By Paul Sylvain

David and Rhonda Craven’s sizable flock of sheep is a familiar sight to travelers driving along the Kennebec Road in Machiasport. And in recent weeks, the sight of tiny newborn lambs tagging along with the mothers near the Cravens’ fenced-in fields has been an extra special treat, prompting many drivers — sometimes with their youngsters in tow — to pull over to watch or perhaps take a few photos.

By Paul Sylvain

Beginning on May 27, Machias voters will be gathering twice in a two-week span to act on separate articles in a bifurcated school and town meeting warrant. 

First up is an 18-article warrant addressing Machias public school funding for fiscal year 2025, which begins July 1. That meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 27, and the Rose M. Gaffney School gymnasium. The Machias School Board, Budget Committee and Select Board support passage of all funding articles.

By Will Tuell

Last Wednesday proved to be an extra special day for the students and staff of Rose M. Gaffney Elementary School in Machias. One of their own, second grade teacher Janis Whitney, attended a ceremony at the Hall of Flags at the State House in Augusta where she was announced as Washington County Teacher of the Year for 2025. Whitney will go on to compete with fifteen other teachers — one representing each county — to compete for Maine Teacher of the Year honors. 

By Paul Sylvain

A project taken on last fall by Machias Selectboard Chairman Jake Patryn to draft the town’s first shellfish conservation ordinance is moving forward with consideration of input from clam diggers in neighboring Machiasport.

Despite nothing being offered for action by the full selectboard, Patryn used the board’s May 13 meeting to bring his colleagues and Town Manager Sarah Craighead Dedmon up to date on his work on the ordinance.

By Paul Sylvain

The list of long-time Machias town employees to move on in recent months just grew longer with the resignation of Machias Finance Director Meghan Dennison, effective June 6. 

In announcing the resignation at the selectboard’s May 14 meeting, Town Manager Sarah Craighead Dedmon noted that Dennison has served as the town’s finance director for more than 20 years. As selectboard member Carole Porcher observed, “It’s the end of an era.”

By Paul Sylvain

Business is booming at the Machias Ambulance Service, and like all successful businesses, MAS Chief Ryan Maker is laser-focused on investing in MAS’s future.

In a meeting with the town’s selectboard on May 13, Maker sought the board’s approval for a novel plan for selling off an older ambulance to a smaller, less busy ambulance service. He also asked permission to forego the competitive bid process to purchase three pieces of new state-of-the-art EMS equipment. 

By Nancy Beal

Beals’ First Selectman Glenda Beal has taken it upon herself to become the town’s grant writer. Since her election a year ago (as someone totally without previous town government experience), she has spent much of her time seeking grant money for the town for a number of causes.

By Will Tuell

Not even a dreary, drizzly, mid-May morning could dampen the spirits of the 70 University of Maine Machias students receiving diplomas on Saturday. Friends, family, professors, and community members packed into the Reynolds Center gym for the 10 a.m. right of passage. Yet remarks by Class of 2025 Valedictorian Emma Soctomah and Passamaquoddy Tribal historian Dwayne Tomah, the ceremony’s keynote speaker, gave the proceedings a distinctly Passamaquoddy feel. 

By Paul Sylvain 

A pair of bills designed to reduce response times and fight crime in rural areas has made their way through the Legislature in recent weeks. On May 1, LD 477, sponsored by Madison Rep. Jack Ducharme, a Republican, cleared an early procedural vote on the House floor by a 117-26 margin. That same day, a similar proposal exclusive to Washington County, LD 461, sponsored by Calais Republican Sen. Marianne Moore and the local legislative delegation, cleared the Senate on a voice vote.

By Nancy Beal

The national discussion of transgender rights under Title IX that began in the Maine state house, when a Republican legislator posted pictures of a transgender student competing on a girls track team, and exploded in the White House when Governor Mills told President Trump “see you in court” after he chastised Maine’s transgender student policy, has come full circle back to Maine.