by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

What’s invisible, odorless, and a leading cause of lung cancer? You guessed it — radon, a radioactive gas that seeps out of bedrock, entering buildings through basements or even slab foundations.

“Some of the highest readings I’ve gotten are homes that are on slabs,” says Alan Gardner, owner of Tri County Radon in Machiasport, which offers air and water radon testing services for homes, businesses, and schools.

by Ruth Leubecker

Still encumbered by lack of funding and fiberoptic detail, high-speed Internet in rural Maine has struggled in realizing a major step toward modern-day connectivity.

“High-speed Internet today is as fundamental as electricity, heat and water,” declared Governor Janet Mills in last Monday’s press conference, announcing a major breakthrough in the process.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Preliminary work is being done to create a corridor of land that could one day let trucks bypass the residential side of Elm Street, instead traveling directly from Route 1 to Stackpole Road in Machias.

Tractor-trailers are a regular — and often unwelcome —  presence on Elm Street as some travel to the Maine Wild factory and others to Machiasport seafood companies. The proposed bypass would allow the trucks to circumvent the tightest curves of Elm Street, near the Machias Valley Grange Hall.

by Nancy Beal

Approximately 60 Jonesporters turned out for their annual town meeting April 26 in a high school gymnasium converted to COVID-compliant conditions: chairs spaced six feet apart (except for family groups), abundant hand sanitizer and an announcement from the podium that anyone without a mask should leave or take responsibility for causing the meeting to be canceled. There were no challenges to the directive and the afternoon meeting proceeded for two-and-a-half hours.

Dear People of Machias,

This Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Pellon Center, there will be a vote by Machias residents as to whether the town should lend its support to a new business applying for a state-funded Community Development Block Grant.

The business, a small farm-to-table restaurant, taproom, and micro-brewery called Bad Little Brewing Company, is the result of over two years work and planning by myself and my husband Sean, both career teachers from downstate, and a lot of other folks from business advisors to craftsmen, many from right here.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Harlan Gardner turned 99 last month, and though he’s worn many hats in that time — Marine tail gunner, hearse driver, and mail carrier among them — it’s clear he’s also spent years honing his Downeast wit. He has a perpetual twinkle in his eye.

“It’s a sad place to be, the last one of the line,” Harlan says, pausing. “I’m glad they picked a smart one to be on the end.”

by Nancy Beal

Benny Beal, originally of Beals but now of Jonesport and having reached the age of 88, was barely out of his teenage years when he set about building a small working lobster boat that would become a racing legend. The half-model for the Stella Ann, as he would name the vessel for his oldest daughter, was created by his grandfather, (William) Riley Beal, at his kitchen table on Beals Island where he fashioned a half-model that was the typical blueprint for boatbuilders of the last century.

An old sailors' superstition holds that women at sea bring bad luck. Yet, despite, or in defiance of this belief, many women did go to sea for long voyages under sail. On Tuesday, May 18, at 6 p.m Eastern, on Zoom, you can find out just how wrong that old superstition was for many brave women of Maine. In "Women at Sea," Ms.

EAC KinderArts video workshop series continues with ‘Craft-along: Printed Flowers.’ In this month’s video, instructor Nia Aretakis demonstrates simple techniques for creating blossom-inspired prints from everyday household items: Q-tips and paper tubes.

by Hazel Stark

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Former Machias Town Manager Christina Therrien issued a 110-day notice of resignation in March, but shortened that timeframe with a written resignation notice sent Friday, May 14, effective immediately.

“Due to the current stressful situation, I felt it was best for my health to resign at this time,” said Therrien. “I’ll miss the community tremendously.”

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Former Machias Town Manager Christina Therrien issued a 110-day notice of resignation in March, but shortened that timeframe with a written resignation notice sent Friday, May 14, effective immediately.

The resignation followed a tense meeting held on the evening of May 12, when the four-person selectboard went into executive session with town counsel Sarah Newell of Eaton Peabody. Returning to the waiting audience on Zoom, selectboard chairman Joshua Rolfe asked Therrien to go into an executive session with the board.

by Ruth Leubecker

Prioritizing education and honoring a promise unmet for 15 years, Gov. Janet Mills unveiled her $8.8-billion budget to much bipartisan fanfare.

It was an historic investment in education, with $187 million going to public schools, and satisfying a 55-percent long-standing obligation.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Machias residents voted overwhelmingly to support a Community Block Development Grant (CDBG) application on behalf of Bad Little Brewing Company, a craft beer and farm-to-table restaurant soon to be located at 101 Court Street in the historic Clark Perry House.

The dining and taprooms will be located in the property’s barn, which will be moved to begin construction on a new foundation as early as next week.

It was a thankful day indeed for the parents of Richard “Dick” Holbrook Grant, who was born Nov. 24, 1927, in New Briton, Connecticut, two days before Thanksgiving,

His father was a teacher, and his mother stayed at home to care for Dick and siblings Robert, Leighton, and Madeline. The Grants moved more than 400 miles to Columbia Falls, Maine, when Dick was just six months old.

by Wayne Smith

I have to look back this week. I think about my Uncle Stanley as he talked about blueberrying in the day. Stanley is the only living uncle on my father’s side of the family. He always has been a special uncle now and in the day. This week I would just like to honor him. This is my favorite article on my uncle that I ever wrote. It’s kind of a late birthday present and captures a family's tradition and a little bit more.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

By unanimous vote at a meeting held Tuesday, May 18, the Machias Board of Selectmen appointed former selectman Bill Kitchen as interim town manager. 

Former town manager Christina Therrien vacated the position on Friday, May 15, six weeks earlier than expected.

Board chairman Joshua Rolfe raised Kitchen’s name first at Tuesday’s meeting, detailing his qualifications.

by Nancy Beal

The Pleasant River Solid Waste Disposal District (PRSWDD) is a small entity with a big name and a recent history of many problems, some solved, some pending. Those worries have ranged from non-functioning truck scales and an unstable wall that denies the plant insurance to the withdrawal of two of its six member towns and the in-progress retreat of a third. (Of the original six, Addison, Jonesboro and Beals remain. Jonesport and Columbia Falls pulled out last year, and Columbia is in the progress of leaving.)

Sipayik Elementary School also known as Beatrice Rafferty School Teacher Diana Mahar is the 2021 Washington County Teacher of the Year, announced during a virtual ceremony Wednesday, May 12.

The Maine Teacher of the Year program honors the contributions of Maine Teachers. The County Teacher of the Year is committed to excellence and nurture the achievements of all students and his/her exemplary skills inspire students and colleagues.

Ms. Mahar has been teaching at Sipayik since 2014 and currently in her 4th year of teaching 5th grade.

The Wild Blueberry Heritage Center and Museum, a community-minded nonprofit showcasing one of Maine’s most iconic crops, invites your stories and your stuff.

That is, if you raked blueberries every August in your childhood, or if you have old rakes or winnowers or boxes needing a new place besides your old barn – you are welcome to contribute both memories and items, including photographs, to the museum’s exhibits.

by Joseph Horn