By Paul Sylvain

The Machias Food Pantry opened its doors Sept. 23 for a grand opening celebration from its new home on 43 Kennebec Rd. The new building, which began construction last year, was the realization of a three-year dream for the pantry’s own stand-alone building

Originally begun 37 years ago in 1986 by three women from the Centre Street Congregational Church’s mission committee, the Machias Food Pantry has grown from helping “a few needy families” in Machias to serving around 150 families weekly in Machias and 11 surrounding towns.

By Joe McBrine

Connor Haskins dreams of becoming a game warden one day, and his mother, Ashley Handzlik, wants to see her child’s dreams to come true. 

That’s why Handzlik recently contacted Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Game Warden Matthew Tenan to see if Connor could spend some time with him to see what being a game warden is all about.

Appeal Hearing Postponed on Sandwich Shop, Used Furniture Store

By Paul Sylvain

Michael Acebal thought he was good to go with his plans for a small take-out sandwich shop and used furniture store at 97 Court St. when the Machias Planning Board approved his application for a permit on July 12.

More than two months later, Acebal is still waiting to begin the project after Mary Angarola, who resides across the street from where the sandwich shop and furniture store would be located, appealed the decision.

By Hazel Stark

By Paul Sylvain

A Sheriff’s K-9 named Kia is credited with tracking down and rescuing a seriously ill patient who disappeared from Down East Community Hospital (DECH) in Machias on Sept. 12.

Machias is fortunate to have both a town police department as well as access to resources at the Washington County Sheriff's Department, also based in Machias. The spirit of interdepartmental cooperation between the two law enforcement entities in Machias came into play Sept. 12, in saving the unidentified patient.

By Paul Sylvain

The Machias selectboard now has 180 days to forge and present to voters a new or revised marijuana ordinance following a vote by about two dozen residents at a special town meeting Sept. 14.

Machias Town Manager Bill Kitchen opened the session by explaining the public hearing was called for voters to consider enacting a 180-day moratorium on the acceptance of any new applications for a medical marijuana storefront license. 

By Paul Sylvain

Driving on Court Street in Machias can be a bone-rattling experience. Navigating the potholes, cracks, ruts, humps and bumps by car, is akin to driving through a minefield. However, relief may soon be in store, as Town Manager Bill Kitchen reported to the board at its Sept. 13 meeting.

“We’ve been told that the Route 1 paving project has been  pushed to next year,” said Kitchen. He noted that frequent spring and early summer rain “has thrown off paving schedules” statewide. The Route 1 project is now slated for spring, he said.

By Lauren Koss  

Eastport Arts Center will present Charlotte, North Carolina-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Patrick Mawn for an evening of music on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. (Please note: this concert was originally scheduled for September 16, and postponed due to expected storm conditions).

by Hazel Stark

By Will Tuell

By Will Tuell

While many focus on state and regional athletic championships, Machias Memorial High School can add some truly out of this world academic hardware to its trophy case later this year. That’s because science teacher Jim Lenke and his Space Program students are being recognized for their work on a statewide program designed to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in Maine schools, Educate Maine, the organization which oversees the program, said in a Sept. 6 announcement. 

By Will Tuell

Longtime Washington County Manager Betsy Fitzgerald was full of quips and jests as she bid adieu to the people she has worked with for over a decade last week. Officially Fitzgerald stepped down from her post at the helm of county government Aug. 31, but the diminutive dame of all things county government attended the Sept. 7 commissioners meeting where employees and commissioners toasted her time at the helm. 

By Will Tuell

The Town of Machiasport announced last week that it will be holding a public hearing Sept. 25 at 4:30 p.m. to discuss whether the town should adopt a 180-day moratorium on further development of “large scale aquaculture” in the community. The meeting will be held at the Town Office. 

By Paul Sylvain

Voting residents of Machias will have an opportunity to voice their opinions on future marijuana businesses in the shiretown at a special town meeting beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, at the Rose M. Gaffney School in Machias. 

Article 2 of the four-article warrant states simply, “To see if the Town will vote to put a moratorium on additional medical marijuana storefronts. A moratorium would delay acceptance of additional medical marijuana storefront applications.”

by Nancy Beal

Maine Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy rejected a challenge to one of a handful of licenses Maine regulators have granted Kingfish Maine for a $100 million land-based fish farm on Jonesport’s eastern shore in an Aug. 23 ruling. 

The dismissal of the petition from the Roque Island Gardner Homestead Corporation and the Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative removes one of two legal barriers standing in the way of Kingfish breaking ground on its 100-acre site abutting the western side of Chandler Bay.

By Will Tuell

Washington County Commissioner Chris Gardner was summoned for operating under the influence last week. While Gardner and Washington County Sheriff Barry Curtis declined to comment on the specifics of the case, or in Curtis’s instance that there was a case, an unidentified source who received anonymity from this publication alleged that Gardner was summoned by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Aug. 26.

The board of Porter Memorial Library in Machias is close to finalizing designs for a two-story library addition which, when constructed, will make the library’s 1893 structure fully accessible. The funds for the architectural project were awarded by the Maine Development Foundation through the Historic Preservation Fund of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. 

Port City Architecture is designing the addition.

By Will Tuell

On a gusty late summer afternoon, approximately 20 deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office gathered at West Quoddy Head Lighthouse in Lubec to receive individually-tailored “Angel Armor” from SHIELD616, a national nonprofit which works to provide top-of-the-line gear to departments that can’t afford it. 

By Will Tuell

The City of Eastport will play host to the United States Navy the last week of September as Navy officials announced last week that they will be commissioning the USS Augusta in Eastport, Sept. 30. 

by Nancy Beal 

A new greenhouse is under construction at Jonesport-Beals High School, but school officials and eager volunteers hope to offer students and faculty more than what comes out of the soil. Superintendent Lewis Collins told the high school board Aug. 22 that he envisions lobster and crab rolls, clam chowder in February and a continuous salad bar. It is all part of what he styles a “fresh food initiative”, and is envisioned to not only promote healthy eating, but to also bolster the local economy by purchasing what it produces.

By Will Tuell

Washington Academy’s Colleen Maker is, to use a basketball analogy, through to the ‘Final Four’ of the competition to become Maine’s 2024 Teacher of the Year, and though the 2023 Washington County Teacher of the Year is up against some stiff competition for the state title, Maker has gone about her business – educating children instead of icing three-pointers with no time left on the clock – with a clarity of purpose that makes her a strong contender for the title in her own right.