by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Note: This is the first in a series of stories on the games we play Downeast. Know of a Washington County league or club that’s having fun? Send us the details to [email protected]snews.com.

Ryan Currier found his way to cornhole by way of a similar game called washers. Both are played by tossing something, either a washer or a bag, into a hole or holes on a board.

by Nancy Beal

By rough count, January 17 was the sixth time that principals from Kingfish Maine, a Dutch-owned company that seeks to replicate its Netherlands yellowtail operation with a land-based fish farm in Jonesport, had faced the public to explain their operation. It was held in the firehouse, a cavernous building where the 60-or-so who came to listen and speak could sit socially distanced in the second winter of Covid 19.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

by Rep. Will Tuell

For the past eight years, I have done my best to serve much of coastal Washington County in the Maine House of Representatives. While there have certainly been ups and downs, successes and defeats, I am honored that so many of you have entrusted me with your support along the way. I love the Maine Legislature and have enjoyed serving there. 

EAC’s Sunday Afternoons at the Arts Center series will continue on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m., when Captain Bob Peacock gives attendees a glimpse into what it takes to bring a Navy ship to Eastport, with a special eye to past and future Fourth of July celebrations. “This year we have several ships that wish to come for the Fourth of July, with officers and crews that were here previously for the 4th on other ships,” noted Peacock. “The commanding officers had such a great experience as junior officers they wish to return.

by Ruth Leubecker

Last week’s National Day of Action for Maine’s nurses was aiming to focus on holding hospitals accountable for staffing shortages, but instead veered onto another topic. 

“The major issue is the CDC weakening the COVID isolation guidelines,” explained Jennifer Nappi, spokesman for the Maine State Nursing Association. “We want them to make these decisions based on science, not what’s good for the industry. Shortening the isolation time down to five days during the most contagious variant is not a smart decision.” 

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

For the first time since last year adopting a remove participation policy, remote participants were able to attend last Wednesday’s meeting of the Machias Board of Selectmen via Zoom. Selectman James Jackson, who is currently traveling out of state, attended the meeting online. As always, the meeting opened with the pledge of allegiance.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Machiasport was once home to a historic piece of American engineering and railroading history, the Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad. Today, the remaining pilings of the Machiasport trestle are still visible from the Port Road. 

by Jonathan Reisman

Sesame Street is now a property of HBO, which has made the Muppets even more woke and insufferable than they were on PBS.  There are now specific BIPOC and LGBTQ Muppets, and Sesame Street has apologized for earlier incarnations, which apparently promoted systemic racism, implicit bias, and white supremacy. I was a big fan of the Muppet Show back in the day, and I wondered how some of my favorite iconic characters would fare in wokeville.

Statler and Waldorf : My role models

EAC’s Sunday Afternoons at the Arts Center series continues January 23 with Stage East Artistic Director Mark Macey on Theater Appreciation and the Basics of Dramaturgy. Macey will cover the basics of theater history and dramatic theory. Attendees will learn to better "read" and understand scripts, staging, and design. "I'm providing folks with a toolkit to enjoy theatre in a more engaged and meaningful way," said Macey, a graduate of Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre who also holds a BA in Theatre Studies from the University of Utah.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Residents and staff of Narraguagus Bay Health Care nursing home in Milbridge have been evacuated after high winds created roof damage. Parts of the roof have collapsed during the storm which covered the entire coast of Maine today, Monday, Jan. 17. The National Weather Service warned of gusts greater than 65 mph.

An employee of the nursing home has confirmed that no one has been injured by the damage.

The Jonesport-Beals School Board has reversed its original ban on out-of-town basketball spectators and limited numbers of home fans and voted unanimously Tuesday night to open the gym to all fans.

The Jonesport-Beals girls and boys have a total of three home games between today, Jan. 12, and Jan. 14, and another home game on Juan. 22.

Kristi Doten and Dan Jones’ daughter, Indira, is seen here with Mom and Dad shortly after becoming the first Washington County baby born in 2022.

by Nancy Beal

Several members of the committee tasked with writing an ordinance covering aerospace activities attended the Jonesport selectmen’s meeting last week (Jan. 5) to request help in determining what the town’s citizens want in the ordinance. Reading from a prepared request, Jane McMichen said the group specifically wanted a yes-or-no vote from the town at a special town meeting.

Stuart Donovan, from Englishman’s Bay in Jonesport, visited Down East Community Hospital at the end of December to deliver a check in the amount of $10,000 for the Comfort Care Suite in memory of his wife.  Stuart’s wife, Carole M. Donovan, who passed away on April 30, 2021, after a courageous battle with cancer, told her husband she wanted to donate to the suite. “This is what my wife wanted, and this is what I’m doing”, stated Mr. Donovan when presenting the check.

by Jayna Smith

In 1992, the Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington first sent wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery. Those wreaths were placed in one of the older sections of the cemetery that had been receiving fewer visitors with each passing year.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Nathaniel Kerruish, 23, of East Machias, on Jan. 5 was indicted by a grand jury with charges of felony murder and burglary class B, according to the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit - North and Washington County Jail.

Kerruish was directed to report to the jail on Jan. 5 and was released the same day on $2,500 bail.

Kerruish is the first local person indicated in the Nov. 4 shooting of 17-year-old Brandin Guerrero, whose body was found on High Street in Machias. 

by Nancy Beal

The environmental activists who organized against a proposed aerospace company that intends to launch nano-rockets from a Jonesport island has turned its sights on a Dutch company that proposes to build a $100 million land-based fish farm on 94 acres fronting on Chandler Bay. The most recent battle site was a Jonesport planning board meeting late last month at which Kingfish Maine sought approval for structures covering over half a million square feet on the property locally known as Dungarvin.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

In the new year, a person’s fancy turns to thoughts of clean closets, garages, and attics. But after you’ve cleaned out that extra toaster, those dusty golf clubs, or winter coats, how can you put them in the hands of someone who could use them?

If you live in the Machias area, making that donation could mean taking a bit of a drive, but it all depends on what you have to donate.  

The Pembroke Historical Society is honored host Charles Lagerbom on Tuesday, January 18th, for his Zoom presentation "Risk & Reward off Cape Horn: The Story of Captain Jesse Thayer Carver, of Searsport, Maine, and the Wreck of the Maine-built Downeaster St. Mary. The presentation will start at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Register at www.pembrokemainehistoricalsociety.org under Events.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Extensive planning by the Machiasport Shellfish Committee has led to the reconstruction of a concrete slip that allows clammers to put their skiffs into the Machias River alongside the historical society’s Gates House museum. Rob Boynton, Zach Wood, Whitney Stevens, and David Cale serve on the shellfish committee.