Selectboard OKs Extrication Suits, Explosive-Gas Meter Purchase

By Paul Sylvain

Changes a-plenty are happening at the Machias Fire Department, with the town’s selectboard addressing several of them at its June 25 meeting, beginning with a change in dispatching fire calls.

By Paul Sylvain

Midway between a bicentennial and a tercentenary celebration is this peculiarly named anniversary called a “semiquincentennial,” and this year marked the semiquincentennial — or, in plain English, the 250th — anniversary of the Battle of the Margaretta, which is considered by the U.S. Navy and many others to be the first Naval engagement of the American Revolution.

Hennessey, Wood Receive Awards

By Will Tuell

The 2025 Machias Area Little League regular season is a wrap and this year’s action offered no shortage of thrilling moments, firsts, and personal triumphs, from the undefeated Hurricanes finishing a perfect 12-0 in softball to the 10-2 Owls pulling away in the final two weeks to resolve a three-way contest atop the standings in baseball to the much-improved Eagles picking up their first win in two baseball seasons. 

By Nancy Beal

Jonesport’s annual town meeting was held March 10, but voting didn’t end that day. Late last month, a handful of citizens came to the elementary school gym to consider a budget for the ensuing year and, breaking from tradition, voted it down. Next, a building permit allowing a $100 million land-based fish farm was challenged and, as it developed, required a couple of ordinance changes to settle. All will be taken up in special town meetings next month.

By Jayna Smith

One of Maine’s most iconic Independence Day celebrations is back, and Eastport is planning a full slate of events leading up to and including the Fourth of July. This year’s festivities will feature live music, contests, community traditions, and a special highlight — the arrival of the U.S. Navy’s guided missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107), with a crew of approximately 330 sailors.

By Paul Sylvain

Scarcely a week after the last acrid cloud of black powder gunsmoke from last weekend’s Margaretta Days celebration has faded from the mock Revolutionary War battlefields at West Branch Farms, it’s time this weekend for the dust, exhaust smoke, and fun of the 4th Annual Machias ATV Jamboree downtown at the Pellon Center.

The first Machias ATV Jamboree was held in 2022, but organizers last year said the first “real” ATV jamboree was in 2023. The 2024 jamboree was even bigger, with more of the same on tap for next weekend.

By Jayna Smith

If you’ve driven down South Street in Calais recently, you’ve probably noticed the striking woven fence that popped up; it’s hard to miss. That’s the work of Crow Boutin, a former professional cage fighter who was raised just down the road in Trescott and now owns Custom Wattle Fencing. His fences are unlike anything else around — hand-woven from beechwood and maple, and built to last.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension hosted its annual meeting of the Washington County Extension Association (WCEA) on May 31 at UMaine Machias. A highlight of the event was the presentation of two community-focused awards: the University of Maine Pen Award and the Norman W. Duzen Community Service Award. 

By Paul Sylvain

If there was one song to define Sherry Preston’s five-decades-long career with Hannaford’s in Machias, it would have to be Love Will Keep Us Together by The Captain and Tennille. You’d have to love your job and the people you’ve worked with and for, to stick “together” with a job for half a century.

By Paul Sylvain

In a presentation that was part doomsday warning and an IT proposal, Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy and Information Technology Ombudsman Dennis Dorsey told the county’s commissioners that unless a knowledgeable replacement for his position is found before Jan. 1, the county government’s IT systems will begin failing within three weeks of his departure on that date.