A Maine LifeFlight helicopter is on the ground in East Machias after an early morning incident involving the Machias Ambulance Service. After midnight on Monday, Oct. 18, LifeFlight landed at Washington Academy in order to collect a patient. 

According to LifeFlight Executive Director Thomas Judge, their helicopter was then damaged due to “simple human error.”

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A demonstration planned in support of Washington County health care workers affected by the state COVID-19 vaccine mandate is planned for 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 21, at the Machias boat landing on Route 1. 

Governor Janet Mills last week announced the vaccine mandate, which requires all Maine health care workers to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1 as a condition of employment. The announcement came on the heels of two COVID-19 outbreaks affecting health care workers in southern Maine hospitals. 

Down East Community Hospital today, Feb. 3,  released the following letter concerning online registration for the COVID-19 vaccine. The hospital urges residents to assist any elderly who might have difficulty registering online for the vaccine clinics, which will take place as vaccine doses are made available to the hospital.

Due to the volume of interest, the hospital is only taking vaccine registrations online, not via phone.

Please enjoy this map to most of the area's wonderful Christmas decorations, with the compliments of the season from the Machias Valley News Observer.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Washington County has gone from green to yellow on the Maine Department of Education’s Health Advisory System. Superintendent Scott Porter says he expects to notify district families of the resulting changes this afternoon, Friday, Oct. 30. Those changes will take effect Monday, Nov. 2.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

With a 72 percent increase in COVID-19 cases across Washington County this month, most in the last 10 days, Machias area schools are watching for an update to the Maine Department of Education’s (DOE) color-coded Health Advisory System, which could come as soon as Friday. 

Using data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, DOE codes each county green, yellow or red, and school districts — which retain local control — then decide how they will proceed.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Fire has claimed two lives and destroyed two mobile homes in a Machias trailer park.

According to Sergeant Mary MacMaster of the state fire marshal’s office, the cause of the fire is not yet known and the identities of the two deceased individuals, who lived together in one of the two homes, have not yet been confirmed. The fire started sometime before 3 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 21.

“They’re just starting to go in now,” said MacMaster. Three state investigators will be on the scene today. 

On Thursday, May 14, friends, businesses, and well-wishers are invited to participate in a driving memorial birthday for Baylee Kilton, who died in April 2019. Kilton would be turning eight years old this month.

Participants are invited to line up at Meadowbrook Materials (located before Guptill’s Logging in East Machias) at 5:30 p.m. and the procession will be lead by Dean McGuire of McGuire Seasonal Services. The parade is expected to pass Lucky Star Stables in East Machias at approximately 6 p.m. Kilton's family will be watching from the stables.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Eight organizations are urging the state to provide more specific location data for Maine's positive COVID-19 cases. The April 27 letter to Governor Janet Mills and Maine Center for Disease Control Director Nirav Shah was written on behalf of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition (MFOIC).

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Daily COVID-19 updates from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention are typically accompanied by a map of known case numbers laid out by county and a table which shows how many cases are active, and how many have recovered. Washington County’s first case was reported on April 2, then last week a second case showed up, but in the “Recovered” column, though it was never reported as an active case.