Drouin Calls U-Turn ‘Unprecedented’

By Will Tuell

The long and fraught battle over legal lobster size changes took another dramatic twist last week as Maine’s Department of Marine Resources (DMR) bowed to pressure from fishermen and withdrew a proposed 1/16th-inch gauge increase that was set to take effect July 1. The news came as fishermen and other industry stakeholders gathered for a Jan. 9 public hearing on the proposal. 

By Paul Sylvain

In July 2023, Maine State Police (MSP) quietly ceased patrolling the state’s rural counties and instead focused their limited patrol resources on higher traffic and more populated parts of the state. Among those counties most affected by that decision was Washington County, in which Sheriff Barry Curtis and his deputies assumed the sole burden of providing law enforcement coverage once shared with state police.

By Paul Sylvain

Storm-driven floods are nothing new to downtown Machias. According to Tora Johnson, with the Sunrise County Economic Council, there have been nine such floods in the past six-and-a-half years.

But, Jim Lenke, a physical sciences teacher at Machias Memorial High School, is about to embark on a roughly three-year project with his students to measure water levels from the public dock behind Helen’s Restaurant, near the Route 1 dike and causeway over Middle River.

by Jonathan Reisman

January has brought an array of alarms in California, Maine, and North America

Fire alarms in California

The California wildfires are both a natural and human-enhanced disaster. Governor Gavin Newsom’s inferno was made worse by decades of water policies prioritizing endangered snail darters and green liturgy over reservoirs and aqueducts. Controlled burns and fuel load management are apparently not consistent with a conviction that the cause of wildfires is anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change.

By Phil Stuart

Three Downeast Board basketball officials with over 120 years combined experience worked their last game together on Dec. 19 at Gardner Gymnasium in East Machias when the host Lady Raiders of Washington Academy played the Old Town Coyotes. 

Wallace “Alvin” Hall of Gardner's Lake, Walt “Candy” Cummings of Deep Cover, and “The Doctor” Kevin Barbee of Milbridge, each have had over 40 years on the basketball court, and all three are tournament veterans as well. 

By Paul Sylvain

Maine winters aren’t what they used to be, considering the string of relatively mild winters we’ve enjoyed Downeast the past several years. Of course, with the snowiest and coldest winter months yet to come, it remains to be seen how Washington County will fare in this winter of 2024-25.

Still, the lingering memory of that last truly harsh, “old-fashioned” Maine winter a decade ago is one that anyone who experienced it won’t ever forget. 

Selectmen Make Offer on Dow Building, State Rejects 2nd Liquor Licensee in Town

By Nancy Beal

Jonesport selectmen Harry Fish and Denise Cilley met Jan. 2 and, although it was not on the agenda, difficulty accessing disaster aid took up much of the public part of the meeting. 

Zachery Allen was sworn in as a Marine Patrol Officer (MPO) by Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher Dec. 9 in Augusta. MPO Allen has been assigned to the Milbridge patrol in Washington County and previously served as a Hancock County deputy sheriff, a position he held since 2017. 

Zach holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Husson University and is currently working on his master’s degree. Zach is also a 2018 graduate of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy’s Basic Law Enforcement Training Program. 

by Jonathan Reisman

The events in New Orleans, Las Vegas, and the Swamp have quickly turned post-election optimism and confidence to pre-inaugural Sturm Und Drang fear, uncertainty, and turmoil. I am, and have been certain, Joe Biden was never “sharp as a tack” or “in charge,” despite having been told that repeatedly over the last four years. A wide swath of the left and the media chose to ignore and cover up Biden’s decline.

By Paul Sylvain

As we prepare to put 2024 in the proverbial rear-view mirror and usher in 2025, let’s take a look back at some of the local stories and events that topped the news in this 366-day leap year.

Barely 10 days into the new year, coastal Maine was slammed with the first of two major winter storms, three days apart, that could have been named “Peat” and "Repeat” for their similarities.

By Paul Sylvain

The long talked about plan for PFAS remediation research testing at Machias Valley Airport, appears to be cleared for take-off in 2025, according to Machias Selectboard Vice Chairman Ben Edwards.

By Paul Sylvain

Machias Selectboard Chairman Jake Patryn is moving closer to presenting a final draft of what will be his town’s first-ever shellfish conservation ordinance, if adopted by town voters.

by Jonathan Reisman

By Will Tuell

Even as last-minute gift-givers scurried around to finalize those must-have purchases last week, some area youth and their families made sure that the true meaning of the season — a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ — was not lost in the shuffle. That’s not to say that Santa, his elves, Rudolph, and the gang weren’t on everyone’s minds, but for the children of Larrabee Baptist Church in Machiasport and those attending the Machias Valley Christian School, Christ truly took center stage. 

By Paul Sylvain

Machias property owners learned last week that they’ll be paying even more than what their first round of recently received tax bills showed, thanks to a clerical error on the town’s 2024 tax assessment form.

By Paul Sylvain

Military veterans and auxiliary members of the Ephriam H. Johnson American Legion Post 9 in Machias have been busy in recent weeks giving Santa a hand to bring Christmas cheer to youngsters and senior members of the greater Machias community alike.

by Jonathan Reisman

December has been a bit of an emotional and political rollercoaster, which can make focusing on weekly wordsmithing problematic. End of year Christmas and New Year’s columns often have early deadlines, and that is the case this year. On top of that, my head is spinning from a strange combination of sadness and grief one year after my wife’s passing and confident optimism, pride, and pleasure in my writing and political and policy productivity. The result is a somewhat scattershot column.

Equity and ME

By Doss Dennison

I recently interviewed four student-athletes from Fort O’Brien School in Machiasport, for The Machias Valley News Observer. The following is a summary of those interviews:

Mattie Huntley

Mattie came to FOB as an eighth grader at the beginning of this school year. So far this year, she has played volleyball, ran cross country, is now playing on the combined girls FOB/Jonesboro Jets junior high basketball team, and plans on playing softball this spring. 

By Peter Pinette 

When we contemplate that the divine Christ Child came to earth to become one of us, God tells us by this humility that He wants to share in our humanity without wanting any worldly praise. Christ was born in the most humble setting, coming to earth amongst barn animals and only having a feeding trough as His cradle. All of these godly virtues will be on display in the life of the Christ Child — kindness and compassion and total giving of Himself to offer forgiveness and mercy to all of humanity. 

Former Flea Market Demolished to Make Way for Healthcare, Dental Facility

By Paul Sylvain

All that remains of the former Sandy’s Sales on Route 1 in East Machias is the cement slab it stood on until being crushed into a pile of rubble on Dec. 11. 

Eventually replacing it will be a 7,500-square-foot fully equipped healthcare facility which will serve as the new home for Healthways/East Machias Clinic.

Land Swap with Library A Go

By Nancy Beal

Nearly 50 Jonesporters turned out Dec. 10 for a special town meeting to consider buying real estate. On the warrant were items asking voters’ minds on purchasing the former nine-unit U.S. Coast Guard housing complex on Route 187 north of Greenwood Cemetery and an old store on Main Street in front of the town’s fire department.

By Paul Sylvain

County Commissioners Chris Gardner (R-Edmunds) and Vinton Cassidy (R-Calais) have seen a lot in their combined three decades of service to Washington County. And as Gardner said during this year’s county budget negotiations, a 21-percent budget increase is not the horse he and Cassidy wanted to ride off into the sunset on.