By Paul Sylvain

“If you don’t say ‘wild’, it’s just another festival.”

That’s according to Machias Town Manager Bill Kitchen who made that statement as a reminder to the town’s selectboard at the close of its Aug. 14 meeting. And indeed, last weekend’s 47th annual edition of the Machias Wild Blueberry Festival proved wild in a good way.

By Paul Sylvain

An Aug. 8 ruling issued by Maine Business & Consumer Court Judge Michael A. Duddy permanently ended all appeals by Jeanne Tennison involving the Machias Planning Board’s June 7, 2023, approval of a building permit for 12 seasonal transient bunkhouses at 19 Canal Street.

By Paul Sylvain

As the final notes of “Blueberry Blues” drifted into memory during Saturday night’s closing performance of this year’s Machias Wild Blueberry Festival musical, the production’s director, Gene Nichols, also noted it was the end of an era for the show band’s drummer, Bill Eckart.

The extraordinary life of this country’s 32nd president will be explored in a free presentation on the history made by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the music he loved, on Sunday, Aug. 25, at 2 p.m., at Eastport Arts Center. The program will be brought to Eastport for this one-time-only performance by the educational services staff of Roosevelt Campobello International Park.

By Pamela J. Nickerson 

Trustees of Porter Memorial Library relish the triumph of preserving a landmark.

Director Lee Downing says, “This building gives people a sense of place.” Downing, of Machiasport, moved from Massachusetts nearly twenty years ago; she has found employment and community connections within the library ever since.

By Will Tuell

Lobster fishermen up and down the coast battling to stay afloat got a boost last week as the fishery’s interstate governing body known as the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission or ASMFC took the first steps of delaying a planned phase-in of gauge size changes set to take effect in January, until July 2025. Regulators also voted to hold Canadian importers of lobster to the same standards, giving American fishermen an equal footing in selling their catch.

By Wayne Smith

Tim Cotton, a former police officer who has written and published multiple books about Maine life, recently stopped by the Gallison Library in Harrington to sign several of his books for local fans and library supporters. Cotton talked about police work, being an author, and his rise to fame during his Aug. 3 visit. 

Project on Hold Until Court Decides Eminent Domain Lawsuit

By Paul Sylvain

Machiasport Town Clerk Marcia Hayward announced on Aug. 8 that her town has been awarded a $475,000 Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund grant to relocate a section of Port Road — formerly known as Beach Road —  in the town’s Starboard district, further away from the shoreline.

By Will Tuell

For many young people Downeast, music education is anything but a given, Jeff Shaw of the Maine Academy of Modern Music (MAMM) said in an interview on July 30. The Milbridge native, who serves as the nonprofit’s executive director, is hoping to change that by recruiting an Americorps VISTA volunteer to work with area communities, schools, potential donors, and musicians to build long-term, sustainable music education offerings commonly available across the Sunrise County. 

Overwhelming Outpouring of Community Support Brings Sister, Mother to Tears

By Paul Sylvain

For the second time in her young life, Jennifer Green Feeney of Cutler is in a fight for her life against cancer.

And hundreds of people — friends, family, even those who peripherally knew her — packed the Rose M. Gaffney School gymnasium in Machias on Aug. 3 for a benefit supper and Chinese auction on Jen's behalf in what can only be described as a massive outpouring of community support, love, and hope. 

By Paul Sylvain

Add historic renovations to Northfield resident and Machias developer Justin King’s growing resumé. King announced on Aug. 2 that he received a notice of intent to award King Construction a $450,000 contract for repair and renovations of the iconic red and white candy-striped tower and map room at West Quoddy Head Lighthouse. 

by Jonathan Reisman

August arrived Downeast with fog, unusually high temperatures, and thunderstorms in terms of both weather and politics. 

Summer music at Eastport Arts Center continues with classical pianist Danny Holt on Friday, Aug. 9, at 7 p.m. Pre-concert (6:15 p.m.) and post-concert receptions will offer a chance for attendees to gather casually before and after the performance. Holt enjoys shining a spotlight on the works of lesser-known composers from the 18th and 19th centuries and is a champion of music from the 20th century and today.

By Paul Sylvain

Machiasport residents, who on June 24 voted down a commercial aquaculture ordinance, will get to vote on an amended, less restrictive version of that ordinance sometime this fall. 

That’s following a plea to reconsider the ordinance by Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Executive Director Crystal Canney at the July 22 selectboard meeting.

By Nancy Beal

By Paul Sylvain

According to Machiasport Harbor Master David Cale, the town has a decades-old maritime ordinance that is largely ignored by the town's commercial fishermen and lacks any teeth for enforcement.

Cale met with the town’s selectboard on July 22 to discuss his frustration over dealing with such things as mooring registrations and inspections that are required by the ordinance but not being followed. 

The Bangor Savings Bank Foundation has awarded The Joy Fund, a barrier removal program administered by the Community Caring Collaborative (CCC), $5,500 to support more first-time home buyers scheduling home inspections of their prospective dream home in Washington County.  

MOTHERS Art & Antique Gallery is delighted to announce their next exhibition, “From the Hudson to the Pleasant River,” featuring the paintings of David Vosburgh and Richard Bazelow, which will open with an Artists’ Reception on Sunday, Aug. 4, from 4-6 p.m., and will be on display until Aug. 24.

By Paul Sylvain

Whitneyville, Maine, is the last place on earth you’d expect to meet an alligator, but on July 20, a group of eager children were introduced to one by Whitneyville Library’s storyteller Monique Smith.

By Jayna Smith

Beginning Aug. 1, new rules will be in effect relating to dogs entering or returning to the United States.  These depend on where the dog has been in the six months before entering the U.S. and where it received its rabies vaccination, if required, all in an effort to prevent rabies-infected canines from entering the U.S.  

by Jonathan Reisman

One of my favorite courses was demography, the study of human populations. Demographers draw on statistics and a broad swath of both the natural and social sciences, including economics, sociology, geography, political science, biology, psychology, and medicine. Demography starts with a deceptively simple mathematical identity: Change in Population= Births-Deaths+ Net Migration. Therein lie some of the most sensitive and freedom consequential policy areas: fertility, mortality, and immigration/emigration.