later, and with both moratoriums set to expire on Sept. 22, work has yet to begin on either.

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  5. Moosabec Schools to Have Narcan; Elementary Schools Loaded with End-of-Year Events

    by Nancy Beal

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  6. Perry, Congelosi Honored for Emergency Response Efforts

    On May 8, Sheriff Barry Curtis and Deputy Director Joshua Rolfe, along with Washington County Regional Communications Operational Supervisor Lieutenant Dennis Perry and Sergeant Michael Congelosi, attended the 27th Annual Maine NENA (National Emergency Number Association) awards ceremony in Portland. Perry was nominated and chosen for the 2024 Director/Operations Manager of the Year. 

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  7. UMaine Studying Atlantic Sea Scallop Growth Methods

    A new study from the University of Maine’s Aquaculture Research Institute (ARI) and Darling Marine Center is helping to refine best practices for growing Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus), a species of increasing interest to Maine’s aquaculture sector.

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  8. Campus Follies

    by Jonathan Reisman

    Higher Education in America is in for some change. The change process is not pretty or pleasant, but it is necessary because American higher education is the source of quite a bit of the toxic ideology and idiocy that has poisoned America in recent years, including identity/oppression politics, critical race theory, equity, and climate alarmism. DEI divas and defenders were created and trained on America’s campuses. 

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  9. Drive-Thru Lunch to Benefit Teen Leadership Camp

    Healthy Acadia, in collaboration with Coastal Washington County Institute of Technology Culinary Arts (CWCIT) students located at Machias Memorial High School, will host a drive-thru luncheon on Friday, May 16, with proceeds to benefit Down East Teen Leadership Camp (DETLC).

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  10. Wellington “Billy” Noyes

    Wellington “Billy” Noyes, born on April 2, 1936, passed away on April 25, 2025, at the age of 89. Billy was a devoted husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, and friend. He is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, Wanda Dodge Noyes. His children, Nancy Emery, Lisa Noyes, Nathan Noyes, and Leigh Noyes, along with his son-in-law, Douglas Emery, and daughter-in-law, Danielle Noyes.

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  11. An Eel of a Story About Netting Elvers, Krill on the Banks of the Mighty Machias River

    By Paul Sylvain

    Over the past three centuries, the waters of the Machias River between the falls and the dike have served as a backdrop for numerous events. English sailor-turned-pirate Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy is said to have used Machias as a safe haven to repair his ship. Legend has it that Black Sam buried a never-found treasure somewhere in the woods of Machiasport.

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  12. Quoddy League Legend Passes at 84

    By Phil Stuart

    One of the best-known players in the Quoddy Baseball League has passed away at the age of 84. Richard “Dickie” Norton of Addison played in four different decades and was one of the most productive hitters that the league produced during the 30 years of its existence. 

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  13. GSA Puts USCG Housing in Jonesport up for Bids

    By Paul Sylvain

    The General Services Administration (GSA) announced that bids are being accepted on the nearly 10-acre former U.S. Coast Guard housing area on Route 187/Mason’s Bay Road, about two miles north of the town center in Jonesport.

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  14. Jasper Beach in Need of a Little Help from its ‘Friends’

    By Paul Sylvain

    There was a time before the internet and social media that a unique, pristine, hidden gem of a beach in Machiasport’s Bucks Harbor district was the town’s best-kept secret. Jasper Beach is — or rather, was — a place of quiet solitude where the only sounds heard were the cries of seagulls and swishing of waves washing over the beach’s namesake jasper stones.

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  15. Cooke USA Cleaning Up Downeast

    Cooke USA organized or participated in shoreline cleanups in six municipalities over five days in April, in and around Earth Day on April 22. The cleanups were coordinated by Cooke USA's fish health team, which includes fish health technicians Jessica Lindsay, Jaelynn Matthews, and Susana DeFrank. 

    One of those cleanup events took place earlier in April and was coordinated by the town of Machiasport and its harbormaster, David Cale. About a dozen employees from Cooke’s operation in Machiasport’s Bucks Harbor district participated in that effort. 

