By Will Tuell

Nearly five dozen cadets graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy’s Basic Law Enforcement Training Program (BLETP) on Dec. 15, including Machias Police Department’s Tayler LeBlanc and the Maine Forest Service’s Joshua Noyes. 

Possibly Part of Larger Chinese-Owned Illegal Commercial Marijuana Growing Operations in Maine

By Paul Sylvain

In the first drug raid of its kind in Washington County, Machias police, assisted by multiple county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, executed a search warrant on a suspected illegal commercial marijuana growing operation at 414 East Kennebec Rd. on Dec. 14. The raid, conducted at 9:30 a.m., resulted in the arrest of three men on illegal drug trafficking charges.

Town Manager Hints About Drug Raid Conducted Next Day

By Paul Sylvain

The holiday spirit seemed to put the Machias selectboard and Town Manager Bill Kitchen in a festive mood during a brief 45-minute meeting on Dec. 13. It was a meeting peppered with passing remarks about Christmas lights and about how many Grinches were seen in the town’s Christmas parade Dec. 2.

By Daisy Ratzlaff/University of Maine Cooperative Extension                                  

In the spirit of the season, the Cobscook Currents 4-H Club recently gathered for a special wreath-making event. Led by club leaders Jen Plaut and Jane Bell along with wreath-making instructor Suzanne Plaut, the club members came together to create beautiful balsam wreaths to adorn their own homes.

By Wayne Smith

On Tuesday, Dec.12, Christmas music belted throughout the Cherryfield Academy Community Center as six musicians played and sang Christmas songs such as “Silent Night,” “White Christmas,” “Blue Christmas,” and everything in between. The Center was all decked out with Christmas ornaments, tables with white tablecloths, and Christmas candles.

By Will Tuell

The Sew Fetch Dog Company and Main Street Gift Shop will be closing their bricks-and-mortar location on 25 Main Street in Machias “at or around year’s end,” the businesses said on their social media pages last week. Machias River General, which is also located at 25 Main Street, is staying open, however. 

By Nancy Beal

A wind farm in a neighboring town will cost Jonesport taxpayers $9,000 in lost revenue, selectman Harry Fish told fellow board member Denise Cilley at their Dec. 6 board meeting.

By Paul Sylvain

The spirit of giving is alive and well, thanks to more than a dozen merry elves at the Parish Hall on Broadway. Thanks to the unselfish efforts of these community elves, more than 600 needy people in the Greater Machias Area will enjoy a warm and happy Christmas this year.

For the 23rd straight year, the Community Christmas Giving Tree Program is continuing its mission to “help area children, elderly, and adults with special needs to have a Merry Christmas.”

By Will Tuell

The Elm Street Panther junior high boys’ and girls’ basketball teams moved to 3-0 in the young season with strong wins over Rose M. Gaffney School of Machias and D.W. Merritt School of Addison last week. The back-to-back blowouts solidified the East Machias-based Panthers as one of the early favorites this season as Elm Street picked up victories on back-to-back nights. 

By Paul Sylvain

From Santa and a live Nativity display to Wesley’s Tree Festival and brightly decorated floats, the spirit of Christmas was on full display throughout the Shiretown this past weekend in Machias. 

By Phil Stuart

The 2023\2024 high school basketball season officially opens on Dec. 8.  That is the date that high schools are eligible to play their first countable games.

For the most part, girls' teams kick things off with their season openers on Dec. 8. The Jonesport-Beals Royalettes travel to Machias for a matchup with the Lady Bulldogs.  Calais journeys up to Lincoln to face Mattanawcook Academy, and Woodland plays the Narraguagus Lady Knights in Harrington.

By Will Tuell

With the Christmas season in full swing, Downeasters could be forgiven for not paying attention to the goings on in the mountainous country of Nepal -- some 7,100 miles from Machias, as the crow flies. But for one local church, the festive time of year is the perfect time to be working to spread the Gospel to and improve the quality of life in a remote Himalayan nation gripped by sex trafficking.   

by Jonathan Reisman

“I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.

By Will Tuell

In what has quickly cemented itself as a Downeast Christmas tradition, the Wesley Tree Festival returned to the Lee Pellon Center in Machias last weekend. The festival, which got its start in and quickly outgrew the East Machias Town Hall (fire department), seems to get bigger and bigger with each passing year, even though four-year-old Wesley Keeton lost his life a decade ago in a tragic four-wheeler accident. 

Addison

Shalbajean "Mammie" Farren age 84 of Addison, fell asleep in the arms of Jesus, surrounded by her family, unexpectedly on December 3, 2023. She was born on August 1, 1939 in Harrington to the late Sidney and Beryl (Seavey) Mitchell. 

Shalba graduated from Harrington High School in 1957. She married her best friend and love of her life, Phillip Farren, on July 2, 1959. She was blessed with a large and loving family.

By Paul Sylvain

Look up the definition of “midwife” and most sources online state it is a person trained to deliver babies. Washington County’s only certified nurse midwife does that, of course, but she delivers much more than babies -- she delivers comprehensive women’s care to an area where healthcare professionals are badly needed.  

Licensed master of surgery and certified midwife-nurse Bjarni Thomas has been helping Machias area women meet their obstetrical and gynecological needs locally for more than four years.

By Paul Sylvain

The planned closure of the Route 1 dike and causeway between Helen’s Restaurant and Dunkin’ in Machias has been delayed a week by Maine’s Dept. of Transportation. 

The project, which was scheduled to start Nov. 27, has been delayed until Dec. 4 at the request of town officials to allow for a full weekend of Christmas festivities the first weekend in December.

By Will Tuell

State Senator Marianne Moore (R-Calais) received a “2023 Elected Women of Excellence” Award, the third-term senator’s office said in a media release before Thanksgiving. Moore, who serves as the Senate’s top Republican on the Legislature’s Health and Human Services (HHS) and Marine Resources committees, joined the Legislature in 2018 and has fought to restore funding for Downeast Correctional Facility in Bucks Harbor, reopen the Calais DHHS office, and served as an ex-officio member on the county’s budget committee. 

By Paul Sylvain

A townhouse-style apartment project on Cooper Street that began in earnest this past spring with groundwork and the pouring of a foundation is expected to be completed with its first tenants moving in sometime in January.

That’s according to Northfield developer Justin King, of King Construction and IMK Properties. A sign showed up on the site a few weeks ago advertising “apartments for rent.” King explained that he is accepting applications for the building's six apartment units.

By Paul Sylvain 

Meeting children’s author Tona Mareglia, you quickly discover she has a deep and genuine passion for writing and especially about the characters she creates.

Mareglia, who lives and writes from her home in Robbinston, was on hand at the Machias River General Store Nov. 17 to sign copies of her book, Manny and Lizzy: Friends Forever. The book, published late last year, tells the story about a big, burly moose named Manny, who hears a strange sound coming from a “box” stuck in the rocks on a nearby shore. 

By Wayne Smith

On Nov. 5, Andy Santerre, formerly of Cherryfield, got inducted into the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame.

Santerre reflected, “There were six that were inducted in the Hall of Fame, and there were two from Maine. I felt pretty special. I’m going to be inducted in the Maine Hall of Fame next October, but I didn’t think I would ever get in the New England Hall of Fame. For a Maine guy, it’s pretty tough.”