by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Monday, Dec. 12, was the final day of operations for one of Machias’ newest businesses. Through a Dec. 1 Facebook post, Bad Little Brewing Company (BLB) co-owner Kathryn Toppan announced their intentions to close.

by Will Tuell

After months of intense campaigning, the 186 men and women of Maine’s 131st Legislature were sworn into office last week. The constitutionally prescribed ceremony, set for the first Wednesday in December, proved heavy on pomp, pageantry – and politics – as policymakers also deliberated on the merits of Gov. Janet Mills's (D-Farmington) nearly half billion supplemental budget designed to offer relief for those struggling with soaring energy costs. 

The Down East Community Hospital Auxiliary’s 49th Annual Holiday Craft Fair was one of the holiday events that filled Machias’ calendar on Dec. 3.  The gym and halls were filled with a total of 41 crafters displaying their crafts, a six-item “Drop-in-the-Bucket” auction (aka Chinese Auction), a “Take home your Saturday night bean supper” table with all the fixings, and a very well-stocked kitchen offering lunch which included lobster rolls made with fresh local lobster.

Calais Celtic Concerts is extremely pleased to present the Internationally acclaimed, award-winning, musical sister-duo of Cassie and Maggie MacDonald, who are no strangers to Celtic Christmas, Holiday Magic! The sisters are part of a multi-generational musical dynasty, in which Christmas was always a time to gather near and sing boisterously, as in the days of old. The doors were always open to company when the New Year was just around the corner.

A Lubec man pleaded guilty today, Friday, Dec. 9,  in U.S. District Court in Bangor to stealing firearms from a federal firearms licensee, witness tampering, and retaliating against a witness.

By Will Tuell

Newly elected Hancock-Washington County District Attorney Bob Granger, who narrowly ousted two-term incumbent Matt Foster in the November election, announced Saturday that he would be officially sworn into his post at the Hancock County Superior Courthouse in Ellsworth Sunday, January 1 at 9 a.m. Granger will also hold an “unofficial” swearing-in ceremony in Machias “later that day,” though plans have not been finalized as yet. 

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon 

The estate of Barbara L. Smith has offered to sell a half-acre lot to the town of Machias, partially in exchange for unpaid property tax and sewer bills related to other Smith properties. 

At the Machias Board of Selectmen’s Nov. 9 meeting, realtor Nicole Ball spoke on the family’s behalf, offering 114 Dublin Street to the town for the reduced price of $85,000, down from a list price of $99,000 for the .54-acre lot.

by Jonathan Reisman

Stage East’s run of Tennessee Williams’ classic The Glass Menagerie will continue with shows on Friday, December 9, and Saturday, December 10, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, December 12, at 2 p.m., at 34 Water Street, downtown Eastport (across from the WaCo Diner. The production features familiar Stage East performers Jenie M.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

You won’t hear documentary filmmaker Alan Kryszak’s voice in his fifth film, “Hungry Now”, which will have its regional premiere at UMaine Machias at 7 p.m. this Friday, Dec. 2. Instead, audiences will hear directly from the film’s subjects — people talking about or living with poverty, hunger, and homelessness, like Suzie, an adult student at UMaine Machias.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office will hire one new deputy in 2023, not four, as requested by Sheriff Barry Curtis, following a vigorous debate and a 5 to 3 vote from the county budget advisory committee (BAC) on Monday, Nov. 21. 

With the additional deputy, the 2022-23 county budget will total $13,429,218.50 (including just over $3 million in restricted federal ARPA funds), an expenditure increase of $962,343 over the prior year, and a net increase to taxation of $674,902.27, or 10.24 percent. 

by Marina Schauffler, Maine Monitor

Limiting new sources of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) can gradually lower your accumulated chemical load, aptly known as your body burden. PFAS compounds can linger in bodies for decades, with concentrations in blood plasma taking up to eight years to decline by half. Growing scientific evidence suggests that even low levels of PFAS can disrupt hormonal, immune, and reproductive systems and can increase the risk of various cancers. 

by Jonathan Reisman

Elections have Consequences- Barack Obama

The House Republican majority is slim and potentially fragile. The surest way to assure that it will not last long is to heed the advice of Democrats and moderates and not respond to the ruthless partisan hackery of the past four years in kind. To do otherwise will assure that Democrats will repeat the behavior in the future. The GOP House majority should:

by Amy Dowley

Reporting out on another successful Roque Bluffs Turkey Trot. Thirty-four participants strong, we raised $600 towards the Roque Bluffs Education Fund, which gives $500 to every Roque Bluffs student upon their high school graduation.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Maine driver’s licenses will still suffice if you want to drive, cash checks, or rent a car, among other ordinary daily uses, after May of next year. But if you're going to fly or enter a secure federal facility, a standard driver’s license won’t cut it starting May 3, 2023. For that, you’ll need a REAL ID or a U.S. passport.

Maine began issuing REAL IDs in 2019 to comply with a new federal law. This year, the federal government announced it would begin enforcing use of the REAL ID starting next spring.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A power meter recently stolen from Bad Little Falls Park in Machias is just one in a string of vandalism acts that prompted Machias Police Chief Keith Mercier to ask for the public’s help.

“Over the summer months, the Machias Police Department investigated a handful of criminal mischief incidents at Bad Little Falls Park. These incidents took place in the overnight hours,” wrote Mercier. 

The park is supposed to be closed from sunset to sunrise, said Mercier.

by Jonathan Reisman

Bitter cynicism is a recipe for heartburn and despair. It is not a healthy state of being, and I have been struggling to find a more positive state of mind in the wake of a very disappointing election for Maine and the nation. It also makes it hard to write a Thanksgiving column, but here goes-

Family and Homestead

I am grateful that my elder son and his partner have returned to Maine. 

I am grateful that my younger son is fighting for his beliefs in the swamp.

Following its television premiere on Maine Public Television on Thanksgiving night (9 p.m.), the locally filmed and produced documentary Hungry Now will have its regional premiere at the University of Maine at Machias Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2.

“Hungry Now” brings you direct voices of “the hungry, the homeless, and the helpers” in a series of interviews with kids and adults who seem to walk their whole lives uphill in a nation of wealth and promise. The film aligns with “Voices From the Barrens” in UMaine’s “Right to Food” film series. 

by  Hazel Stark

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The Maine State Police this morning report that the Washington County Sheriff's Office was called to a "suspicious" incident in Cherryfield at 9:17 p.m. last night, Thursday, Nov. 17.

"Maine State Police detectives from Major Crimes Unit North were called to assist. Police do not believe there is an ongoing public safety risk," said MSP Communications Director Shannon Moss.

This story will be updated as more information is available.

by Nancy Beal 

The agenda of the Nov. 9 meeting of the school board that governs Jonesport-Beals High School listed recommendations for winter coaches, including names. The one for varsity girls’ basketball brought out several members of the team and their supporters, who were not happy with the choice.