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  16. Closed Machiasport Dump Eyed as Possible Junkyard

    By Paul Sylvain 

    Machiasporter Dylan Nevala is a man with a plan that has captured the interest of the Machiasport select and planning boards, following a discussion with the selectboard on April 28.

    Most people probably would shudder at the idea of having a vehicle junkyard in their community. But what if that junkyard made use of a piece of polluted land that once served as the town’s dump and is virtually unusable for residential purposes?

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  17. Daffodils, Equity, and Forsythia Sage

    by Jonathan Reisman

    Forty Mays ago, my late wife Ernie and I moved into a largely unfinished house on Cathance Lake in Cooper. May is lovely — cool, bugless mornings, full of sunrise concerts from songbirds, ravens, and woodpeckers, with loon warbles and serenades in the evening.

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  18. LAMPS Bringing Music to Area Schools

    By Paul Sylvain

    With the rising cost of education, programs involving the arts — such as music and art — are often the first to go, or be greatly reduced, while non-academic activities, such as sports, continue on.

    Enter the Lubec Area Musicians’ Philanthropic Society, or LAMPS, for short. LAMPS has been busy this winter bringing music in all its forms, from classical to pop, rock, and even traditional First Nation Passamaquoddy drumming presentations, to area schools.

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  19. Worcester Award Winners at Machias Memorial High School

    By Phil Stuart

    Liam O’Connor of Machias and Layla Cates Wright of Machiasport were selected to receive the first Mike Worcester Defensive Player and Hustle Awards at the recent Machias Memorial High School winter sports award ceremony. 

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  20. Addison Man Killed, Another Seriously Injured while Dragging for Scallops in Massachusetts

    Incident Remains Under Coast Guard, Massachusetts State Police Investigation

    By Paul Sylvain

    For the second time in four months, families and friends of Washington County scallop fishermen are mourning the loss of a loved one taken much too soon, while a second man remains hospitalized with broken ribs and other injuries.

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  21. Kitchen Kup Memorial Tournament Prepares to Tee Off for a Good Cause

    By Paul Sylvain

    Plans are taking shape for the first-ever Kitchen Kup Memorial Golf Tournament and fundraiser, slated for May 31.

    Former Machias Town Manager Bill Kitchen’s love for promoting live music might only have been surpassed by his love for golf. Kitchen passed away unexpectedly last Sept. 9.

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  22. Gov. Mills Appoints Hammond County Commissioner

    By Paul Sylvain

    Gov. Janet Mills has appointed Courtney Hammond of Columbia Falls to fill the District III Washington County Commissioner vacated by John Crowley Sr., effective immediately, dependent on Hammond’s being sworn in “as soon as possible” by a Dedimus Justice. 

    Hammond, who owns Lynch Hill Farms and is a former Maine state forest ranger, will complete the unexpired term of John B. Crowley Sr., of Addison, who resigned effective April 30, due to ill health. Hammond’s term will expire on Dec. 31, 2026.

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  23. Porter Library Property Lines in ‘Deed’ Confusing

    By Paul Sylvain

    Paving an earthen pathway to prevent bone breaking slips and falls on snow covered ice in winter should be a simple matter, right?

    Well, think again.

    As an April 23 discussion by the Machias Selectboard and Town Manager Sarah Craughead Dedmon proved, that’s not the case when it comes to property lines at Porter Memorial Library. 

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  24. Machias Planning Board Facing a Full Agenda at its May 7 Meeting

    By Paul Sylvain

    Construction, like spring, is in the air, and a flood of new building permit applications is promising a busy evening for Machias Planning Board members when they gather for their monthly meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 7, at the Machias Town Office at 17 Stackpole Drive.

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  25. Maine’s only Pyrotechnics Company Unavailable for July 4 Fireworks in Machias

    Parade is On, but Fireworks Moved to Blueberry Festival

    By Paul Sylvain

    Machias area residents expecting a fireworks display this July 4 will have to wait until Aug. 16 to witness the rockets’ red glare rising over Middle River.

