Brewer deferrals mean cancer patients now drive even further for treatment

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Service deferrals at a Penobscot County cancer care center mean Washington County cancer patients must drive even further for care, or delay it.

Almost all Washington County cancer patients receive treatments at the Lafayette Family Cancer Institute in Brewer, says East Machias Family Nurse Practitioner Christine Moulton, but three months ago, Lafayette stopped accepting most new patients. 

Read More

Washington County sees new residents, higher home prices

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.

Read More

Jonesport liquor vote will exclude Sundays

by Nancy Beal 

The inadvertent addition of three words to state-provided language for a liquor referendum in Jonesport has caused its selectmen to pull it from next week’s ballot and to post signs telling voters to ignore the question.

Read More

Machias Savings Bank makes $250k donation to support Maine’s lobster industry

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.

Read More

DECH Mammography goes 3D

Down East Community Hospital made the upgrade to a Senographe Pristina™ mammography unit in 2021.  This system provided two-dimensional screenings as well as additional comfort.  We are happy to announce we purchased the upgrade to that system and can now offer three-dimensional screenings to our patients!

Read More

2nd CD Riffs

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:

Read More

Machias Memorial High School volleyball team raises money for breast cancer awareness

It is wonderful to see that the upcoming generation in the Downeast area is carrying on the traditional community commitment and connection that has lived on in this region for centuries.

On Oct. 7, the Machias Memorial High School JV and Varsity Volleyball teams hosted a Dig Pink volleyball game in support of October's Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Read More

Washington County towns reporting ‘wicked’ voter turnout

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.

Read More

From Washington County, mostly Republicans headed to the state house; Granger new district attorney

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

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

Read More

Community Chorus to present 'A Harvest of Song'

Quoddy Voices, our region's community chorus, once again takes the stage with a pair of concerts on Friday, November 18, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, November 20, at 3 p.m., at Eastport Arts Center. The chorus’ program, ‘A Harvest of Song,’ celebrates the season of thanksgiving as well as the upcoming feast day of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians. 

Read More

Airport, ambulance, and sidewalks top Machias selectboard agenda

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Guy Rouelle of consulting firm Dubois and King led off the most recent meeting of the  Machias Board of Selectmen, bringing an update on future plans for the Machias Valley Municipal Airport. Recently the airport installed a new fuel farm, a feature Rouelle said will be a game changer for pilots.

Read More

H&S Spirits bottles local liquor in the region’s first (legal) distillery

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.

Read More

Jonesport Elementary School graduation, class trip rumors aired, addressed; consensus on the horizon

by Nancy Beal

Rumors abounded in Jonesport recently that the elementary school board and superintendent were conspiring to cancel eighth-grade graduation ceremonies and the class trip that traditionally follows brought over 40 Jonesporters to the JES library Nov. 2, where the school board was holding its monthly meeting. In a straw poll called for early in discussion, they registered unanimous opposition to the change.

Read More

Washington County 1 of 2 selected for NASA space grant funding

bluShift Aerospace and the Maine Space Grant Consortium announced last week that they are collaborating with Educate Maine and MaxIQ Space to deliver K-12 Space STEM programs in two northern Maine counties. A member of their team will be traveling to Aroostook and Washington counties next Wednesday and Thursday to hold public educational forums.

Read More

Democrats hold on to Augusta, but majority votes red Downeast

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. 

Read More

J-BHS girls' varsity basketball coaching position contested

by Nancy Beal 

The agenda of the Nov. 9 meeting of the school board that governs Jonesport-Beals High School listed recommendations for winter coaches, including names. The one for varsity girls’ basketball brought out several members of the team and their supporters, who were not happy with the choice.

Read More

As new DA, Granger talks priorities, including record county case backlog

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. 

Read More

Sheriff asks for four more deputies; county weighs whether it can afford them

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon 

Responding to an increase in violent crime and a reduction in local state police coverage, Washington County Sheriff Barry Curtis has asked the county to fund the hiring of four additional patrol deputies, a budget increase of almost $700,000, including equipment and cars. 

Read More

Housing shortage leaves some residents scrambling

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.

Read More

Downeast towns experienced ‘wicked’ voter turnout

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon 

It’s election day afternoon in Machiasport, 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.

Read More

Eclipse election: red ripples and a western moonset

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.

Read More

Floats wanted for Machias Christmas Parade of Lights set for Dec. 3

Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce will kick off Way Downeast Christmas with a visit from Santa Clause and a Machias Christmas Parade of Lights on Saturday, Dec. 3. 

Read More

State Police report 'suspicious incident' in Cherryfield

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The Maine State Police this morning report that the Washington County Sheriff's Office was called to a "suspicious" incident in Cherryfield at 9:17 p.m. last night, Thursday, Nov. 17.

"Maine State Police detectives from Major Crimes Unit North were called to assist. Police do not believe there is an ongoing public safety risk," said MSP Communications Director Shannon Moss.

This story will be updated as more information is available.

 

Read More

Maine State Police investigate home invasion and homicide in Cherryfield

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.

Read More

House fire in Jonesport

by Nancy Beal 

Read More

Machias PD asks public’s help with Bad Little Falls Park vandalism

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.

Read More

JBHS picks Carver-Kenney to coach girls' varsity basketball

by Nancy Beal 

After enduring a barrage of opposition to its agenda-listed choice for girls' varsity basketball coach on Nov. 9 and hearing strong backing for Kristi Carver-Kenney instead, the Jonesport-Beals High School board tabled action on the position hire that night (see MVNO, Nov. 16). Five days later, a subcommittee of three board members (Adam Merchant, Clifford Norton III, and Rebecca Stanwood) met with Superintendent Lewis Collins and athletic director Mitchell Worcester to review the recommendation.

Read More

Thanksgiving

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.

Read More

Three-town tour planned for Passamaquoddy Bay Symphony Orchestra

The Passamaquoddy Bay Symphony Orchestra (PBSO) is delighted to announce its three upcoming fall performances: Friday, December 2 at 7 p.m. at the Eastport Arts Center in Eastport; Saturday, December 3 at 3 p.m. at the Centre Street Congregational Church in Machias; and Sunday, December 4 at 2 p.m. at Sunrise Opportunities (formerly Calais Congregational Church) in Calais.

The program includes Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.1, “Winter Daydreams”, and “The Enchanted Isle,” a colorful suite by American composer Ernst Bacon. The suite, based on Shakespeare’s The

Read More

Local documentary, ‘Hungry Now’ to have regional premiere at UMM Friday, Dec. 2

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. 

Read More

WA senior wins Chinese language award

Seth Wilcox, a senior at Washington Academy, won the Excellent Chinese Learner award in a Chinese speech performance at the 2022 Maine Chinese Conference at Husson University in Bangor. 

The two-day conference was presented by The Chinese Language and Culture Center of Maine and Bangor Chinese School in collaboration with The Maine Department of Education, the University of Maine, and the City of Bangor on October 28 and 29.  The topics of the conference included Chinese education and culture.

Read More

Maine driver’s licenses won’t fly starting in May 2023

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Maine driver’s licenses will still suffice if you want to drive, cash checks, or rent a car, among other ordinary daily uses, after May of next year. But if you're going to fly or enter a secure federal facility, a standard driver’s license won’t cut it starting May 3, 2023. For that, you’ll need a REAL ID or a U.S. passport.

Maine began issuing REAL IDs in 2019 to comply with a new federal law. This year, the federal government announced it would begin enforcing use of the REAL ID starting next spring.

Read More