by Joyce Kryszak, Maine Monitor

Hope and Despair, the tiny twin islands perched near the mouth of Little Kennebec Bay, could serve as an allegory for Washington County. Beleaguered by boom and bust since the demise of the canning factories that used to line the coast, the once-thriving region has nearly drowned beneath unfulfilled plans and promises.

Machias Savings Bank (MSB) announced last week that it will donate $250,000 to the Maine Lobstermen’s Association’s (MLA) Save Maine Lobstermen campaign. The donation comes after a federal appeals court granted a motion to expedite the MLA’s appeal of a decision in its lawsuit against National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The MLA seeks to reverse what it calls a scientifically flawed federal whale plan that will cripple Maine’s lobster industry and negatively impact the economy of Maine and our coastal communities.

by Jonathan Reisman

Golden is running against former Congressmen Bruce Poliquin and Independent Tiffany Bond. I cannot bring myself to vote for any of them.

We got an envelope and card from Ms. Bond last week, which was a refreshing break from the glossy mailers supporting or attacking Mills, LePage, Golden, and Poliquin with assorted lies and half-truths. Ms. Bond invited me to e-mail her any questions I had. She responded pretty quickly:

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon 

It’s Tuesday afternoon in Machiasport, election day, and voters are lined up in the short town office hallway waiting for their turn at the three-person voting booth. Machiasport’s old wooden ballot box has already been called into service once because the new ballot scanner wasn’t working. But it’s up and running now, and town clerk Marcia Hayward is glad. With it, she’ll be able to head home around 9:30 tonight.

by Jonathan Reisman

by Hazel Stark

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Local cranberries often appear on local holiday tables, but usually in a bowl of jelly. For the first time this year, holiday chefs could also serve them mixed into a glass of something bubbly, or straight up, using H&S Spirits Coastal Cranberry Liqueur, made right in Harrington.

H&S is Washington County’s first official distillery, and co-owner Myron Spaulding says he’s proud that all of their products feature Maine ingredients.

by Phil Stuart

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

All but one member of central and eastern Washington County’s Augusta delegation will be a Republican, following the midterm elections held Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Anne Perry, a longtime Democratic representative from Calais, narrowly defeated Republican challenger John Chambers, with 51.52 percent of the vote. Following last year’s redistricting, in January, Perry will represent the new House District 9, which stretches from Eastport to Grand Lake Stream along the county’s eastern edge. 

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Bob Granger is ready to catch his breath. He’s spent the past five months on the campaign trail while continuing his work with Acadia Law Group in Ellsworth. Those efforts paid off and Granger, an Independent, won the Nov. 8 election for District Attorney of Prosecutorial District  7, defeating two-term Republican incumbent Matt Foster with a 3-point lead. 

by Joyce Kryszak , Maine Monitor

Although the pandemic boosted the population of rural Down East Maine, the sudden rush of new residents sent Washington County’s already dire housing shortage spiraling, with much of the available housing stock scooped up.

Worse still, the scarcity of homes in Maine’s second-poorest county — where the poverty rate hovers around 20 percent, and the median household income is less than $45,000 — puts the neediest residents at a huge disadvantage in the scramble to find homes.

by Jonathan Reisman

I got up early Election Day to watch the lunar eclipse. We were promised a blood-red moon amidst clear skies. It was clear, but all I saw was a dark blotch across the moon as it disappeared over the western horizon. The sun came up over a frosty morning. I should have recognized it as a foreshadowing of eclipsed hopes, a red mirage and a botched Arizona election, discouragingly long lines, and disturbingly convenient snafus, at least for the Democratic Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate who was in charge.

by Joseph Horn

Early on Friday, Nov. 18, the Maine State Police reported a "suspicious incident" taking place in Cherryfield on Thursday, Nov. 17.

They have now declared that incident to be a homicide which was discovered after the Washington County Sheriff's Office responded to a 9:17 p.m. call reporting a home invasion at Tenan Lane in Cherryfield.

When deputies arrived they found 36-year-old Matthew Adams of Whitneyville* deceased. His body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta where an autopsy was performed today, and his death was ruled a homicide.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A power meter recently stolen from Bad Little Falls Park in Machias is just one in a string of vandalism acts that prompted Machias Police Chief Keith Mercier to ask for the public’s help.

“Over the summer months, the Machias Police Department investigated a handful of criminal mischief incidents at Bad Little Falls Park. These incidents took place in the overnight hours,” wrote Mercier. 

The park is supposed to be closed from sunset to sunrise, said Mercier.

by Jonathan Reisman

Bitter cynicism is a recipe for heartburn and despair. It is not a healthy state of being, and I have been struggling to find a more positive state of mind in the wake of a very disappointing election for Maine and the nation. It also makes it hard to write a Thanksgiving column, but here goes-

Family and Homestead

I am grateful that my elder son and his partner have returned to Maine. 

I am grateful that my younger son is fighting for his beliefs in the swamp.

Following its television premiere on Maine Public Television on Thanksgiving night (9 p.m.), the locally filmed and produced documentary Hungry Now will have its regional premiere at the University of Maine at Machias Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2.

“Hungry Now” brings you direct voices of “the hungry, the homeless, and the helpers” in a series of interviews with kids and adults who seem to walk their whole lives uphill in a nation of wealth and promise. The film aligns with “Voices From the Barrens” in UMaine’s “Right to Food” film series. 

by  Hazel Stark