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  26. Beals’ Lorna Alley Recognized for Her Volunteerism

    By Nancy Beal

    Every year around this time, a group out of the governor’s office known as Volunteer Maine gives a list of its top volunteers to the Bangor Daily News, which devotes an entire page to the list. It consists of the names of folks who have logged 500 or more hours of volunteerism within the past year, along with the number of hours each has devoted to his or her cause. 

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  27. Equity Limbo

    by Jonathan Reisman

    “Equity” is promoted across Maine State Government and the University of Maine System as part of broad Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts and within specific policy initiatives like the Climate Action Plan, which has a significant and significantly funded equity component. What equity does not have is a definition. Promoting an undefined policy goal is pure policy malpractice. Determining what equity actually is and what Maine State Government is doing to promote it has turned into a strange dance called the equity limbo. 

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  28. Former Sen. Troy Jackson Closing in on Announcing Governor’s Race Decision

    By Nancy Beal

    “It’s still exploratory, but we will be announcing at some point in the future.” 

    That was the response from former state senator Troy Jackson when asked if he was formally announcing his run for the governor’s office next year. The question, from Washington County Democratic Committee Chairperson Lisa Marin, was asked on April 26, while Jackson was speaking before a group of about 40 people in the East Machias municipal building. 

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  29. Former Schoolbus Driver Charged with Gross Sexual Assault on a Minor.

    A 67-year-old man was arrested at his Wesley home on April 23 and charged with six counts of gross sexual assault involving a minor.

    According to a prepared statement issued by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Duane E. Geel was arrested without incident by sheriff’s deputies on a felony warrant issued by the Machias Unified Court following an extended Sheriff’s Office investigation.

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  30. Pope Francis dies during the Octave of Easter

    By Pierre Little

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  31. Citing Health, County Commissioner Crowley Resigns, Effective April 30

    By Paul Sylvain 

    Former Washington County Sheriff and long-time District III County Commissioner John B. Crowley Sr. has notified Gov. Janet Mills of his decision to resign his seat effective April 30. As Crowley explained in his letter of resignation to the governor, “My health has made this decision necessary.”

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  32. Man Charged in 2017 Death of Wayne Foss Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison

    By Paul Sylvain

    Seven-and-a-half years after the body of 48-year-old Wayne Foss was found dead in the charred remains of his Whitneyville mobile home, a New York City man has been sentenced to serve 16 years in prison for his role in Foss’ death.

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  33. Spat over Bog Lake Landing Triggers Moore Bill

    By Paul Sylvain

    Senator Marianne Moore (R-Calais) has submitted a bill to the Legislature requiring that Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife ensure year-round access to Bog Lake in Northfield after a spat between locals and the Department reached an impasse. 

    The bill, LD 1448, “An Act to Provide Winter Access to the Bog Lake Boat Launch in Northfield,” was the subject of a snap public hearing in Augusta on April 14 before the Legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee.

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  34. Washington County Commissioners Make Brisk Work of Full Agenda

    By Doss Dennison

    With two freshmen members on the three-member board of Washington County commissioners, their monthly meetings may lack the drama of some previously reported on board meetings, but Commissioners Dave Burns, John Crowley, and Billy Howard are proving themselves to be focused on efficiency in time and discussion at these meetings. 

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  35. JES Board Sets 2025-26 Budget, Returns Staff

    By Nancy Beal

    The Jonesport Elementary School board finalized its budget for next year on April 7, voting unanimously to pull $285,000 from the school’s fund balance (surplus account) to create a bottom line for 2025-26 of $2,530,071. That figure is $134,661 higher than last year’s total of $2,395,410, an increase of $134,661, or 5.62%.

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  36. Maine’s REAL ID Deadline is Just Weeks Away

    By Jayna Smith

    Mainers who plan to fly within the United States or enter secure federal buildings, time is running out to ensure your identification meets new federal standards. Beginning May 7, 2025, a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license — or another form of federally accepted identification — will be required for domestic air travel and access to certain federal facilities.

