by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Beginning Friday, Nov. 8, knitters, crocheters and other yarn enthusiasts will have a wooly destination to tide them over between stops in Ellsworth and Lubec. That’s the day Melissa Molinari will celebrate the grand opening of Machias’ own yarn shop, Wooleez, which will be located on Main Street next to Sew Fetch Dog Co.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Area municipalities have been directed not to honor rabies certificates issued by Dr. Cynthia Teer, due to her lack of a veterinary license. The notice, sent from the desk of Maine Assistant State Veterinarian Dr. Rachael Fiske, was circulated Friday, Nov. 1, and advises towns to decline rabies certificates issued by Teer in 2018 and 2019.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Two multi-unit apartment buildings in Washington County were fitted with solar panels late last year. Now the data is in, and it shows the payoffs are big.

“We installed the solar system around October and November of 2018 and went down to an electric bill of zero dollars since the sun started coming out again [in May,]” said Sunrise Opportunities Executive Director Tom Michaud, pointing to a graph. “I expect the trend to continue.”

“Scientific Illustrations,” an exhibit of new work by Margaret La Farge, will be displayed in the Art Gallery at the University of Maine at Machias through the month of December. The gallery is located in Powers Hall and is open to the public from 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday–Thursday and noon–5 p.m. on Fridays. For more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact 207.255.1200.

Featuring exquisite black-and-white renderings of wildlife and plants, the series showcases La Farge’s painstaking attention to detail and heartfelt appreciation for the natural world.

The employees of the Machias Branch of Machias Savings Bank raise funds by contributing to the bank’s Dress Down on Fridays Program, and then they donate to a program that is making a difference in the community.  The Community Christmas Giving Tree Program is proud and excited to share that they are the recipients of $1,500 raised by the employees this year.  “We are honored by your gift,” said charity volunteer Debra Echkart. “Thanks so much to all of you!  This is a tremendous boost to our program.”

by V. Paul Reynolds

Most of us who spend time deer hunting have had encounters with deer ticks, the bad ones, or know someone with Lyme disease. Earlier this fall, University of Maine Professor Jim Dill, a tick expert, appeared as a guest on my Sunday night call-in radio program, Maine Outdoors. The phones rang constantly the entire hour as listeners cued up to ask their questions of Professor Dill. Dill heads up a new diagnostics research facility at the University of Maine that opened this past April.

by Nancy Beal

Anthony Beal celebrated his 72nd birthday on November 4. Two days later, the Beals lobsterman celebrated those years in a different way after getting dumped into the water in Barney’s Cove off the northwest corner of Beals Island. A life jacket that very few fishermen wear and quick action on the part of friends and fellow fishermen combined to save his life.

by Nancy Beal

A Dutch aquaculture company will be in Jonesport next week to introduce Moosabeckers to what it hopes will be an extensive land-based fish farm that will command scores of jobs without affecting the environment. The company is Kingfish Zeeland, a fish producer already in production in the Netherlands, producing fresh fish that it has branded “Dutch yellowtail” for its citizens and surrounding European companies.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

In the course of any given workweek, Washington County Sheriff Barry Curtis deals with all kinds of characters, not all of them friendly. But Curtis was in cheery company last week when he took delivery of 54 fuzzy teddy bears, each one lovingly handcrafted by members of the Down East Quilters group.

“Some of us did the sewing, some of us did the stuffing, and some of us were finishing them off,” said Linda Throckmorton, one of the founding members of the group. “They’re small, as you can see, and they’re very soft.”

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Dr. Cynthia Teer is scheduled to appear in Kennebec County Superior Court later this month for a contempt hearing, according to Maine Office of the Attorney General (OAG) spokesperson Marc Malon.

Teer’s license to practice veterinary medicine was suspended by the state in Jan. 2018, and revoked following a Sept. 25 hearing of the Maine Board of Veterinary Medicine.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

At their regular bi-weekly meeting held Wednesday, Nov. 13, the Machias Board of Selectmen signed an agreement to sell 2.63 acres of land to Rising Tide Towers, LLC. The land is located behind the Machias Telebusiness Center on Stackpole Road, and Robert Parsloe of Rising Tide Towers said it will be used to construct a cell tower that will carry the signal for FirstNet, a nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety.

by Natalie Boomer

Tyler Mann, of St. Stephen, has turned a hobby into a full-blown business.

“Birch Corner started as a little side hustle for me in 2017. I make farmhouse style signs and farmhouse style tables. It started with me just selling off of a Facebook page, hand-delivering every sign,” said Mann.

Last holiday season Mann delivered nearly 1,000 signs in the two months prior to Christmas.
“I grew Birch Corner from one design to over 150 currently,” he said.

Calais Celtic Concerts will bring a little bit of Cape Breton's Celtic Colours to Calais as it presents the award-winning trio group of  Miller/MacDonald/Cormier to the Knights of Columbus Hall on Saturday, Nov. 23.  The group is regarded as one of the most important folk acts on Cape Breton Island today by CBC Mainstreet.

by Nancy Beal

A small but serious group of Moosabeckers is working diligently to reopen Jonesport’s Sunrise Care Facility (SCF) as a 24-bed assisted living center. SCF, formerly Resthaven Nursing Home, was rescued from a sea of red ink by Down East Community Hospital nearly two decades ago, but in the summer of 2017, the hospital decided that the debt threatened its own finances and, reluctantly, shuttered the home and delivered its residents to facilities in Machias and Milbridge.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A lack of available, quality child care can prevent parents from fully participating in the rural workforce, and that can have a negative impact on rural economies, particularly in times of low unemployment.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A small band of local volunteers has been quietly working to care for and reduce the massive feral cat population in Machias with low-cost spay and neuter clinics, and now they’re offering a low-cost rabies vaccination clinic to be held Sunday, Dec. 8, and their final spay and neuter clinic of 2019 to be held on Monday, Dec. 9. More clinics are already in the pipeline for 2020.

by Ruth Leubecker

An anonymous donor, a stage move to the waterfront and a coveted recognition for transparency and results have honored the volunteer efforts of Gateway Milbridge.
“The donor has offered us a $50,000 matching grant opportunity,” says Richard Bondurant of the grant proposal which was announced back in September, but has special significance over the holiday season. “We have until December 31 to fulfill the match. Some supporters have said they’ll donate toward the match challenge as part of their year-end gift giving.”

On Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 3:44 p.m. Deputies Matthew Carter and Toni Bridges of the Washington County Sheriff's Office were conducting a traffic stop on Water Street in Addison. The deputies requested the assistance of Deputy Ryan Allen and his K-9 Runa for a vehicle search. Runa is trained and certified to detect illegal drugs.

 After a prolonged absence due to insurance difficulties, the Town of Machias and the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce are pleased to announce the return of the public ice skating rink to Southside Ball Field.

“It broke our hearts that the rink was not able to be installed for the last several years,” said MBACC Executive Director Sharon Mack. “This was a very popular place in the past and offered great outdoor recreation for many children and families.”

by Joseph Horn