By Nancy Beal

In a historic boat shop on Jonesport’s Moosabec Reach, where sawdust covers the floor and daylight penetrates ancient uninsulated walls, the 83-year-old great-grandson of a Beals Island boat building dynasty is extending the family tradition by restoring a lobster boat he helped to build nearly half a century ago. Isaac Beal won’t return to fishing in the Christopher, but he hopes to get one last run down the Reach next July to top off the racing success he enjoyed in her 20 years ago.

Town to Repair, Rent Space in Flood-Damaged Town Office Building on Court Street

By Paul Sylvain

For at least the next two years, anyone needing to register a vehicle, register to vote, pay their property taxes, file a building permit application, or conduct any other business with the town of Machias, will have to do so at the 17 Stackpole Drive Tele-Business Center.

By Will Tuell

Last spring Washington County’s two regional hospitals -- Calais Community and Down East Community -- brought Hawaii’s Kyle Quilausing to the area to address sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders about the dangers of drug abuse. Hospital officials and Quilausing, one of the top youth golfers in the country before a life of drugs and crime derailed his career, crisscrossed the county, visiting junior high schools in western Washington County, the Machias area, and the St. Croix region. 

The Washington County Fair held its first Washington County Fair Pageant for girls ages 10-18 with three titles being presented: junior princess, teen, and miss.

Our very first Washington County Fair Miss Queen is Shayna Cook, daughter of Amy Williams and Robert Cook. She is a senior at Calais High School where she’s involved in volleyball, cheerleading, and tennis. Shayna is a student at Barbara‘s International School of Dance, where she does hip-hop, jazz, and line dancing. She is also a volunteer firefighter for the Calais Fire/EMS.

By Paul Sylvain

Residents in Machias and neighboring communities awoke Tuesday morning to the tragic news of the sudden passing of the Shiretown’s energetic and much loved Town Manager Bill Kitchen. 

Kitchen, who passed away sometime Monday, Sept. 9,  will be remembered for his tireless devotion and efforts to help promote and grow the town that he so clearly loved. He was Machias’ biggest cheerleader and will be sorely missed.

By Paul Sylvain

To be, or not to be — an “official” town road, that is — is the question Machiasport town officials finally settled a week after the Cutler selectboard asked permission to use an Eastside road for access to Cutler’s clam flats in Holmes Bay.

By Wayne Smith

Sept. 11, 2001, was a tragic day in the United States that nobody will ever forget. Everybody knew where they were when America was crippled after two planes crashed through the Twin Towers in New York, another plane went into the Pentagon, and some brave Americans overpowered terrorists to crash a third plane into a Pennsylvania field before even more lives could be taken. 

by Jonathan Reisman

2024

The ongoing 2024 Federal and Maine state elections are stressing me out because the stakes are high and the country is polarized (not the best state for thoughtful and careful listening, analysis, and voting/decision-making). Much of the media, in my opinion, should not be trusted, other than to be stenographers for Democratic talking points. Everyone has an axe to grind, but some are less than open about what type of axe they are carrying. Mostly they seem to be carrying water for Kamala Harris and the Democrats. 

Eastport Arts Center’s “Stories We Tell” Festival, a collaboration with the Sipayik Museum and The Quoddy Tides, continues with The Malaga Ship: A Story of Maine and the Middle Passage, a performance by award-winning and world-renowned storyteller Antonio Rocha, on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. at Eastport Arts Center.

Using his body and tenor voice, Antonio sings, narrates, and moves through this poetically toned and heart-wrenching historical story. The story is partially told from the ship's point of view.   

By Paul Sylvain

“The show must go on,” is a well-known saying in the entertainment business. Nobody would probably know that better than late Machias Town Manager Bill Kitchen, who worked professionally in the music and entertainment industry for many years.

While the daily workings of town government may not equate to being part of the entertainment industry — even though it can be entertaining at times (though usually for the wrong reasons) — a ship doesn’t stop just because its captain dies.

Search for a Permanent Town Manager Begins

By Paul Sylvain

In what visibly and emotionally was a difficult but necessary meeting for the Machias selectboard on Sept. 11, the five-member panel voted unanimously to appoint Christina Therrien interim town manager to temporarily fill the void left by the sudden passing of Bill Kitchen on Sept. 9.

By Paul Sylvain

Machias residents will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, at the Machias Memorial High School gym to act on a 55-article annual town meeting warrant, fueled by a sharp spike in discretionary or non-essential spending. 

Earlier this year Machias joined a small but growing list of towns that have moved their annual town meeting dates from June and July to late in the first quarter of the new fiscal year. The reason is simple. 

by Jonathan Reisman

Maine’s Climate Council, co-chaired by Office of Policy Innovation and the Future Director Hannah Pingree and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Melanie Loyzim is updating “Maine Won’t Wait”, Maine’s climate action plan. The plan seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (principally from transportation), phase out fossil fuels, encourage solar and wind, promote (undefined) “equity,” and have at least 30% of Maine publicly owned and controlled for conservation and carbon sequestration.

By Paul Sylvain

Renee Gray wrapped up her first year as Washington County manager on July 6. As she explained in an interview at her office in the county courthouse building on Sept. 17, it has been a rewarding, though at times challenging, year. 

As Gray digs in for her second year as the Sunrise County’s administrator, 2025 may be even more challenging for her, given the uncertainty over a proposed $10.8-million budget currently under scrutiny by the county’s budget committee.  

By Nancy Beal

Last winter, Jonesporters voted to place a six-month moratorium on commercial windmills and a volunteer committee began putting together an ordinance to govern their development after the half-year pause had run its course. Two weeks ago, that panel held a public hearing on their draft proposal that is required before the measure is put to a binding vote of the town. Nine people showed up, the majority of them members of the committee.

by Jonathan Reisman

September brought a super full moon, a partial eclipse, solar flares, and aurora alerts. The calendar included my late wife’s birthday, our anniversary, Labor Day, Sept. 11th, Constitution Day, and a hermit-ending late summer trip down the airline to Bangor.  All those events are linked to less sleep and strong emotions (alas, Kamala’s “Joy” is not one of them). That may explain a somewhat scattershot column on climate policy, polls, and polarization.

Climate Policy Anxiety  

The StoryWalk® at Porter Memorial Library in Machias will feature Hector Fox and the Giant Quest by Astrid Sheckles for the month of October. This lovely picture book, the first in a series written and illustrated by Sheckels, highlights the powers of imagination, friendship, and perseverance. Hector Fox and a group of woodland friends set out on a journey far beyond their home in the friendly Green Wood to discover whether rumors of a fairy-tale giant are true, with plenty of surprises along the way.