By Paul Sylvain

Calling Machias Hannaford’s “our community store,” Machias Food Pantry co-directors Nancy Lewis and Ken Warner on Feb. 23 accepted a $12,000 donation for the purchase of a new freezer/cooler from the store’s manager, John Thimlar.

By Nancy Beal

The former welding shop of Ronnie Gray on Route 187 in the Indian River district of Addison burned down in the early morning hours of Feb. 21. Fire crews from three towns -- Addison, Columbia, and Jonesport -- brought the blaze under control in about three hours. Heat from the fire blistered an exposed wall of a nearby dwelling. The former Gray’s welding shop was currently being used by Robbins Construction. No injuries were reported as of press time. The cost of damage related to the blaze is, as yet, unknown.

Selectboard Approves Liquor License, Entertainment Permit at Feb. 14 Meeting

By Paul Sylvain

What should have been a routine order of business on Feb. 14, involving a simple selectboard vote to approve an on-premises liquor license and a special entertainment permit in advance of Mason’s Brewing Company’s much anticipated mid-March opening Downeast, evolved into several moments of drama by selectboard member Ben Edwards.

By Phil Stuart

Ten out of 14 Washington County high school girls' and boys’ basketball teams are qualified for post-season play based on the final point standings. Only the Jonesport-Beals girls, Machias boys, and Calais boys got automatic bids to the Cross Center, while the Narraguagus girls, Machias girls, Washington Academy girls, and Woodland girls had to play a preliminary game in order to qualify for the northern tournament along with the Narraguagus, Jonesport-Beals, and Washington Academy boys.

Dr. Reza Namin, Superintendent of Maine Indian Education and former University of Maine Machias chemistry professor, has been selected to serve as a judge for the Future Engineers Program. 

The Future Engineers Program was founded in 2015 by leading engineering associations to address the shortage of students pursuing engineering careers. Through an annual competition, students submit innovative proposals for tackling issues such as climate change, space exploration, and sustainability. Submissions are evaluated by a panel of engineers and STEM experts, including Dr. Namin.

by Jonathan Reisman

“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” - Matthew 12:25

“A house divided against itself, cannot stand.” - Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln, 1858

Friends and acquaintances from left, right, and middle have shared their anxiety and concerns concerning possible violence and social unrest this year. Fear of desolation is a rare area of unity in our otherwise divided American house.

By Will Tuell

Town Attorney Claims DeFalcos, Aschettino ‘Offering Land They Do Not Own’

By Paul Sylvain

More than 100 of Machiasport’s estimated 1,000 citizens packed the Fort O’Brien School gymnasium on a bitterly cold evening on Feb. 5 for a tense and emotionally charged public hearing on eminent domain.

By Wayne Smith

On Dec. 10, 2023, the Merchant family of Sullivan’s lives were changed forever when they lost their son, Cole, in a car accident in Steuben. Two months later, Cole’s mother, Holly Merchant, decided it was the right time to tell her story. Speaking with her on the phone last week, she never sugarcoated the emotions that she is dealing with from the loss of her younger son. At times, I could feel the emotions running through the phone line as we talked.  

The Roque Bluffs Community Center received a $3,000 gift from Machias Savings Bank on Feb. 8. 

Sam Whitney, Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager of the bank’s Machias branch, made the award, which will help cover the cost of new flooring as part of renovations of the RBCC’s lower level. The Center said in a press release that its lower level is being converted into a permanent art gallery for the area and that most of the work is being done by community volunteers. 

By Phil Stuart

Many times, success on a basketball court is achieved because other family members have been involved in the game as well.

On Jan. 31, Kristin Grant of Machias scored her 1,000th career point as the Lady Bulldogs defeated Calais 50-36 at the “Doghouse.”

Grant, a native of Lubec, became the second member of her family to join the 1,000-point club.

By Phil Stuart

The regular season is winding down, and several area teams will be extending their season into the playoffs.

In Class B girls, Washington Academy is currently seeded ninth. If that position holds up, the Raiders will be on the road for a preliminary matchup. 

The Machias Lady Bulldogs are sixth in Class C with a 13-1 record and could possibly move up a notch. If Machias stays in the sixth spot, they would have a home preliminary contest against the 11th-seed.

By Will Tuell

Each of the eleven towns that make up a confederation of local school systems known as AOS 96 has received subsidy projections from the Department of Education. The figures, based on a combination of student enrolment and local property valuation, give school budgeters an idea of what they will have to work with as they prepare school budgets for the upcoming fiscal year, set to begin July 1. 

By Nancy Beal 

Jonesport selectmen met on Jan. 31, finalized their budget, and, that evening, presented their suggestions to the town’s budget committee. Retired bank manager Wendy Beal was chosen chairman. Joining her were business owner and Union 103 infrastructure manager John Church, realtor and builder Paul Iossa, and assessor and former high school secretary Barbie Cirone. Shane Farris was absent.

The Washington County Republican Committee has completed three of its four regional caucus meetings in Washington County. The purpose of town caucuses is to elect officers of each town committee, to elect Delegates and Alternates to the State Convention, to elect members to the Washington County Republican Committee, and to organize for the upcoming elections. 

By Will Tuell

Nurses Working Since October Without a Contract

By Paul Sylvain

Bone-chilling cold on Jan. 27 failed to deter at least 22 nurses and techs employed at Down East Community Hospital in Machias from rallying on the Jeremiah O’Brien Bridge. The nurses have been working without a contract since October and are trying to leverage public support for what they call “safe staffing” levels as part of their new contract. 

Public Hearing set for Feb. 5

By Paul Sylvain

For Machiasport’s selectmen, their Jan. 26 meeting must have seemed like deja vu all over again.

For the second time in six weeks, Machiasport’s three-member board, along with town attorney Stephen Wagner of Bangor, met to consider five legal motions aimed at taking by condemnation and eminent domain portions of private property at 1755 and 1759 Port Road in Starboard to build a public access road to the Point of Maine and a pair of islands accessible only at low tide.

The Lubec Community Outreach Center (LCOC) is pleased to announce a Knot Tying Workshop on Saturday, Feb. 3, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. 

This is a repeat of an earlier knot tying workshop, which proved to be extremely well attended and much enjoyed. The LCOC is happy to bring back the workshop and its co-leaders, Captain John “Jack” Lynskey and retired fisherman Nathan Dunford, for a second round!

by Jonathan Reisman

With an eleven-point victory in the Granite State GOP primary over last woman standing, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump is the almost-certain-to-be Republican presidential nominee. I think he is a riskier choice than almost all the alternatives, especially Ron DeSantis. Riskier means potential variance in outcomes. 

EAC's Sunday Afternoons at the Arts Center series continues on Feb. 4 at 3 p.m., when Donald Soctomah will present a screening of Ntolonapemk: Our Ancestors’ Place, a 2006 film, which documents the cleanup of one of the most contaminated sites in Maine. In earlier times, Ntolonapemk was one of the sites of a Passamaquoddy village. For thousands of years, people would come to this spot to harvest great numbers of fish on their annual run up the Dennys River. A true success story, the film chronicles the site’s cleaning and return to the Passamaquoddy people.

By Steve Robinson

Five months after telling its staff and readers that it planned to disclose “the funders” behind the purchase of five Maine daily newspapers, the nonprofit trust now controlling several of Maine’s oldest news brands hasn’t kept the promise.

The sale of the Portland Press Herald, Lewiston Sun Journal, Kennebec Journal, and other Maine news brands to the “National Trust for Local News” was completed last summer.