by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

In a letter addressed to interim town manager Bill Kitchen, Machias Police Chief Todd Hand resigned his position on July 13, effective Sunday, July 18. Hand assumed the position in January 2020.

Kitchen read Hand’s resignation letter aloud to the Machias Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting held Wednesday, July 14. When asked by selectman Carole Porcher if he had tried to dissuade Hand from resigning, Kitchen said that during his short tenure as interim manager, the chief and Kitchen had numerous conversations.

by Ruth Leubecker

Signing a controversial bill that would shift packaging costs of products from taxpayers to product producers, Gov. Janet Mills has spawned a flux of mixed reactions.

The primary question hovering over the bill: Won’t it eventually be paid for by consumers? 

LD 1541, An Act to Support and Improve Municipal Recycling Programs and Save Taxpayers Money, is facing a profusion of contradictory opinions.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

In her early years, artist Sharon Mack painted in watercolors. Then, two people she loved inspired her to a bold and colorful new style.

“One of my sisters and one of my brothers is legally blind, and my sister said, ‘I can’t see it. Will you paint something I can see?’ says Mack. “That’s how I got this particular style, I took my glasses off and painted without my glasses.”

by Nancy Beal

For professional chef and educator Barton Seaver, the three “S”es of public health are “Don’t Smoke,” “Fasten your Seat belt,” and “Eat Seafood.” That, and many other bits of wisdom, were shared June 30 on the lawn of Jonesport’s Peabody Memorial Library by Seaver, who was introduced to the Moosabec area by Kingfish Maine, a Dutch company that intends to establish a $100 million land-based yellowtail fish farm on Jonesport’s Chandler Bay. He brought wisdom—and food.

by Jayna Smith

Finally, it seems there is a light at the end of the tunnel surrounding the border closure—or reopening—with Canada.  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week the border could open by mid-August to Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19, then on Monday, July 19, his administration provided an Aug. 9, 2021 date for reopening.

Here are a few words that rarely go together: relaxed, comfortable, and mammogram. After all, having your breasts compressed tightly between two firm surfaces while you stand there awkwardly half clothed is certainly not the most pleasant of experiences. Down East Community Hospital is now offering our patients a new option in mammograms: the Senographe Pristina™. Designed from the ground up with the input from women, it is the first mammography system to provide women with the “three Cs”: comfort, confidence, and clarity. 

by Jonathan Reisman

The Canned Sardine, Stage East’s storytelling event, returns to the Sutherland Amphitheater on Saturday, July 24 at 4 p.m. Storytellers of all stripes are encouraged to come share their tall tales, myths, autobiographies, or gut-busters with audience members as a part of the Eastport ArtWalk’s Passport Weekend. 

Down East Community Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) is a level III, 10-bed emergency department. The ED is staffed with emergency physicians, mid-level providers, and registered nurses providing services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

On-call providers are available for specialty services in orthopedics, gynecology, urology, general surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, and otolaryngology (ENT).

by Joseph Horn