by Will Tuell

by Will Tuell

Local schools will receive additional funding from the state after officials from the Maine Department of Education acknowledged last week that the calculations they use to determine how much subsidy school systems receive were glitchy. According to AOS 96 Superintendent Scott Porter, who is working with member towns to finalize budgets before upcoming town meetings, Machias area towns will see an increase of approximately $135,000 and a decrease in the minimum required mill rate in order to receive state subsidy. 

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Washington County game wardens have made statewide front-page news this year, playing vital roles in the rescue of a missing Cutler man in January, and then in the rescue of two Topsham women in February. 

Next week, anyone with an interest in joining their ranks can learn more at a Maine Game Wardens recruitment meeting to be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 10, at the University of Maine at Machias.

Who should attend and learn more?

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon & Jayna Smith                                   

As tourists and seasonal residents find their way Downeast once again, Washington county becomes home to travelers from all over the United States and, in many cases, other continents. But very few of those visitors travel as far as the tiny glass eels that are currently making their way up the Machias River.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

It was an intriguing afternoon Downeast as eyewitnesses across Washington County, in New Brunswick, Canada, and as far away as Matinicus Isle reported seeing objects falling from the sky midday, Saturday, April 8. 

Marissa Wood of Machiasport said she saw something that came and went very quickly.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Following Saturday’s meteorite event over Washington County and New Brunswick, Canada, the Maine Mineral and Gem Society is offering a $25,000 reward for the first one-kilogram meteorite recovered.

According to NASA’s Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science (ARES)  lab, radar data picked up almost five minutes of meteorite falls into Washington County and New Brunswick just before noon on Saturday, April 8.

by Will Tuell

Washington County Commissioners Chris Gardner, Vinton Cassidy, and John Crowley agreed to move forward cautiously Thursday afternoon with a proposal to tear down the district attorney’s office and build a new sheriff’s office on-site using federal COVID relief funding awarded to the county. 

by Will Tuell

The Marine Resources Committee heard from lobster industry representatives and officials from the Department of Marine Resources that a proposal by Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin) to shift the line separating state and federal waters from three nautical miles to 12 would be disastrous for an industry already grappling with restrictive whale rules, during the bill’s public hearing April 6. 

The Maine Forest Service is partnering with Downeast Coastal Conservancy (DCC) to conduct a one-day prescribed burn at Middle River Park in Machias during the week of April 17th-20th. The exact date of the anticipated burn is to be determined and will be based on weather conditions. The designated site is composed of 25 acres of marsh along Middle River, to the east and northeast of the current sliding hill.

by Nancy Beal

The Jonesport Elementary School board filled its three classroom teaching vacancies last week, but it still seeks a principal. Several of the teachers who were among the approximate 20 members of the public who attended the April 5 meeting urged the school board to consider a teacher/principal. Currently, following the abrupt departure of Principal Heidi Fairbanks in January, Title IA math teacher John Reese is handling the principal’s duties, while Superintendent Lewis Collins is the principal of record.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Life in the Maine Mineral & Gem Society laboratory is much busier this week after throngs of treasure hunters have descended on Washington County, hoping to find a piece of the bolide meteor that streaked across the midday sky on Saturday, April 8. 

Now those hunters are delivering their finds to the museum for analysis.

Thanks to special grant funding provided by the Maine State Department of Education's “Summer 2023 Coastal Science & Marine Trades” initiative, Chewonki is excited to announce it is now accepting applications for the summer 2023 Coastal Ecology Kayak Expedition.

The no-cost program is 100% free for participating students, including travel and equipment expenses. It will provide ten Maine high school students the chance to travel the mid-coast region in ocean kayaks and explore marine ecology, as well as marine careers and research opportunities. 

by Will Tuell

The Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce (MBACC) honored Machias Town Manager Bill Kitchen as its Employee of the Year, Drone’s Eye View as its Business of the Year, and beloved pilot Andy Patterson who tragically lost his life while flying his plane to Florida earlier this month, as its Volunteer of the Year, during a moving ceremony at the University of Maine at Machias April 13. 

by Nancy Beal

Kingfish Maine, a subsidiary of a Dutch aquaculture firm that plans to establish a $100 million land-based fish farm on 94 oceanfront acres in Jonesport, sent its first batch of the Dutch yellowtail it plans to raise there to market last week. It was the first of six 1,000-pound shipments the company plans to send out this spring.

by Will Tuell

With the arrival of sunny skies and warmer weather, Washington County saw two high-profile forest fires this past week – a 65-acre blaze in Wesley on Monday and an eight-acre fire in Johnson’s Cove Friday, according to the Maine Forest Service, which assisted fire departments across the region with both conflagrations Although no cause has been given for either fire or a trio of smaller burns north of Columbia Falls, Rangers said via social media on Sunday that over 100 wildfires have been reported statewide so far this spring. 

by Nancy Beal

The introduction of telemedicine in 10 of Maine’s 250 public libraries is approaching its one-year anniversary, but it appears that few know it exists. Jonesport’s Peabody Memorial Library and Steuben’s Henry D. Moore Library are two of the 10, but PML librarian Heidi Hinkley reports that only a handful of residents from Jonesport, Beals, and Addison, who have access to the facility, have taken advantage of the ability to consult with a health care provider remotely.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

After six successful years on Hadley Lake Road in Marshfield, Bold Raven Salon owner Lida Rolfe is delighted to announce her business is moving to Main Street in Machias. On Tuesday, May 2, she’ll open the doors on her new, larger space at 97 Main Street, the former location of Berry Vines. 

“This space offers even more space where more women, or men, can come,” said Rolfe, who says throughout her 10-year career, she has worked to create a safe space for her salon’s clientele. 

by Will Tuell 

Downeast Community Partners (DCP) is hosting a “Top to Bottom Drive” to collect critically needed personal hygiene and home cleaning items. The drive will take place Friday, May 26, at Hannaford in Bar Harbor, Ellsworth, and Machias; Walmart in Calais; and the Blue Hill Co-op. “SNAP benefits do not cover hygiene items or cleaning supplies,” notes DCP’s Development Director Sharon Catus, “yet without these items, one’s quality of life can be severely impacted. Imagine not having diapers for your children; soap; shampoo; toothbrushes; deodorant; disinfectant spray; paper towels.

by Joseph Horn