by Will Tuell 

Morgan Swan of East Machias was unveiled as the 2022 National Grange Educator of the Year during a ceremony at the Jonesboro Grange on December 30. Swan, a native of the Caribou area, has been teaching kindergarten at Elm Street School in East Machias since 2019 where she started the previous year as an educational technician under longtime kindergarten teacher Diane Abrams.

by Nancy Beal

After more than three years of meeting, planning and crafting a plan, late last month advocates of creating a monument to the historic industries and traditions of Maine’s two easternmost counties learned that their efforts had paid off. On December 23, the U.S. Congress approved a plan for a Downeast Maine National Heritage Area. If and when the NHA becomes a reality, it could qualify for $1M a year in federal funds.

by Will Tuell

Newly-elected District Attorney Bob Granger and three-term Sheriff Barry Curtis were formally sworn in before an audience of county employees, legislators, and members of the public on New Year’s Day. The pair were sworn in by longtime county jail administrator Paula Johnson-Rolfe, who also serves as a notary public.

Stage East will begin a new session of Children’s Theater Workshop on Saturday, Jan. 14. The program will run Saturdays, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., through Feb. 11. In this session, fierce debate will ensue! Topics like cats vs. dogs, best ice cream flavors, and weirdest siblings will provide fodder for these short scenes written by participants with help from the instructor, Mark Macey. 

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The nonprofit Petit Manan Ambulance Corps is weighing whether or not to close its doors following another year of lost revenue and news that the municipalities it serves, Milbridge and Steuben, have declined to offer additional financial support. 

Katelyn C. Denbow passed away unexpectedly at home, on Saturday, January 7th, 2023, with her family by her side. Katelyn Cecille Denbow of Wilsons’s Beach, New Brunswick, was born on November 11, 1997, in Machias, Maine, U.S.A.. She is the daughter of Gina (Savage) Denbow of Wilson’s Beach, New Brunswick, and Jeff Denbow (Melissa) of Jonesport, Maine, U.S.A. 

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A vote to approve or deny a 12-cottage campground project on Canal Street in Machias was delayed following the board’s Jan. 4 vote to table the matter until a letter could be secured from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). 

Before they consider the matter again, the board asked town manager Bill Kitchen to secure something in writing assuring that they were within their rights to approve the building permit, submitted by local businesspeople Heather and Wesley Graham, co-owners of Graham Holdings. 

by Hailey Wood

The friends and trustees continue to meet through the winter to organize the renovation efforts of the First Congregational Church of East Machias.

This past summer, the first phase of stabilization was completed, and the church is now closed in, safe and stable. 

The East Machias Church has undergone huge repairs and renovations in the past year, and this fall completed, another important phase of restoration: repairing the steeple. 

Eastport’s Coast Guard Station will be the subject of a Sunday Afternoons at the Arts Center program on Jan. 15 at 3 p.m. Mindy Rivello, Officer in Charge of the Base, and other members of the station will give a talk about the nature of their mission on a day-to-day basis and will be able to answer attendees’ questions about their duties and the Coast Guard in general.

by Joseph Horn

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Five Maine Game Wardens, two Maine Forest Rangers, the Whiting Fire Department, one K-9, and a Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy successfully located a missing Cutler man after a four-hour search and rescue operation conducted during a sleet storm on the night of Sunday, Jan. 15.

Peter Taylor set out by ATV on Sunday morning, looking for moose antlers, a frequent pursuit of his. His family knew Taylor would normally return from the woods by midday, so when he didn’t come home, they went out to search for him.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

More than 60 emergency medical service workers, local officials, and health care stakeholders met last Thursday in Columbia Falls to discuss Washington County’s ambulance crisis, most recently evidenced by the possible closure of Petit Manan Ambulance Corps, and extended patient wait times at Washington County’s two hospitals. 

by Will Tuell

Governor Janet Mills (D-Farmington) has put forward a two-year budget of approximately $10.4 billion dollars, up roughly $900 million from 2022. The budget, which runs from July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2025, faces a long and winding road as Mills and her surrogates present it line-by-line to each of the legislature’s policy committees and the powerful Appropriations and Financial Affairs committee, which further refines Mills document and any amendments legislators have. 

by Will Tuell

While Governor Janet Mills (D-Farmington) gets most of her attention for stands she takes on the issues of the day, the state’s chief executive is also known for a deep love of poetry, performance, and showcasing the talents of performers from Kittery to Fort Kent – as evinced by the number of artists and performers who ushered in Mills second term Jan. 4 at the Augusta Civic Center. 

by Jonathan Reisman

One presumably leftist Facebook commenter recently opined that I needed a real job. Apparently, she/they (pronoun preferences were unstated, and I do not want to be unintentionally offensive/disrespectful) were unimpressed with my post-retirement gig as a Statler and Waldorf intern.  Sitting in the gallery watching the show and making acerbic comments is a guilty pleasure, and intentionally aggravating certain Democrats, and diversity divas is an added bonus.

Jan. 22 update: The family of Sarah Neal reports that she has been contacted and is safe in another New England state.

The Washington County Regional Communications reported yesterday that the sheriff's office sought contact with 17-year-old Sarah Neal of East Machias, reported missing that day by her family. Neal was listed in the National Crime Information Center database as a missing juvenile runaway.  

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The first naval battle of the American Revolution, known as the Battle of the Margaretta or the Battle of Machias, was fought two months after the Battles of Concord and Lexington in June 1775, right off the coast of present-day Machiasport. 

Organizers of this year’s Margaretta Days Festival, commemorating that and other local 18th-century battles, plan to expand the popular annual event by one day, delivering a full weekend packed with old favorites and new ways to celebrate the Machias region’s role in the Revolutionary War.

by Hazel Stark

by Will Tuell

United States Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) made several stops on a swing through central Washington County on Jan. 19, including visits at the Whiting Town Hall, where she celebrated funding for the Mill Pond Dam, the Whiting Village School, where she met with pupils of all ages, and a working lunch at Helen’s Restaurant in Machias featuring nearly a dozen prominent business and community luminaries. 

by Will Tuell

Two busloads of lawmakers from across the state visited Washington County on Jan. 19 and 20 as part of a tour organized by the Maine Development Foundation to familiarize legislators with different parts of the state. 

Representative Anne Perry (D-Calais) said that she and her Washington County colleagues were proud to show off this part of the state to other lawmakers who may not have been Downeast before.