by Nancy Beal

The Beals Elementary School board finalized its budget for the island school early last month, and June 6 has been set as the date for a town meeting to consider it. The total cost after subtracting a balance from previous years is $1,049.233. Taxpayers will shoulder $988,855 of that amount, an increase of $175,759, or 21.6 percent, over last year.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Thanks to a sizable grant, Machias has moved one large step closer to finishing its sewer reconstruction project, which began before the pandemic but stalled due to an increase in the cost of materials.

The grant of $786,440 will not require a matching payment from the town, and adds to more than $2 million in funds already set aside for the project.

by Jonathan Reisman

“Two wrongs don’t make a right”- philosophy proverb 

“Yes they do “- DEI and anti-racism advocates

“DEI stands for Discrimination, Exclusion and Indoctrination”- Ron DeSantis

Down East Community Hospital bids a fond farewell to Anesthesiologist Dr. Leonid Brodsky after 21 years of dedicated service.  In 2002, Dr. Brodsky and his wife Helen came to Machias, and he began his employment at Dr. Massaad’s general surgery practice.  Dr. Brodsky has been a member of the Down East Community Hospital medical staff since 2002, and he came on as a full-time Anesthesiologist at DECH in 2007.

by Will Tuell

As the school year winds to a close, several schoolboy baseball and schoolgirl softball teams will be taking the field in playoff action this week with an eye toward regional and state championships later this month. 

by Will Tuell

Senator Marianne Moore (R-Calais) has seen three of her bills garner unanimous support of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services committee in recent weeks, with a fourth unanimously rejected by the committee, and a fifth positioned for floor debates once it comes to the floor later this month. The bills range from increasing reimbursement rates for municipal general assistance to providing additional oversight of the state’s beleaguered child and family services agencies. 

by Jonathan Reisman

Five thoughts as summer blackouts loom:

by Will Tuell

Representative Tiffany Strout’s (R-Harrington) bill to stop the development of offshore wind power in the Gulf of Maine was rejected by an 8-5 margin in the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities, and Technology committee on May 25, with Democrats voting to kill the bill while minority Republicans sought to keep it alive. 

by Will Tuell

by Nancy Beal

The Jonesport Elementary School school board met June 7 and finalized the budget for 2023-24. The total is $2,046,280, which is an increase of $80,199 over last year’s bottom line. The total local appropriation will be $1,581,130, which is $96,123 (6.47 percent) higher than last year’s amount. State subsidy is expected to be $215,144. The budget will go before voters at 5 p.m., Wednesday, June 21, in the JES gymnasium following a public hearing on a proposed solar panel farm ordinance, to be acted upon later in the budget meeting.

by Nancy Beal

Approximately 20 Beals Islanders came out for a special town meeting June 6 to consider a budget for Beals Elementary School brought by the school committee. In 18 articles, they approved $1,224,233, an amount that is $226,250 more than last year’s budget. The first payment on the recent energy overhaul of the school’s heating, ventilation, insulation systems and other improvements accounted for much of the increase. That payment--the second of 13--was $124,629. All but $13,703 of last year’s payment was paid out of Covid relief funds.

by Jayna Smith

Rhubarb is for Lovers was the theme of this year’s Rhubarb Festival, and it proved just that, with well over 300 people coming through the gates, according to organizer Georgie Kendall, despite the low temperatures in the mid-40s the drizzly day brought.

The Rhubarb Festival, now an annual event hosted by Kendall Farm in Perry, took place on Saturday, June 3, with a line-up chock-full of activities for people of all ages to enjoy.

by Hazel Stark

by Nancy Beal

Maine lobstermen notched a huge win over the federal government last week when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found in favor of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association in its challenge to federal fishing regulations that most fishermen fear would put them out of business.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Hundreds of miles of recreational trails intersect in Machias, making it the perfect location for Machias’s 2nd Annual ATV Jamboree, set to kick off Friday, June 23, with a 7 p.m. twilight ATV trail ride led by the Machias Ridge Riders Trail Club. 

You don’t need an ATV to enjoy the weekend’s festivities, including live music, games, raffles, scavenger hunts, and a parade. But if you want to bring an ATV but don’t have one, you’re in luck. 

by Jonathan Reisman

I do not get (or give) a huge amount of feedback, but I appreciate it. Criticisms, praise and suggestions are delivered via e-mail, snail mail, in grocery store aisles and by the side of the road. Praise is good for the ego, but criticism is better for the product for fifty years, the Beatles and The Prince have both battled and stayed with me. Niccolo Machiavelli counseled that it is better to be feared than loved; John Lennon countered that all you need is love.

Scouts from Pack 125 in the Machias area assisted the Bay View Cemetery Association of Larrabee in honoring veterans this year. The scouts placed flags on the grave sites of veterans and helped place memorial flowers.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

For decades David Cale has made his living on and under the water as a clammer, fisherman, and commercial diver. Now, beginning next month, he’ll take on a new role as the harbor master of Bucks Harbor, responsible for enforcing the rules of the waterways, and not only inside the harbor.

“It’s also managing 85 miles of shoreline,” says Cale.

by Will Tuell

by Jonathan Reisman

When I was a kid, Bell Telephone (or Ma Bell), had a near-total monopoly on telephone service and equipment. You could have any kind of phone you wanted, as long as it was a rotary dial black number, and you had to rent, not buy, it from Ma Bell. The phone company was a convenient and reviled villain.

Bad Little Falls “Sounds Like This” Summer Concert Series will happen every Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. every Thursday beginning on Thursday, July 6, with an opening performance by The Filthy Casuals. The following performances are July 13, Cook ‘n’ Lamb, featuring Alan Cook and Gary Lamb (www.cooknlamb.com); July 20, The Steele Hill Band; July 27, The Milk & Honey Rebellion; Aug. 3, Heavenly Hash; Aug. 10, The Stillwater Band; Aug. 17, The Lamplighters; and Aug. 24, The Drisko Street Barn Band & The Crows.