by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Teacher Caitlyn Roy reported to work on Friday, March 13 expecting a day of professional development workshops. Instead, she and her fellow teachers were told to prepare 15 days worth of lesson plans, and quickly.

“We still didn’t know if [a shutdown] was happening, or when,” said Roy, who together with Kelly Woodward teaches fifth grade at Rose M. Gaffney Elementary (RMG) in Machias. “We had to create lesson plans for math, but we didn’t know what the lessons would be about, so we had to make plans that were fill-in-the-blank.”

by Ruth Leubecker

While Washington County remains free of confirmed cases of coronavirus, the average person appears to be realistically appraising the inevitable.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Representative Will Tuell (R-E. Machias) Sunday announced that Maine Department of Corrections has awarded a bid for demolition and abatement of the Downeast Correctional Facility (DCF) to local contractor Hanscom Construction.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Though no cases of COVID-19 have yet been detected in Washington County, Down East Community Hospital in Machias has implemented plans to respond.

by Nancy Beal

Ordinarily around 6 a.m. this time of year, those living near the coast would begin to hear boat engines come to life, as lobstermen came out of their winter cocoons and began setting and hauling their traps. Not this spring.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Ben Bunker said he came up with the idea for a driving scavenger hunt as a way to draw families out of their houses during this time of social distancing.
“I’ve got a little extra time, and I thought, ‘This won’t take much to put together, and it’s something good for the kids,’” said Bunker, sales manager at Whitney TriTown Marine in Machias.

He reached out to area businesses, and the response was overwhelming. More than 30 agreed to participate, so Bunker is repeating the event this coming weekend, April 4-5.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention today announced active COVID-19 counts have risen to 118, and 11-case increase over the day prior. Seven people have recovered from the illness, making Maine’s total known cases 125 since it was first detected here on March 12.

 Cumberland County remains the most affected, with a total of 74 active cases, and five recoveries.

 No cases have yet been detected in Washington County, though experts say it is likely here.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

You walk into an upscale eatery and order mussels dressed in garlic almond butter. A bowl of steamy shellfish comes to your table, but first, they could have come from anywhere in the world: Spain, New Zealand, Chile or, most likely, eastern Canada.

by Ruth Leubecker

“When I came here to work, Sue Dorr was the liaison for the New England Organ Bank,” says Donna Renshaw, operating room nurse at Down East Community Hospital. “Every death at the hospital needed to be reported to the organ bank.”

Twenty-five-plus years later, the organ bank is now New England Donor Services. Sue Dorr has long retired, Renshaw has assumed her role as liaison, and the Machias hospital has been recognized nationally as a topflight winner in promoting organ donation.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Members of the Machias selectboard spoke with Machias Police Chief Todd Hand at their regular bi-monthly meeting held Wednesday, March 11. Hand walked the board through building modifications that would make the Machias Telebusiness Center into a suitable new police department.

Chairman Joshua Rolfe said the board is largely in favor of moving the police department into the more modern facility, located on Stackpole Road, but has not taken a formal vote on the matter.

by Nancy Beal

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Executive Director Dr. Niravh Shah today announced 107 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Maine, an 18-case increase over the day before. Twelve people are currently hospitalized for the virus.

Maine has conducted 2,791 negative tests.

For comparison, Shah said there were 89 positive cases across the United States on March 1, and today there are 35,000.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

On Saturday, March 21, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its daily coronavirus case numbers, with a new addition to its chart. Today the CDC site lists 70 cases of confirmed positive COVID-19, a 14-case increase over the day before, and now three cases in the "recovered" column. 

The Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces its daily findings on COVID-19 every day at noon via their website, https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/airborne/coronavirus.shtml.

Today's report announced 42 confirmed cases in Maine and 10 presumptive positive cases.

by Nancy Beal

Jonesporters held their annual town meeting March 9, electing the people who will run the town for the next fiscal year (July 2020 through June 2021) and authorizing the money to do it with. In addition to the usual expenditures, approximately 80 persons raised $20,000 as the town’s share of a $66,000 stream crossing grant to rebuild the little overpass on the Kelley Point Road near Route 187 where Stillman’s Creek empties into Sawyer’s Cove, making the total raised $669,398.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Local health care providers are modifying their practices to prepare for an outbreak of COVID-19 in Washington County.

As of March 16, the Maine Centers for Disease Control reported 17 presumptive and positive cases in Maine, with none yet detected in Washington County.

Dr. David Rioux, of Machias, said he is “very concerned” about the outbreak, and that his practice is working on a plan to test for the virus without bringing potentially-ill patients into his medical office.

by Ronie Strout

The Addison Town Meeting was held on Tuesday evening, March 10 at the D.W. Merritt Elementary School. Over 85 folks turned out for the meeting, with 83 voters registered to vote at the meeting.

The moderator for the evening was Chris Chartrand. Roberta Pinkham and Ronie Strout registered the voters for the night.

The Addison Town Meeting went well, with 26 articles voted on within 43 minutes. We elected one selectman, Joshua Stubbs, who won with 49 votes. Outgoing selectman Thomas Batson received 24.

by Hazel Stark

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

On Maine’s 200th birthday, Sunday, March 15, Governor Janet Mills held a press conference to address the spread of COVID-19 in Maine and said she has declared a civil state of emergency to “unlock access to critical federal funds that will support [Maine’s] efforts.”

The Machias Valley News Observer will be regularly updating this page with information relating to coronavirus in Washington County, including closures, cancellations, and postponements. If you have any updates to include here, please email them to editor@machiasnews.com.

by Valdine Atwood

Editor’s note: Follow along on this walk through historic Machias using the maps found on p. 21.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Questions about enforcement of the Ross v. Acadian Seaplants' decision surround Maine’s rockweed industry, one year after the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled rockweed is the exclusive property of Maine’s intertidal landowners.