By Paul Sylvain

Most visitors traveling to Maine think of the seacoast in terms of Bar Harbor or the beaches in York and Cumberland counties. Many leave Maine not knowing that some of the most picturesque coastal towns and villages in places like Washington County make their living from the sea and not from tourism.

By Paul Sylvain

Thanks to a year-long partnership with Healthy Acadia, Porter Memorial Library marked the first anniversary of its backyard Storywalk on Oct. 18 with pumpkin-themed goodies and tables full of happy, eager kids painting pumpkins and tiny gourds.

And just like the library’s first Storywalk kickoff last year on Oct. 6, 2023, the event was blessed with a picture-perfect autumn day, clear blue skies, a carpet of colorful leaves, and mild temperatures.

By Paul Sylvain

Forget the Southern border.

Maine, with its mostly heavily wooded and remote 611-mile international land border with the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec, has become an increasingly attractive place for undocumented immigrants to enter undetected into the United States.

By Will Tuell

Students and staff from the Machias Valley Christian School took to the Down East Sunrise Trail Oct. 18 to raise money for their school. Cheered on by parents, community members, and local businesses who helped sponsor the kindergarten-to-seventh graders’ walk-a-thon, the school was able to raise $10,000 towards its budget, board member Ashley Maker said in an interview later that day. 

The Machiasport Historical Society is honored to have the highly respected Passamaquoddy Dr. Dwayne Tomah provide a significant and impactful presentation on "The Doctrine of Discovery From An Indigenous Perspective" at The Gates House on Monday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m. “The Doctrine of Discovery” refers to a principle in public international law under which, when a nation “discovers” land, it directly acquires rights on that land. Dr. Tomah has been involved in repatriation and the Land Back movement and shares insight regarding the Doctrine of Discovery from an Indigenous perspective. 

By Will Tuell

Higher than expected wind gusts brought about widespread power outages across coastal Washington County Oct. 12 Versant Power reported. As of 11 a.m. Saturday, some 13,400 Versant customers were without power, the company said, adding that 2200 of those were located in the Sunrise County. 

By Paul Sylvain

Machias residents, upset over how a handful of costly spending articles were handled at the Sept. 25 annual town meeting, will have a chance to reconsider their votes at a future special town meeting.

Interim Town Manager Christina Therrien began her manager’s report at the Oct. 9 selectboard meeting saying many questions had since been raised by residents regarding the town’s recreation department budget, grant funding for various projects, and how certain articles were amended at the town meeting.

By Nancy Beal

The last Main Street building in what was once a commercial center in West Jonesport is on the market, and the town could become a potential buyer. Originally the Cummings & Norton store, the 134-year-old building today is surrounded by town-owned property: a modern firehouse to the rear and the old firehouse close on the west side, leased to Paul Farnsworth who maintains an auto repair business there.

By Wayne Smith

I caught up with Paul Cunningham of Machias recently. We talked for about 40 minutes about him decorating his house on the corner of West and Water streets with skeletons. He had a graveyard scene that was both spooky and original. He even had a fog machine; a lot of lights and crazy cobwebs danced on the outside of the house. 

Cunningham talked about Halloween and why he decorated his house the way he did. He is 54 years old, and Halloween has been his favorite holiday since he was a little kid. 

On the front page story in the Oct. 9 edition of the MVNO regarding interim town manager Christina Therrien’s salary, it was correctly reported that her hourly rate was set at $43.41 an hour for work to be performed on behalf of the town of Machias. However, because of an error in calculating her pay on an annual basis, it was incorrectly reported she would earn $96,532.80 if she worked 40 hours per week for 52 weeks. The correct amount should have read $90,292.80.

By Paul Sylvain

In something of an annual rite of passage each fall, Washington County’s department heads and representatives met with the county’s budget advisory committee on Oct. 3, to present their arguments for a proposed budget that is up even more than first thought.

By Jayna Smith

Washington County is preparing for a beloved tradition: the 20th Annual Turkey-a-Thon, scheduled for Friday, Oct. 11. 

Classic Hits 92.7/95.3 FM and The Border 102.9 FM, in partnership with Healthy Acadia and generously sponsored by Dunkin’ and V.L. Tammaro Oil Company, have been the driving force behind the Turkey-a-Thon’s continued success. Every dollar raised goes directly to local grocery stores, where gift cards are purchased and distributed to food pantries that serve families in need throughout Washington County.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension 4-H announced the launch of virtual field trips, an innovative way for youth learners to explore Maine’s thriving aquaculture industry. These immersive online experiences bring aquaculture to life, offering participants the chance to step inside cutting-edge facilities and learn directly from industry experts. Through the power of virtual reality and accessible browser-based tools, these trips highlight the processes behind sustainable aquaculture—no travel required.

In their continuing effort to recognize the hard-working people of the Down East Community Hospital and its affiliates, the Down East Community Hospital Auxiliary would like to honor the team that makes up the Otolaryngology (ENT) Department to thank them for all they do.

By Paul Sylvain

As the saying goes, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And for some residents at the Machias annual town meeting on Sept. 25, it was -- especially after reports of the town’s generous budget proposal surfaced last week. 

By Will Tuell

Janice Bronson and Colleen Brown – the two candidates who vied for a seat on Whiting’s Board of Selectmen – will not soon forget the razor-thin margin that separated them. Bronson, a 23-year veteran of the town’s selectboard, secured 29 votes while Brown, a relative newcomer to local politics, picked up 27 votes on Sept. 23 in one of the closest local races in recent history. 

By Paul Sylvain

What, for several months, appeared more like a big hole containing only the 40-by-90-foot concrete foundation for the future two-story Washington County Safety Building, began taking shape above ground last week with the addition of the building’s outer walls.

It has been a slow grind since the project’s official groundbreaking ceremony on June 13, at the Court Street site, across from the current Washington County Sheriff’s Office. 

Edwards Replaces Porcher as Vice Chair

By Paul Sylvain

Probably the last thing the five-member Machias selectboard wanted to do after slogging through a hefty 55-article town meeting warrant on Sept. 25 was to reconvene to conduct routine housekeeping chores at the Telebusiness Center town office. But meet, they did, at 8:55 p.m.

By Nancy Beal

For at least a decade, an eight-unit housing complex located north of Greenwood Cemetery on Jonesport’s eastern side that used to house personnel from the Jonesport Coast Guard base has stood empty, after the servicemen and their families moved to a complex in Harrington. Recently, the (federal) General Services Administration (GSA), which handles the purchase and sale of government property, asked the town of Jonesport if it was interested in buying the abandoned group of houses and invited the town to make an offer if it was.

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