By Paul Sylvain

The Machias selectboard’s marijuana ordinance subcommittee -- which, in fact, is the entire selectboard -- held its inaugural meeting to begin the process of crafting a new ordinance Oct. 25. However, the meeting was not without drama. 

By Will Tuell

Julianne van Norden has served as the Children’s Librarian at Porter Memorial Library in Machias since 2021, and one thing is apparent from an Oct. 16 interview with the former educator who spent nineteen years working with children before volunteering at the library -- she has a passion for literacy that is infectious. 

Town Officials Could Thwart Developer’s New Plans for Big Building

By Paul Sylvain

Based on a recommendation from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Land Resources, the Machias Planning Board on Oct. 23 unanimously voted to rescind its Sept. 20 provisional approval of a multi-unit townhouse-style apartment project at 53 Fremont St.

To the Editor:

On Oct. 16, 2023, the Washington County Budget Committee held a public hearing on the 2024 county budget proposal. After considering the information presented at the meeting, Maine Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #006, representing full-time patrol deputies for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, is releasing the following statement regarding the proposed Sheriff’s Office line item increase. 

by Phil Stuart

The older you get the more people you know pass on, and the list just seems to keep growing.  It is especially difficult when you see somebody leave this earth thirty years too soon like Andy Foss.

Andy was a Lubec native who lost his father at a young age, and his mother had to bring him up along with two older sisters.  I remember Andy as a basketball and baseball player at Lubec High School in the mid eighties.  He was one of the school’s best 3-sport athletes playing soccer, baseball, and basketball.

by Wayne Smith

It was an electrifying night of volleyball at Ellsworth High School on Oct. 30 as the Narraguagus Lady Knights won the Class C State Volleyball Championship, the first volleyball championship in school history, beating Calais in three straight sets. 

By Will Tuell

The University of Maine at Machias and Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating a reported case of tuberculosis on campus, the university said Oct. 31. Publicist Jackie Leonard stressed in a follow-up inquiry from The Machias Valley News Observer Nov. 1 that the case was isolated at this point in time and that all who may have come in contact with the patient have been notified. 

By Paul Sylvain

Toby Lamb and business partner Chris Marley met briefly with the Machias Planning Board on Nov. 1 to get approval for a four-foot by eight-foot--or 32-square-foot--concrete pad for an outdoor freezer at the former Bluebird Ranch Family Restaurant at 78 Main St.

“Mostly, we’re just doing renovations inside,” explained Lamb. “We had not planned on changing the outside footprint, although we would like to pour a four-by-eight pad to put a freezer on right outside where the freezers are now. Basically, it’s right next to those.”

By Phil Stuart

In nine years as varsity volleyball coach at Washington Academy, Corey Schwinn has built a powerhouse, and they aren’t going away anytime soon.   After winning the Class C title a year ago with ease, losing only two sets the entire season, the Raiders needed more of a challenge:  they simply outgrew Class C and decided to move up despite graduating 12 seniors.

By Hazel Stark

By Paul Sylvain

Many communities in Washington County took time out on Veterans Day weekend to honor the men and women who have served and are serving on active duty and in the Reserve and National Guard units of the United States armed forces.

The holiday, originally named Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918,  was changed in 1951 to Veterans Day.

Town Manager Predicts Project Could Take ‘Years’

By Paul Sylvain

A years-long debate over whether to simply rebuild Machias’s crumbling Civil War-era dike and Route 1 causeway with a new, improved version or remove and replace the dike with a bridge was decided last week by Maine Department of Transportation with news that sections of the existing structure are teetering on the edge of catastrophic failure.

by Jonathan Reisman

It was gloomy and raining when I went to the Cooper Community Center (the former Grange) to vote. I brought some cake for my neighbors who were working the polls and defending democracy, hoping to give them a little cheer on what would be a long, dark, and stormy day. If Election Day was somber, at least most of the results in Maine were not. The results across the nation were more of a mixed bag.

By Joseph Horn

by Jonathan Reisman

In early November, I sent the following request to Rep. Golden:

I am writing about the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which the Maine Legislature will be voting on in 2024 (LD 1587). I am specifically requesting that you submit legislation granting Congressional consent to this interstate compact, as required by Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the Constitution.

By Paul Sylvain

Hey, Machias! Dunkin’ has reopened with a new, updated look and all your favorite coffees, donuts, and sandwiches.

After being closed for two weeks for major renovations, the popular morning hot-spot reopened for business-as-usual with a full crew on board Nov. 20. It will take a few days for workers to get used to new procedures and finding things that have been moved from once-familiar places, but customers appeared to like the new updated look.

By Hazel Stark

By Nancy Beal 

Boyde Crowley, chief of the Jonesport Volunteer Fire Department, attended the Nov. 15 selectmen’s meeting seeking advice. The JVFD’s roster is getting seriously low, he said. Although there have been no major fires in recent months, he knows one will happen eventually and is concerned about his department having the manpower to put it out. Beals also contracts with JVFD for fire protection, so both towns would be impacted. 

By Paul Sylvain

Look up the definition of “midwife” and most sources online state it is a person trained to deliver babies. Washington County’s only certified nurse midwife does that, of course, but she delivers much more than babies -- she delivers comprehensive women’s care to an area where healthcare professionals are badly needed.  

Licensed master of surgery and certified midwife-nurse Bjarni Thomas has been helping Machias area women meet their obstetrical and gynecological needs locally for more than four years.

By Paul Sylvain

The planned closure of the Route 1 dike and causeway between Helen’s Restaurant and Dunkin’ in Machias has been delayed a week by Maine’s Dept. of Transportation. 

The project, which was scheduled to start Nov. 27, has been delayed until Dec. 4 at the request of town officials to allow for a full weekend of Christmas festivities the first weekend in December.

By Will Tuell

State Senator Marianne Moore (R-Calais) received a “2023 Elected Women of Excellence” Award, the third-term senator’s office said in a media release before Thanksgiving. Moore, who serves as the Senate’s top Republican on the Legislature’s Health and Human Services (HHS) and Marine Resources committees, joined the Legislature in 2018 and has fought to restore funding for Downeast Correctional Facility in Bucks Harbor, reopen the Calais DHHS office, and served as an ex-officio member on the county’s budget committee. 

By Paul Sylvain

A townhouse-style apartment project on Cooper Street that began in earnest this past spring with groundwork and the pouring of a foundation is expected to be completed with its first tenants moving in sometime in January.

That’s according to Northfield developer Justin King, of King Construction and IMK Properties. A sign showed up on the site a few weeks ago advertising “apartments for rent.” King explained that he is accepting applications for the building's six apartment units.