1. Toxic Groundwater a Lasting Reminder of Air Force Presence at Bucks Harbor

    Town Urged to Keep the State’s Responsibility for Costly Cleanup ‘On the Radar’

    By Paul Sylvain

    In a proactive move to avoid a repeat of last year’s back-door attempt by Gov. Janet Mills to sell the 9.5-acre former Air Force housing area in Bucks Harbor, District 10 state Rep. Will Tuell (R-East Machias) met with the Machiasport selectboard on Nov. 25 to discuss putting in a bill requiring the state to clean the site up before again offering it for sale.

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  2. Machias Ushers in Christmas Season with Weekend of Family-Friendly Activities

    Town, Locals to Pay Tribute to Late Town Manager During Festivities

    By Will Tuell

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  3. Permanent Dike Bridge Fix Delayed Indefinitely

    New $2 Million Long-Term Temporary Span Planned for 2025

    By Paul Sylvain

    Machias area motorists using the Route 1 dike bridge and causeway can expect an extended period of detours in 2025 and a years-long delay before a permanent span is built to carry traffic into and out of Machias via the dike.

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  4. Sparks Fly Over Proposed Pettegrow Road Turnaround

    By Paul Sylvain

    Already embroiled in a lengthy and costly legal battle over a road with two Starboard district homeowners, Machiasport officials could be facing yet another lawsuit over a road in the town’s Bucks Harbor district.

    At issue are concerns of residents in the Pettegrow Point Road Home Owners Association (HOA) over a planned truck turnaround near the commercial fishermen’s parking lot on that road and the legal interpretation of covenants governing land and road use in the Pettegrow property deed.

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  5. Jonesport Special Town Meeting to Consider Real Estate Acquisitions, Swap

    By Nancy Beal

    A special town meeting has been scheduled in Jonesport for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, in the elementary school gym. All the articles deal with real estate: the U.S. Coast Guard housing complex on Route 187 north of Greenwood Cemetery, the Dow building (former Cummings and Norton store) on Main Street in front of the firehouse, and the ball diamond.

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  6. Sky’s the Limit as King Construction Services Takes Off on $1.3 Million Airport Terminal Project in Eastport

    By Paul Sylvain

    Move over, Kirby Grant. There’s a new Sky King in town, and he’s busy constructing a $1.12 million airport terminal building in Eastport.

    Unlike the main character in the television show that ran from 1951 to 1962, Northfield developer Justin King is not an airplane pilot, but his company — King Construction Services of Machias — continues to soar to new heights, it seems, with every new project it takes under its wing.

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  7. Reality Check: Irrational Exuberance, Cautious Optimism, and Resolve

    by Jonathan Reisman

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  8. Machiasport Town Office Gift Shop to Offer Items from Town’s Home-Based Businesses

    By Paul Sylvain

    When the Machiasport Town Office reopens in the former hospice building on Dec. 9, residents will not only be able to pay their taxes, register vehicles, or pick up a copy of their birth or marriage certificates, but also pick up a little something crafted in one of the town’s home-based businesses.

    Not that Town Clerk Marcia Hayward doesn’t already have enough to do, but she’ll now be able to add “sales clerk” to her growing resumé thanks to the new gift shop at the town office building.

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  9. Permit Violations Prompt Town Officials to Abruptly Halt Dublin Street Self-Storage Project

    By Paul Sylvain

    The Machias selectboard has ordered an immediate stop to all work on a self-storage facility under construction next door to the Machias Market on Route 1/Dublin Street.

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  10. County Budgeters Narrowly Pass 2025 Spending Package

    By Paul Sylvain

    The fourth time — or in this case meeting — was a charm for the Washington County Budget Advisory Committee, as its members voted 5-4 on Nov. 21 to approve the heftiest county budget in memory, for 2025. 

    With that, Budget Committee Chairman and Milbridge Town Manager Lewis Pinkham announced, “I assume we are done,” ending what had been an especially difficult deliberation over the course of four committee meetings in the past two months.

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  11. War of Words Rages on in Starboard Property Owners’ Legal Fight Over Eminent Domain

    Town’s Attorney Accuses Newspaper of Printing ‘Inaccurate, Misleading’ Statements

     

    By Paul Sylvain

    The latest volley in a years-long legal battle between the owners of two beach-front properties in Machiasport’s Starboard district and town officials was fired last week at County Wide newspaper and its publisher and editor, Bob Berta, from the pen of the town’s attorney, Stephen Wagner.

