I had to make a trip to my eye doctor on Monday the 24th for my sixth-month checkup. That entailed a couple of eye scans and everything is okay for now. Just praying that it will continue to be alright.

Debra Burris joined me on Monday in Ellsworth. We did some browsing and picked up a couple of items while we were there. We had brunch at the Riverside Cafe before we returned home. It definitely was a good day out and about.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A nationwide network proposed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will soon be operational Downeast.  

Last week, Rising Tide Towers completed the construction of a Machias cell tower which will provide first responder communications coverage via FirstNet, a network proposed by the federal 9/11 Commission and endorsed by Congress in 2012.

FirstNet Principal Consultant Bruce Fitzgerald said the network is designed to give communications from first responders “priority and preemption.”

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

It wasn’t the outcome they’d hoped for, but coach Jim Getchell said the Machias Memorial High School boys’ varsity basketball team is looking ahead after losing the Class D state championship game in Augusta on Saturday, Feb. 29.

“They love to win, and everyone loves to win, but when you think about the fact that you’re second place in the whole state of Maine, a lot of teams would like to be there,” said Getchell.

Machias lost 69-53 to defending state champions Forest Hills High School, located in Jackman.

by Ruth Leubecker

Few stories contain as much far-reaching emotion and interaction as the brothers Eaton of Lubec.

Richard Eaton, more well-known as Dickie, is 68. He taught school in Lubec for 16 years, then accounting and business management in Camden for many more years. Today he runs Eaton Enterprises and does income taxes at home in Lubec. However, he splits his time between Maine and California, living part-time in Lubec.

by Nancy Beal

In an unusual reversal in the practice of awarding grants, the town of Jonesport has been invited to apply for a $1,000,000 infrastructure grant. That was the word that Bill MacDonald, the new executive director of the Washington County Council of Governments (WCCOG) brought to Jonesport selectmen recently — first via email on the last day of January, then in person on Feb. 5.

Today, everyone is familiar with Bar Harbor’s success as a thriving community and popular tourist destination. Less well known is the fact that, in 1896, the Petit Manan Land Company tried to create the same kind of successful community across the bay in Steuben.

The company invested money into building roads, a clubhouse, casino, steamboat dock, icehouse, lumber shed, a boarding house and cottages. Over the next 60 years, plans were filed by numerous individuals and companies who tried unsuccessfully to sell the nearly 1,300 cottage lots and build hotels and other amenities.

Washington Academy announces Assistant Head of School Richard Olivares will coach varsity baseball for the 2020 season. Mr. Olivares states, “My goals at Washington Academy are to put a baseball team on the field that will compete with integrity and be a team the school and its community are proud of. I encourage all Washington Academy students interested in playing baseball to sign up in the WA main office.”

by Hazel Stark

by Ruth Leubecker

Medical experts and public health advocates convened last week to address upcoming legislation that would relax sentencing guidelines for those possessing drugs.

LD 1492, An Act to Reform Drug Sentencing Laws, seeks to require prosecutors to prove someone is trafficking or intends to traffick drugs before they can be convicted of it; and it would end some felony charges by raising the threshold for misdemeanor possession charges.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A day of fundraiser festivities planned for Saturday, March 21 will support Machiasport’s plans for several 2020-themed projects, including a park with walking paths, a tricentennial forest, and a playground, among other things. 

On Sunday, March 15, Maine will celebrate its bicentennial, having entered the union as the 23rd state in 1820.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

After 16 days in isolation, Ben and Allison Edwards were relieved to learn they tested negative for COVID-19. The couple, who manage Schoppee Farm in Machias, returned from a trip to Europe last month and were advised to self-quarantine for two weeks.

During its daily update on Tuesday, March 17, Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the state now has 23 confirmed cases if the 2019 novel coronavirus, and nine presumptive positives, bringing the likely known total to 32. Maine discovered its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on Thursday, March 12.

Tests for 1,303 people have come back negative.

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

During a daily press conference held Friday, March 20, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Nirav Shah said Maine has 56 cases of confirmed and presumptive positive COVID-19, a four-case increase over the day before and representing the smallest day-over-day increase this week.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Executive Director Dr. Niravh Shah today held a press conference to discuss coronavirus and announced 89 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Maine, a 19-case increase over the day before. Eight of those patients are hospitalized. Yesterday the CDC announced three patients have also recovered.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

As of Monday, no cases of coronavirus have been detected within Washington County, a fact which should not stop people from preparing themselves, said Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Executive Director Dr. Nirav Shah.

"[A lack of cases] could provide folks with a false sense of security," he said.

Shah warned the CDC fully expects to see new cases develop in counties that have none today, and to see increasing rates of infection in counties with known cases.

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

Fourth-generation Beals business A.C. Inc. is open and will continue to operate in the coming weeks, according to owner Albert Carver. As a seafood buyer and wholesaler, A.C. Inc. is deemed an essential service and will continue operations during a two-week state mandate that shuttered non-essential retail establishments on March 24.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Video can be watched here: https://www.facebook.com/eastmachias/videos/747019195704104/

The East Machias Board of Selectmen held a meeting on Thursday, March 26 and streamed the proceeding so that residents could watch from a safe distance. The state has prohibited all gatherings of 10 or more people and strongly urged everyone to avoid non-essential gatherings of any size to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

by Nancy Beal

by Nancy Beal

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

In February, Washington County reported the highest level of unemployment of any county in Maine, registering 7.7 percent and up from 6.4 percent in 2019, according to the Maine Department of Labor. That number does not include fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic which began to close area businesses in mid-March.

As the economic impacts of COVID-19 closures hit home, Community Caring Collaborative (CCC) Director Charley Martin-Berry said Washington County agencies are ramping to help people struggling every day to make ends meet.

by Nancy Beal

Several hundred acres surrounding a prime brook trout habitat that is also a popular ice fishing lake in the town of Cooper will be preserved for the people of Washington County and beyond through the sale last month to the Downeast Coastal Conservancy (DCC), the Sunrise County’s foremost land trust headquartered in Machias. DCC took title to the acreage around Vining Lake on March 12 from a couple who wanted the area to remain undeveloped and available to the public in perpetuity for low-impact recreational use.