By Will Tuell

Sergeant Josh Beal of Marshfield and University of Maine at Machias professor Dr. Gerard “Gerry” Zegers came away from the annual Maine Warden Service awards ceremony on April 26 with two of the organization’s highest honors. Beal, who was tapped to lead Downeast game wardens in 2021, picked up 2023 Supervisor of the Year, while Zegers brought home the 2023 MWSA Merit Award for his work using cutting-edge DNA technology to solve several high-profile crimes the Warden Service has been investigating. 

By Nancy Beal

Following an eventful special town meeting on April 19 in Beals, where an old hand in town affairs was returned to the select board and joined two new members (please see Machias Valley News Observer, April 24, 2024), the three met for the first time on April 23, spending three hours covering old ground and new.

by Jonathan Reisman

I worked in my garden last week. A string of sunny sort of warm early spring days dried it out enough to get it tilled and to get peas and greens planted by Earth Day. My twenty-plus-year tiller started right up and ably prepared the soil, but loudly announced, just as I finished, that a trip to the tiller doctor would be required before further loam was lifted. 

On April 6, 30 homeschool leaders from across the state came together at Maple Hill Farm in Hallowell for the 1st Annual Leader Summit of the Maine Home Education Alliance (MHEA). 

By Will Tuell

A proposed expansion at the Machias Valley Airport has drawn concern from officials with the Machias Water Company who urged customers to contact the town’s five-member selectboard and Town Manager Bill Kitchen in a letter dated April 22. 

Machias Water Company President James Learned and General Manager Jesse Davis cite concerns by the Maine CDC over whether a proposed new runway intersecting the airport’s existing runway would be significantly closer to the town’s main water production well than the 2500 feet recommended. 

By Will Tuell

Maine’s commercial lobster fishermen certainly have had a lot on their plate for the past several years with federal regulators adopting or proposing stringent new gear requirements designed to protect North Atlantic Right Whales that may, or may not, be present in the Gulf of Maine; concern over the location and scale of floating offshore wind farms; and most recently, stock assessments that could trigger changes in the rules governing what constitutes a legal lobster. 

The Board of Directors at Harrington Family Health Center (HFHC) is pleased to announce the promotion of Demee Manchester to Chief Executive Officer.  For the past six months, Manchester served as the organization’s Interim CEO in addition to performing her duties as Chief Operating Officer. 

by Jonathan Reisman

I attended the 2024 Maine Republican Party Convention in Augusta, aptly named “Restoring Freedom.” What follows are my Statler and Waldorf intern observations and notes.

The First Congregational Church of Machiasport will serve a free community BBQ supper beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, May 17, at the church on Trafton’s Hill at 378 Port Road, in Machiasport. The menu includes ribs, brisket, burgers, hot dogs, macaroni and potato salads, mac and cheese, and a variety of desserts and soft drinks. 

By Will Tuell

Back in the 80s and 90s, school kids everywhere lived out their wildest dreams in the popular “Choose Your Own Adventure” book series designed to stimulate both a love of reading and some truly far-out adventures that gave young readers the power to make decisions over their fate. 

by Jonathan Reisman

By Jayna Smith

An extensive investigation conducted by various levels of law enforcement, including local, state, and federal agencies, has uncovered approximately 100 illegal marijuana growing operations in Maine.  While federal authorities are exploring potential links to organized crime, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maine has clarified that there is no indication of illegal immigration or human trafficking involvement in these illicit activities.

By Nancy Beal

May is a busy month for students and teachers at Beals Elementary School. There are only 38 pupils in the pre-K-through-grade 8 island school (next year 45 are expected), but Principal Christopher Crowley and his staff make sure they get exposed to the same range of studies and activities as students in larger schools.

By Will Tuell

Blue skies and a warm breeze greeted the 68 cadets -- soon to be law enforcement officers -- graduating from Maine’s Criminal Justice Academy on May 17. The graduates, with throngs of family and friends watching on, began their journey eighteen weeks ago in the dead of winter, leaving loved ones behind as they went through a rigorous training program designed to initiate them into the ranks of Maine’s law enforcement community. 

By Paul Sylvain

Northfield developer Justin King is eyeing a patch of land he owns on King Avenue in Machias to build a “Scandinavian-style” apartment building featuring four 800-square-foot, one-bedroom apartments.

A building permit application was presented to the town’s planning board in April but was denied. The permit was discussed again earlier this month and was granted conditionally over flood zone concerns, King said in an interview last week. King claims those concerns are non-existent in that elevated section of land off Court Street.

by Jonathan Reisman

A 5 a.m. trip to the garden (the black flies are not early/cool morning risers) sometimes clears the head and fuels the column, but when horticultural discipline fails to inspire, careful inspection of the inbox and assorted internet flotsam offers copious column fodder.

Possible People’s Veto of National Popular Vote 

The countdown has begun for the much-anticipated third annual Rhubarb Festival, set to take place on June 1, from 12-5 p.m. at Kendall Farm in Perry. This spring event promises a day filled with vibrant art, delicious rhubarb creations, live music, and family-friendly activities.

By Will Tuell

As May draws to a close, many Downeast communities and veterans’ organizations are planning to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice defending our country. From the shores of Lubec to the barrens of Western Washington County -- and beyond -- there will be many ceremonies, parades, and commemorations throughout the weekend. While this is far from an exhaustive list, we have done our best to offer our readers the most complete schedule possible, and hope that you will make time this weekend to pay your respects to our fallen heroes. 

By Paul Sylvain

The Machias selectboard, on May 22, authorized Police Chief Keith Mercier to hire Cutler resident Jim Frauenhoffer as a full-time patrol officer.

Frauenhoffer is a 27-year veteran police officer and detective who retired from the Baltimore Police Department. Mercier told the board that Frauenhoffer moved Downeast around three years ago and only recently began working as a corrections officer at the county jail for the Washington County Sheriff’s Department.

By Jacquie Leighton

On May 13 and again on May 17, students from two local elementary schools in SAD 37 visited the Milbridge Theater & Community Arts Center (MTCAC) for a Maine-themed game and a visit from a local celebrity, a teacher who taught Maine and United States History for more than forty years. 

By Will Tuell

In the 150 years since Charley Jones thumped two homers in the same inning for the long-defunct Boston Red Stockings, 61 Major League Baseball players have achieved the same feat. Last week, Washington Academy first baseman Colby Moholland ripped a pair of fourth inning home runs to put the high-flying Raiders squarely in the driver’s seat against the Golden Bucks of Bucksport. 

46 Residents Need to Find New Nursing Home

By Paul Sylvain

Residents, their families, and staff at Narraguagus Bay Health Care Facility on Main Street in Milbridge received word last week that the facility will close its doors permanently on July 22.