by Nancy Beal

Maine Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy rejected a challenge to one of a handful of licenses Maine regulators have granted Kingfish Maine for a $100 million land-based fish farm on Jonesport’s eastern shore in an Aug. 23 ruling. 

The dismissal of the petition from the Roque Island Gardner Homestead Corporation and the Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative removes one of two legal barriers standing in the way of Kingfish breaking ground on its 100-acre site abutting the western side of Chandler Bay.

By Will Tuell

Washington County Commissioner Chris Gardner was summoned for operating under the influence last week. While Gardner and Washington County Sheriff Barry Curtis declined to comment on the specifics of the case, or in Curtis’s instance that there was a case, an unidentified source who received anonymity from this publication alleged that Gardner was summoned by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Aug. 26.

The board of Porter Memorial Library in Machias is close to finalizing designs for a two-story library addition which, when constructed, will make the library’s 1893 structure fully accessible. The funds for the architectural project were awarded by the Maine Development Foundation through the Historic Preservation Fund of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. 

Port City Architecture is designing the addition.

By Will Tuell

On a gusty late summer afternoon, approximately 20 deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office gathered at West Quoddy Head Lighthouse in Lubec to receive individually-tailored “Angel Armor” from SHIELD616, a national nonprofit which works to provide top-of-the-line gear to departments that can’t afford it. 

By Paul Sylvain

An application for a six-unit townhouse-style apartment building at 53 Fremont St. took on a life of its own at the Machias planning board’s Sept. 6 meeting, leading to several tense exchanges between the developer and an appeals board member.

by Nancy Beal

When Jonesport’s church on Sawyer’s Square held its Summer Fling festival, the $4,000-plus that it netted resulted from a tradition of service by its women that reaches back a century and a half. A decade before 1887, when Daniel J. Sawyer commissioned what would be the Sawyer Memorial Congregational Church, the Ladies Aid and Parsonage Society was formed and took up, as its first task, raising money for the installation of a clock in the church’s bell tower, a pinnacle so prominent that it became a feature on nautical charts.

By Paul Sylvain

Machias Marketplace on 167 Dublin St. is literally and figuratively a home-grown business that is blooming and booming to meet the demands of happy customers wanting the best in organically-grown fruit, vegetables and meats.

KayLee Pettegrow has owned the business for the past four years and said she couldn’t be happier at her new location next door to the Machias Hannaford’s.

By Will Tuell

by Joseph Horn

By Paul Sylvain

A Sheriff’s K-9 named Kia is credited with tracking down and rescuing a seriously ill patient who disappeared from Down East Community Hospital (DECH) in Machias on Sept. 12.

Machias is fortunate to have both a town police department as well as access to resources at the Washington County Sheriff's Department, also based in Machias. The spirit of interdepartmental cooperation between the two law enforcement entities in Machias came into play Sept. 12, in saving the unidentified patient.

By Paul Sylvain

The Machias selectboard now has 180 days to forge and present to voters a new or revised marijuana ordinance following a vote by about two dozen residents at a special town meeting Sept. 14.

Machias Town Manager Bill Kitchen opened the session by explaining the public hearing was called for voters to consider enacting a 180-day moratorium on the acceptance of any new applications for a medical marijuana storefront license. 

By Paul Sylvain

Driving on Court Street in Machias can be a bone-rattling experience. Navigating the potholes, cracks, ruts, humps and bumps by car, is akin to driving through a minefield. However, relief may soon be in store, as Town Manager Bill Kitchen reported to the board at its Sept. 13 meeting.

“We’ve been told that the Route 1 paving project has been  pushed to next year,” said Kitchen. He noted that frequent spring and early summer rain “has thrown off paving schedules” statewide. The Route 1 project is now slated for spring, he said.

By Lauren Koss  

Eastport Arts Center will present Charlotte, North Carolina-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Patrick Mawn for an evening of music on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. (Please note: this concert was originally scheduled for September 16, and postponed due to expected storm conditions).

by Hazel Stark

By Paul Sylvain

The Machias Food Pantry opened its doors Sept. 23 for a grand opening celebration from its new home on 43 Kennebec Rd. The new building, which began construction last year, was the realization of a three-year dream for the pantry’s own stand-alone building

Originally begun 37 years ago in 1986 by three women from the Centre Street Congregational Church’s mission committee, the Machias Food Pantry has grown from helping “a few needy families” in Machias to serving around 150 families weekly in Machias and 11 surrounding towns.

By Joe McBrine

Connor Haskins dreams of becoming a game warden one day, and his mother, Ashley Handzlik, wants to see her child’s dreams to come true. 

That’s why Handzlik recently contacted Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Game Warden Matthew Tenan to see if Connor could spend some time with him to see what being a game warden is all about.

Appeal Hearing Postponed on Sandwich Shop, Used Furniture Store

By Paul Sylvain

Michael Acebal thought he was good to go with his plans for a small take-out sandwich shop and used furniture store at 97 Court St. when the Machias Planning Board approved his application for a permit on July 12.

More than two months later, Acebal is still waiting to begin the project after Mary Angarola, who resides across the street from where the sandwich shop and furniture store would be located, appealed the decision.

By Hazel Stark