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  37. What Could Go Wrong?

    by Jonathan Reisman

    I spent most of a mid-April afternoon waiting to testify on LD 1494, a “Resolve, Directing the Office of Procurement Services to Study Adapting the Procurement Process to the State Climate Action Plan.” The resolve didn’t get a lot of attention from the Soros-bought-and-paid-for (SBAPF) Maine legacy media, and I’m pretty sure that the majority of the committee is happy about that. 

    Here is the LD 1494 summary:

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  38. Chamber Embraces, Honors Kitchen at Annual Gala

    Dunn, Rosignol, Warner, The Anchor Win MBACC Awards

    By Will Tuell

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  39. Help Wanted — Machias Launches Search for Operations Coordinator

    By Paul Sylvain

    A newly created position of Machias operations manager, which was vaguely funded without being specifically named in last year’s annual town meeting warrant, has been reposted with a new name — operations coordinator — and a revised set of qualifications and responsibilities. 

    In the span of about a year, Sarah Craighead Dedmon went from serving as recording secretary for the Machias Selectboard and Planning Board to the town’s first operations manager, on an interim basis, and for the past two months, permanent town manager.

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  40. Kingfish Maine Wins Final Court Challenge

    Construction a Go but Still a ‘Wait-See’

    By Nancy Beal

    One year to the day from last spring’s oral arguments before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court,

    Kingfish Maine received word that it had prevailed in the last of a string of challenges mounted by groups opposed to its plan to bring industrial land-based fish farming to Jonesport. 

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  41. Machias School Committee Submits Proposed Budget, but Federal Funding Concerns Remain

    By Paul Sylvain

    The Machias School Board last week submitted its proposed 2025-26 budget to town officials, representing an overall increase of around 3.15%, which is up $265,157 to $8,674,699, from $8,409,542 last year. However, the proverbial elephant in the room is what the education cost will actually be if President Trump makes good on his threat to withhold federal money from Maine over Gov. Janet Mills’ hard-line stand allowing transgenders born as males to play in girls’ sports in Maine’s schools.

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  42. Maine Senate Unanimously Confirms Wilson as Marine Resources Commissioner

    By Paul Sylvain

    Governor Janet Mills swore in Carl Wilson as Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) on April 8, following the Maine Senate’s unanimous vote to confirm his nomination.

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  43. Beals Holds Annual Town Meeting

    By Nancy Beal

    Some 30 Beals residents gathered in the elementary school gym April 7 to act on a 58-article warrant at their annual town meeting.

    Moderator Terry Beal guided voters in a meeting lasting a little over two hours. In the end, voters agreed to raise a total of $348,251, as well as reelecting all incumbent town officers to their posts. 

    One departmental position — road commissioner — was absorbed into the selectmen’s duties, and the $3,000 salary, raised for that role last year, was moved into the surplus account. 

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  44. Federalism and Freedom

    by Jonathan Reisman

    Federalism is the balance and sharing of powers between the national government and the states. Federalism is a means of protecting against the tyranny of majorities and of allowing for a diverse electorate and political cultures. Maine can be Maine rather than California, Massachusetts, or New Hampshire. The Electoral College, the U.S. Senate, and the 10th Amendment are all elements of Federalism designed to protect freedom.

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  45. Cutler Loans Jonesport FD a Pumper Truck as Town Searches to Replace Truck Destroyed in Beals Blaze

    By Nancy Beal

    Jonesport Fire Chief Boyde Crowley brought good news to his town’s selectmen April 9; the department’s pumper truck that was destroyed while battling a fire on Beals on March 28 is covered by insurance. 

    And he had even more good news to share with the board. The town of Cutler has loaned the Jonesport Fire Department a 40-year-old pumper until a permanent replacement for the destroyed vehicle can be found.

    Jonesport’s truck was pumping water on a massive, fully involved house fire on Beals Island last

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