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  12. Oh, Pie! Charity Dessert Auction Raises $15,000

    By Will Tuell

    Hundreds packed into the Elm Street School gymnasium on the evening of Nov. 16 for a potluck supper, ticket drawing, and dessert auction to benefit Arise Addiction Recovery, a Christian drug and alcohol rehab that has been serving the area for almost a decade. When all of Melanie Fergerson’s pumpkin spice donuts, Sue Grant’s masterfully designed cakes, and a delectable whoopie pie cake had been carted off, bidders had helped raise an estimated $15,000 for the rehab, Director Paul Trovarello said. 

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  13. Town Seeks Name for ‘New-to-Machias’ Used Plow Truck

    By Paul Sylvain

    The Machias Public Works Department welcomed a new “baby” to its family this week with the arrival of a shiny, rose-red 2016 Western Star snow plow truck.

    The town’s selectboard, at its Nov. 13 meeting, authorized Public Works Director Mike Schoppee to purchase the truck from the Town of Berwick for $77,500. Schoppee had asked the board to forgo the normal bid process since this was a used vehicle being offered to Machias at a price the board agreed was a “rare find.”

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  14. Cutler Voters Approve Big Increases in Admin Budget, Double Selectboard Pay

    By Meagan Tinker

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  15. Funding Awarded to Downeast Maine Partnership to Strengthen Regional Food System

    The Downeast Food System Partnership (DFSP) is a new 2-year program created by GrowSmart Maine, Healthy Acadia, and Sunrise County Economic Council in collaboration with the Hancock County Planning Commission. The goal of the DFSP is to improve food production and distribution across Washington and Hancock Counties.

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  16. Maine to California and Back

    by Jonathan Reisman

    I left Eastern Maine a week after the election to visit my sisters in the Sierra foothills. The three-thousand-mile journey started with a meditative just-under-two-hour drive to my elder son Asher’s abode in Brewer and a next-day flight from Bangor to Sacramento via Newark. My younger son Avram, happily, romantically, and politically engaged and employed in the swamp, traveled separately and joined me in Sacramento. My boys think their 68-year-old widowed father has lost a step or two and should not travel alone, and they are probably right. 

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  17. Three Local Businesses Receive Share of $7 Million Tech Grants

    On Nov. 13, Governor Janet Mills announced $7 million in grant awards from her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan to help Maine technology companies create jobs and strengthen Maine's innovation economy. Locally, Nautical Farms of Machias received $250,000; Carver Shellfish, Inc. of Beals was awarded $97,500; and Pen and Cob Farm in Pembroke received $20,200. 

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  18. Christmas Ornament Workshops at LCOC

    The Lubec Community Outreach Center is pleased to offer two holiday ornament workshops at their Common Threads Studio. Both workshops will feature local arts educator and workshop facilitator Sara Myrick, Eastport artist, who will lead participants through the fun and creative process. 

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  19. Sewer Upgrades Underway as Public Speculates about Unusual Activity on Machias River

    By Paul Sylvain

    The next phase of a sewer reconstruction project that began before the Covid pandemic, and then was stalled by the increased cost of materials, moved forward again two weeks ago with the arrival of heavy equipment and several large barge-like containers. 

    The flurry of activity along the river’s edge at Norman Nelson Park, near the Lee Pellon Center, and at the public boat ramp behind Helen’s Restaurant has left many residents asking, “What’s going on?”

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  20. It’s the ‘Witching Hour’ for the Washington County Budget, Says County Commissioner Gardner

    By Paul Sylvain

    Chris Gardner and Vinton Cassidy’s days as Washington County Commissioners are numbered, with newly elected commissioners David Burns and William “Billy” Howard set to step into their shoes when their terms expire on Dec. 31. 

    Still, Gardner — the commissioners’ often pointedly outspoken chairman — had plenty to say about the ongoing 2025 budget process and the effect lack of state police coverage in Washington and other rural counties is having on the proposed budget’s bottom line at the board’s Nov. 12 meeting.

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  21. Suspected Armed Robber Gets No ‘Props’ from Police for Passing Bogus Bills

    By Paul Sylvain

    A 28-year-old East Machias man arrested in connection to a Nov. 11 armed robbery at the Irving gas station and convenience store on Main Street in Machias, is facing additional charges related to counterfeit cash.

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  22. UMM Enrollment Plunges 41.2 Pct. in Last 5 Years

    By Will Tuell

    The University of Maine System released official enrollment totals for the Fall 2024 semester late last month, and, while some campuses such as the University of Maine Presque Isle (UMPI) experienced dizzying growth (112 percent) over the last five years, the University of Maine Machias, which saw a drop of 41.2 percent in that same time-frame, was not nearly as fortunate. 

