By Paul Sylvain

Paving an earthen pathway to prevent bone breaking slips and falls on snow covered ice in winter should be a simple matter, right?

Well, think again.

As an April 23 discussion by the Machias Selectboard and Town Manager Sarah Craughead Dedmon proved, that’s not the case when it comes to property lines at Porter Memorial Library. 

Parade is On, but Fireworks Moved to Blueberry Festival

By Paul Sylvain

Machias area residents expecting a fireworks display this July 4 will have to wait until Aug. 16 to witness the rockets’ red glare rising over Middle River.

by Jonathan Reisman

“Equity” is promoted across Maine State Government and the University of Maine System as part of broad Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts and within specific policy initiatives like the Climate Action Plan, which has a significant and significantly funded equity component. What equity does not have is a definition. Promoting an undefined policy goal is pure policy malpractice. Determining what equity actually is and what Maine State Government is doing to promote it has turned into a strange dance called the equity limbo. 

Incident Remains Under Coast Guard, Massachusetts State Police Investigation

By Paul Sylvain

For the second time in four months, families and friends of Washington County scallop fishermen are mourning the loss of a loved one taken much too soon, while a second man remains hospitalized with broken ribs and other injuries.

By Paul Sylvain

There was a time before the internet and social media that a unique, pristine, hidden gem of a beach in Machiasport’s Bucks Harbor district was the town’s best-kept secret. Jasper Beach is — or rather, was — a place of quiet solitude where the only sounds heard were the cries of seagulls and swishing of waves washing over the beach’s namesake jasper stones.

By Paul Sylvain 

Machiasporter Dylan Nevala is a man with a plan that has captured the interest of the Machiasport select and planning boards, following a discussion with the selectboard on April 28.

Most people probably would shudder at the idea of having a vehicle junkyard in their community. But what if that junkyard made use of a piece of polluted land that once served as the town’s dump and is virtually unusable for residential purposes?

By Paul Sylvain

With the rising cost of education, programs involving the arts — such as music and art — are often the first to go, or be greatly reduced, while non-academic activities, such as sports, continue on.

Enter the Lubec Area Musicians’ Philanthropic Society, or LAMPS, for short. LAMPS has been busy this winter bringing music in all its forms, from classical to pop, rock, and even traditional First Nation Passamaquoddy drumming presentations, to area schools.

By Phil Stuart

One of the best-known players in the Quoddy Baseball League has passed away at the age of 84. Richard “Dickie” Norton of Addison played in four different decades and was one of the most productive hitters that the league produced during the 30 years of its existence. 

Wellington “Billy” Noyes, born on April 2, 1936, passed away on April 25, 2025, at the age of 89. Billy was a devoted husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, and friend. He is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, Wanda Dodge Noyes. His children, Nancy Emery, Lisa Noyes, Nathan Noyes, and Leigh Noyes, along with his son-in-law, Douglas Emery, and daughter-in-law, Danielle Noyes.

By Paul Sylvain 

A pair of bills designed to reduce response times and fight crime in rural areas has made their way through the Legislature in recent weeks. On May 1, LD 477, sponsored by Madison Rep. Jack Ducharme, a Republican, cleared an early procedural vote on the House floor by a 117-26 margin. That same day, a similar proposal exclusive to Washington County, LD 461, sponsored by Calais Republican Sen. Marianne Moore and the local legislative delegation, cleared the Senate on a voice vote.

By Paul Sylvain

On March 26, a handful of Machias voters enacted separate 180-day moratoriums on solar and wind farm applications to give town officials time to draft regulatory ordinances addressing both. Seven weeks later, and with both moratoriums set to expire on Sept. 22, work has yet to begin on either.

On May 8, Sheriff Barry Curtis and Deputy Director Joshua Rolfe, along with Washington County Regional Communications Operational Supervisor Lieutenant Dennis Perry and Sergeant Michael Congelosi, attended the 27th Annual Maine NENA (National Emergency Number Association) awards ceremony in Portland. Perry was nominated and chosen for the 2024 Director/Operations Manager of the Year. 

by Jonathan Reisman

Higher Education in America is in for some change. The change process is not pretty or pleasant, but it is necessary because American higher education is the source of quite a bit of the toxic ideology and idiocy that has poisoned America in recent years, including identity/oppression politics, critical race theory, equity, and climate alarmism. DEI divas and defenders were created and trained on America’s campuses. 

By Paul Sylvain

The Greater Machias area lost a well-known and much-loved career educator and community member with the passing of Bill Prescott Sr. on May 15.

“I lost the love of my life … when Bill passed away,” his wife of 63 years wrote in notifying this reporter of Bill’s death last week. “He was principal at Machias Memorial High School for 13 years,” she said, noting that her husband was the longest-serving principal at MMHS. 

By Paul Sylvain

Beginning on May 27, Machias voters will be gathering twice in a two-week span to act on separate articles in a bifurcated school and town meeting warrant. 

First up is an 18-article warrant addressing Machias public school funding for fiscal year 2025, which begins July 1. That meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 27, and the Rose M. Gaffney School gymnasium. The Machias School Board, Budget Committee and Select Board support passage of all funding articles.

By Paul Sylvain

A project taken on last fall by Machias Selectboard Chairman Jake Patryn to draft the town’s first shellfish conservation ordinance is moving forward with consideration of input from clam diggers in neighboring Machiasport.

Despite nothing being offered for action by the full selectboard, Patryn used the board’s May 13 meeting to bring his colleagues and Town Manager Sarah Craighead Dedmon up to date on his work on the ordinance.

By Paul Sylvain

Business is booming at the Machias Ambulance Service, and like all successful businesses, MAS Chief Ryan Maker is laser-focused on investing in MAS’s future.

In a meeting with the town’s selectboard on May 13, Maker sought the board’s approval for a novel plan for selling off an older ambulance to a smaller, less busy ambulance service. He also asked permission to forego the competitive bid process to purchase three pieces of new state-of-the-art EMS equipment. 

By Nancy Beal

Beals’ First Selectman Glenda Beal has taken it upon herself to become the town’s grant writer. Since her election a year ago (as someone totally without previous town government experience), she has spent much of her time seeking grant money for the town for a number of causes.

Nationwide Decline in Opioid Overdoses Tied to Less Lethal Supplies

By Paul Sylvain

Despite a more than 50-year “war on drugs,” the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future’s Opioid Response Director, Gordon Smith, admitted the obvious last week: “We’re never going to stop everybody from using drugs.”

By Paul Sylvain

Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Supervisory Special Agent Chris Thornton opened the May 22 Washington County Commissioners meeting by recognizing the collaborative efforts between the county’s sheriff’s office and his department.

By Paul Sylvain

As selectboard meetings go, if you blinked, you might have missed the May 19 meeting in Machiasport. In the span of about 20 minutes, board members Ryan Sprague, Sarah Craighead Dedmon, and Chairman Ryan Maker breezed through the public portion of their meeting faster than an Air Force fighter jet with its afterburners lit.

by Jonathan Reisman

Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made. –Attributed, likely apocryphally, to Otto von Bismarck 

Regardless of the source, the verity of the observation was evident in Washington and Augusta last week. Close observance of the sausage-making process is not for those with a weak Constitution, and it does make me wonder occasionally about the wisdom of promoting transparency ... you are likely to see some things that you can't unsee but wish you could.