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.

By Will Tuell

Whether it’s general manager Kaci Leighton’s friendly smile, her crew’s care and attention to detail, or the delicious variety of freshly made subs, sandwiches, and baked goods, Coastal Subs in Pembroke has quickly “made waves” as Downeasters say, in the nine months the Mom-and-Pop sub shop has been serving travelers up and down Route 1. 

The story of one Israeli hostage and his 3-year-old granddaughter

By Anav Silverman Peretz

A few weeks ago, I was sitting with my family at McDonald's on the way back home to our home in the Negev desert after a visit with our in-laws in Raanana. Our kids were munching on French fries, while my husband went to get our order. I watched Israelis, young and old, sitting together in the American fast food chain, quite popular in Israel.

By Paul Sylvain

A discussion at the regular meeting of Washington County commissioners on July 11 has brought to light a troubling trend facing the county’s sheriff’s office and perhaps law enforcement agencies around the state when looking to purchase new cruisers.

“We have a slight problem as far as trying to purchase vehicles,” Washington County Sheriff Barry Curtis told commissioners. “We sent out all that paperwork, and nobody responded from all over the state.”

By Will Tuell

Audrey Currier and the Machias Area Little League 10U softball squad dug themselves a hole in the District 1 Little League tournament two weeks ago, losing 9-3 against Ellsworth, before going on a historic do-or-die run that saw the underdog Shiretown girls win back-to-back-to-back games -- including two against their Hancock County nemesis in stunning, nail-biting fashion last Tuesday to punch their ticket to the state tourney which began this past weekend. 

By Will Tuell

Longtime dispatcher Karen Redman of Marshfield retired from the Washington County Regional Communications Center in Machias on July 6 after fifteen years of sending out police, fire, and ambulance services to emergencies across the Sunrise County on a full-time basis. 

By Nancy Beal

A recent die-off of penned salmon in Eastern Bay, the body of water between the islands that make up the town of Beals to the west and Jonesport’s Head Harbor Island to the east, became the immediate topic of conversation among the towns’ lobstermen, for whom the bay is a popular fishing ground, when it began June 20. At the Beals selectmen’s July 9 meeting, Glenda Beal reported on the inquiries that she had made of the parties involved.

Becomes Latest Town to Adopt Home-Grown Solar Ordinance

By Paul Sylvain

In about the time it takes to brew some coffee and scramble up some eggs and lobster, around 40 East Machias residents met and quickly passed the town’s 43-article annual town meeting warrant June 29.

The meeting moved swiftly toward adjournment some 34 minutes after it started, thanks to consolidating into single votes the bulk of the school, and later town, budgets.

By Paul Sylvain

The outdoor stage overlooking the series of rapids and falls from which Machias earned its Abenaki name comes alive with nine weeks of smokin’ hot bands and cool tunes beginning with Hot Velvet on July 11.

Yes, the Bad Little Falls Park Summer Concert Series is back and better than ever for its fourth straight year. From rock and blues to Americana, folk, and more, the lineup for 2024 features a broad variety of musical styles and genres. 

By Paul Sylvain

A group of volunteers, who earlier this year gave of their time and equipment to resolve a problem 11 years in the making, were honored at a June 25 ceremony at West Branch Farms in Machias. 

“I just wanted this group to get some much-deserved recognition,” Maine Game Warden Joe McBrine explained after the ceremony. “They should be proud of what they did, and I am sure our community will appreciate hearing about it.”

One of those volunteers was Justin Albee, who explained it best.

by Jonathan Reisman

I spent our 248th birthday in Cooper, eschewing parades and politics to marinate in memories, both happy and haunting. This past year of personal bereavement, filial weddings, and political angst has left me both pensive and emotional, occasionally even teary-eyed. I cycled through many years of July 4th memories, searching for solace and optimism.