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  23. Environmentalists Threaten Suit Against Cooke Aquaculture

    By Will Tuell

    The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has notified Cooke Aquaculture of its intent to sue for alleged Clean Water Act violations at 13 active sites in Maine where Cooke grows millions of salmon. Locally, those sites include three locations in Eastern Bay near Jonesport and between Beals Island and Head Harbor Island; four locations in Machias Bay; and three in Cobscook Bay between Lubec and Eastport. 

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  24. Policy Ronin

    by Jonathan Reisman

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  25. Guagus Volleyball Coach on Back-to-Back Championships

    By Wayne Smith

    I caught up with Holly Fraser, the volleyball coach at Narraguagus High School who recently made history by winning a second consecutive state championship in volleyball. She talked about the season and walked me through a historic, unforgettable, unbelievable, and epic championship season, losing only two games. 

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  26. Planned Bridge Replacement Project in Centerville Dominates Unorganized Territory Discussion

    By Paul Sylvain

    A planned bridge replacement project in Centerville, winter preparations, and a shellfish program highlighted discussions between Unorganized Territory Supervisor Heron Weston and Washington County Commissioners in Machias on Nov. 12.

    “The preliminary report came back on this big bridge replacement in Centerville,” noted Weston. “The original engineering design was done in 2021. The new design is finished, so of course the price has gone up.”

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  27. Sheriff’s Office, Public Safety Phone Lines Go Down at Washington County Regional Communications Center

    By Paul Sylvain

    County Commissioner Chris Gardner has said many times that the “most important thing” dispatchers at the Regional Communication Center in Machias do “is answer the phones.” If nobody answers the phone, ambulances, fire trucks. and police will never roll in response to a critical situation.

    But, what would happen if calls were attempted but the phones never rang?

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  28. Decision 2024: The Numbers Are In, and the Winners Are …

    By Paul Sylvain

    The dust has settled and more than 95 percent of the Maine vote has been counted. While absentee ballots from United States citizens living, working, or stationed with the military overseas will be among the last ballots counted, for all intents and purposes, the 2024 presidential election is in the books.

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  29. WA Punches Ticket to Class C Soccer Championship

    By Phil Stuart and Will Tuell

    With Washington Academy and Narraguagus winning state volleyball championships, the focus quickly shifted to other local teams’ playoff runs in soccer. 

    In Class C, WA’s boys’ soccer team has exceeded expectations and made it all the way to the state championship game where they squared off against Hall Dale and dropped a hard-fought 1-0 contest to come home runners-up in the competition. 

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  30. Lubec Celebrates Service, Sacrifice in Touching Veterans’ Banner Ceremony

    By Will Tuell

    Whitecaps were visible from the Lubec Historical Society overlooking Cobscook Bay Saturday morning as a hearty group of Lubeckers and their guests gathered to honor dozens of the town’s veterans who are featured on banners a citizens group has placed on telephone poles heading into Lubec. All told, some 65 veterans are featured as part of the “Veterans Banner Project” with another 35 banners in the works for 2025, bringing the total number of Lubec and Trescott service members recognized as part of the project to approximately 100. 

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  31. New Marine Patrol Vessel to be Stationed in Jonesport

    The Maine Marine Patrol has added a new patrol vessel to its fleet. The P/V Sentinel II, a 42-foot Calvin Beal-designed hull, was launched recently in South Bristol and will be stationed in Jonesport. The vessel’s hull and top were provided by SW Boatworks in Lamoine, the engine was provided by Billings Diesel and Marine in Stonington, and the vessel was built and finished by Farrin’s Boat Shop in Walpole.

    This is the second 42-foot Calvin Beal vessel Marine Patrol has been able to build in recent years; both vessels replaced existing patrol boats. 

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  32. Jonesport-Beals High School Board Deals with Policies

    By Nancy Beal

    Policy review took up much of the Moosabec CSD board meeting on Nov. 6. Revisions to the current policy on post-secondary enrollment options would permit students in all grades to take post-secondary classes and remove the one-course restriction. It would expand the institutions named in the policy where such courses could be taken (currently limited to the University of Maine System, community college system, and Maine Maritime Academy).

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  33. Area Churches Pray, Prep for ‘Operation Christmas Child’

    By Will Tuell

    Christmas is close to two months away, but for many churches in the area, gathering hygiene products, stuffed animals, school supplies, and other small gifts that can easily be packaged into colorful “shoe boxes” and shipped to less fortunate corners of the globe is a year-round production.

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  34. Semi-Random Post-Election Notes

    by Jonathan Reisman

    Poll Worker Musings

    I worked the polls from 9:30 a.m. to almost midnight on Nov. 5. It was a long day of recognizing graying neighbors, friends, and a few new arrivals/same-day registrants. I carefully declined asking for any ID, which was fortunate for both legal and old acquaintances I forgot/failed to recognize.

