by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The quest for a crosswind runway in Machias soared one step closer to reality last month when Senator Susan Collins' office announced her first earmarks in a decade, including $1.25 million for the Machias Valley Municipal Airport, $1.125 million for a new Machiasport public works facility, and $2.5 million toward planning and design of a replacement fire station at the Cutler naval station.