by Nancy Beal

Kingfish Maine’s operational managers, Megan and Tom Sorby, came to Jonesport again the evening of May 16, set up again at the firehouse, and again answered various objections that have appeared in newspaper advertisements, op-ed pieces, and flyers. As in a similar noontime meeting May 4, few of the opponents appeared in person and no one voiced the claims made in print.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Intertidal lands belong to the upland landowner and not the state of Maine, according to last month's ruling by Maine Superior Court Justice John O’Neil Jr. 

"This lawsuit is the latest battle in the war over the intertidal lands off Maine's coast," wrote O'Neill in his decision on Masucci et al. v. Judy's Moody, LLC et al., in which 24 plaintiffs brought five counts — all related to ownership and use of the land between low and high tide — against ten defendants.

H. Lori Schnieders of East Machias, an associate professor at the University of Maine at Machias, has been recognized with three awards this spring for excellence in academics. 

In April, Schnieders received the Frederic A. Reynolds Faculty Award, which is presented annually to a faculty member who exemplifies commitment and dedication to UMaine Machias students. She also was awarded a Trustee Professorship for the academic year 2022–23, presented to a faculty member in the University of Maine System who has made noteworthy contributions to academic excellence on their campus. 

by Nancy Beal

Serita and Chet Childs’ quest for living quarters in downtown Jonesport for a family member expanded last summer to include a tiny but tasteful gift shop they style “Flotsam & Jetsam.” As its name would suggest, the one-room enterprise, located two doors east of True Value Hardware, offers a variety of wares with a nautical theme.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

If there’s one thing emergency medical workers want you to know, it’s that Washington County is dangerously close to the day when someone calls for an ambulance, and an ambulance does not come. 

“There’s not an ambulance service in Washington County that isn’t short-staffed,” says Machias paramedic Sally Taylor, who has served in Machias for 18 years. “Just because Machias keeps it covered 24/7 doesn’t mean we’re not struggling.”

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Machias Town Manager Bill Kitchen last week announced Machias now has the money required to move forward with repairs to its wastewater treatment facility, thanks to an $893,589 grant from the American Rescue Plan Act. 

Plans to complete the Machias sewer system repairs were fully funded and ready to progress before the pandemic halted everything in 2020. This year, price hikes put the $2 million project roughly $600,000 over its previous estimate, leaving the town short of funds, until last week.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A new Maine law will, effective July 24, ban the spreading of municipal sewer sludge and the production of PFAS-containing sludge-derived materials, including many commercial compost mixes which contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS.

Locally, the only commercial compost known to be made with sludge-derived materials is sold by the company Mark Wright in Columbia under the name Mark’s Mix. Mark Wright is, as of 2021, owned by Casella Waste Systems.

by Jonathan Reisman

Several years ago I was at a Washington County Republican meeting, which has not been a particularly common occurrence. I introduced myself to another attendee, and when he heard that I was a University Professor, the look on his face was one of horror and suspicion. He might as well have reached for some garlic and a crucifix to protect himself. His assumption that I was likely a left wing socialist plant sent to study aliens was not accurate, but would have been for the overwhelming majority of University faculty.

by Hazel Stark

by Nancy Beal

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The Machias Schools 2022-23 budget plans a spending increase of nearly $1 million over the previous fiscal year but will raise taxation by a much lower number of $67,441.46, or 4.42 percent.

Some of the next year’s budget increases are in response to a surge in enrollment at Machias Memorial High School, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Jury selection for the trial of Thomas Bonfanti of Northfield is set to begin May 23 in Belfast. 

“We’re anticipating three to four days to pick a jury and up to two weeks for the trial,” said Bonfanti’s attorney Jeffry Toothaker, who was appointed to the case on April 8. 

Bonfanti has entered a plea of not guilty, and earlier this year requested his trial be held in another county to avoid possible tainting of the jury pool by pre-trial publicity.

After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the Washington County Children’s Chorus will resume rehearsals from 3-5 p.m. on Sunday, May 22, at Centre Street Congregational Church in Machias.

by Hazel Stark

by Nancy Beal

The town of Jonesport has $139,000 in federal relief money that is expandable as a contribution to a broadband system that reaches all of its citizens. For weeks, the selectmen’s assistant, Irene Rogers, has been collecting information from broadband companies about what they offer. Last week, Melinda Kinney of Spectrum (under its corporate name Charter Communications) joined the selectmen’s meeting by zoom and began laying out what her company could offer.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Spirits were high Friday, April 22, as local, county, and state officials joined members of the wider Washington County community to celebrate the reopening of the Downeast Correctional Facility (DCF) in Bucks Harbor, Machiasport. 

A glossy white tent shielded guests from most of the spring winds and showers as they dined on an elegant buffet provided by the kitchens of Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston, before assembling near a podium in front of the new DCF, its roof almost entirely covered with solar panels.

On Saturday, April 23, 18 young artists showed their talents at the Roque Bluffs Art Gallery & Learning Center's annual Youth Art Show. 

The Center’s first art show of the 2022 season had a full range of public school and home-schooled students covering ages from five to 16 years old. 

Wreaths Across America (WAA) proudly announces that registration is open for its annual Stem to Stone Races which are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. A live, in-person event will take place in Columbia Falls, Maine, on the tip lands where balsam is grown and harvested each year to make the veterans’ wreaths that are then placed on the headstones of our nation’s heroes for Wreaths Across America Day. Participants can also join in on the fun from anywhere utilizing one of the many virtual options.

The following was released by the Maine State Police today at 5 p.m.

On Friday, April 29, at approximately 4:45 p.m. the Pleasant Point Police Department and the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit North arrested 38-year-old Donnell J. Dana of Perry and 38-year-old Kailie A. Brackett of Perry for the murder of 43-year-old Kimberly Neptune also of Perry. Neptune was found dead in her home on Thursday, April 21.

by Nancy Beal

The Moosabec area’s Eastern Bay is a marine gold mine from which fishermen from Beals and Jonesport extract lobsters, clams, scallops, periwinkles, worms, and more. Its pristine waters also make it attractive for aquaculturists, especially salmon growers. Over the past three decades, increasingly larger areas of its waters have been removed from access by traditional fishermen and given over to exclusive use by large, often foreign, corporations who commandeer acres of ocean for salmon net pens.

by Jayna Smith

Washington County has been noted as a “hot spot” for both opioid and all overdoses in the State of Maine.  Even more, the state is the leader per capita in opioid and all overdoses in the entire New England region.  Now, to help curb the drug epidemic, a new program is available in Washington County.  

by Jonathan Reisman

..the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth; if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth produced by its collision with error. - John Stuart Mill, On Liberty