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  35. Community Christmas Giving Tree Elves Ready and Raring To Go Mid-November

    The Community Christmas Giving Tree volunteer elves — named in honor of longtime Machias resident Helen Vose — were called together in September for a meeting to finalize preparations for their 24th program year. The gathering was quite touching, however, with goodbyes being said to Head Elf Debra Eckart who is moving away to be closer to family. 

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  36. RMG, MMHS Celebrate Veterans Day

    By Nadine Preston 

    On Friday, Nov. 8, the students of Rose M. Gaffney Elementary School and Machias Memorial High School held their annual Veterans Day program. This program grows more every year, and all veterans and their families are encouraged to attend. Students from both schools honor our area service members in a variety of ways from choral songs and band performances to the Presentation of Colors by our Scout Pack #125.

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  37. Undefeted WA, Defending Champs ‘Guagus Win B, C, Volleyball Titles

    Raiders Upset Mount View En Route to Northern Maine Soccer Final

    By Will Tuell

    Two Washington County volleyball squads struck gold Saturday in their respective state volleyball tournaments, while the upstart Washington Academy Raiders turned the tables on undefeated Mount View to earn a berth in the Class C North soccer championship later this week. 

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  38. Machias Officials Meet with Machiasport’s Clam Committee Over Sewage-Related Clam Flat Closures

    By Paul Sylvain

    Machiasport clam diggers know that, like the tides, their fortunes can rise or fall, depending on the weather and, unfortunately, the Machias wastewater treatment plant.

    To that end, Machias Selectboard Chairman Jake Patryn and Vice Chairman Ben Edwards met with Machiasport Shellfish Conservation Committee members Zach Wood, Whitney Stevens, and David Cale on Oct. 30 to discuss the issue of state-mandated clam flat closures whenever a combined sewage overflow, or CSO, event occurs at the Machias plant. 

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  39. Two Local Runners and a Long-time Road Race in HOF

    By Phil Stuart

    Two local runners and one long-time road race will be inducted into the Maine Running Hall of Fame on Nov. 11. 

    Ric Lamoureax of Columbia Falls and Jeremy Lisee of Milbridge, both with Narraguagus connections, will be inducted at the Governor’s Hill Mansion in Augusta, along with the Charles E. Davis Independence Run, which is the third oldest running race in the Pine Tree State and is now directed by Phil Krajewski.

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  40. Unable to Hire a SRO, MMHS Uses Grant for Safety, Security Improvements

    By Paul Sylvain

    More than a year after beginning a search to hire a grant-funded School Resource Officer (SRO) for Machias Memorial High School, Police Chief Keith Mercier, and school principal Nicole Case have thrown in the towel on finding one.

    “We can’t get anyone,” Case admitted, in spite of a search that began with the selectboard’s blessing 14 months ago.

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  41. The Ark Pope Memorial Animal Shelter Gets Facelift

    By Wayne Smith

    The Ark Pope Memorial Animal Shelter was recently built in Cherryfield, and this is the story behind it told to me by Dani Baer. 

    According to Bauer, Executive Director of The Ark, the shelter started in 1984 over in Harrington. It had one small building with a couple of dogs and a few cats. Then in the 90s, it moved over to Cherryfield — first in an old farmhouse, then into a former schoolhouse where they stayed for 20 years. 

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  42. DEI Hires Research Scientist

    By Nancy Beal

    The Downeast Institute (DEI), located in the Black Duck Cove area of Beals’ Great Wass Island, recently hired a research scientist to oversee all internal and external research in its ocean acidification laboratory. Originally from North Carolina, Jaquan High is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in geology. Last June, he graduated from Oregon State University with a master’s degree in ocean, earth, and atmospheric sciences.

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  43. No Place to Turn: ‘Port Board Agree to Build a Turnaround on Pettegrow Point Road

    By Paul Sylvain

    The Machiasport Selectboard gave the thumbs up, at their Oct. 28 meeting, to build a truck turnaround on town-owned land just above the Bucks Harbor fishing pier and fishermen’s parking lot on Pettegrow Point Road.

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  44. More Semi-Random Election Notes and Fears

    by Jonathan Reisman

    National Popular Vote Compact Karma

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  45. No Bones About It: Machiasport Looks to Take Over Management, Care of Town’s Cemeteries

    By Paul Sylvain

    Looking ahead, Machiasport, like many other small, rural towns in the state, is likely going to have to take over management and care of the town’s cemeteries. There are at least nine known cemeteries in town, but discussion at the selectboard’s Oct. 28 meeting hinted that there may be many more.

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