The Grand concludes it's 2018-2019 season of matinees for families during school vacation weeks (sponsored by The City of Ellsworth & Morton’s Moo) with the crazy sequel to one of the most popular animated movies in years “Ralph Breaks the Internet- in 3D!” See this great family film the way the directors made it to be seen- through a state-of-the-art digital projection system- on the Coastal Eye Care giant screen.  See it any other way... and it wouldn't be Grand! “Ralph Breaks the Internet” screens daily at 1 pm from Monday, April 15 to Friday, April 19.

Victory Championship Wrestling will be in Machias on Saturday, April 13, in support of Arise Addiction Recovery, a Christian residential drug treatment facility. Tickets purchased in advance through Arise directly benefit the charity.

The event will be held at the Lee Pellon Center and doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the bell will sound at 7 p.m. To purchase tickets call (207) 271-7060, or message Arise directly through their Facebook page by visiting: www.facebook.com/ariseaddictionrecovery.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A single mother whose landlord turned off her heat, an inmate recently released from Washington County Jail, an elderly veteran living in his truck, an addict with nowhere to go for the night — all true cases of homelessness in Machias just within the last six months. What do we do — and what can we do — when we encounter homelessness here in Washington County?

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

One of two buildings which just left a contentious local debate has been thrust back into debate with a revelation from the Maine Department of Corrections. Instead of advocating for the reopening of the shuttered Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport, the DOC is now looking at building a pre-release center at Blueberry Ford in Machias or at SuperTEK in East Machias.

by Ronie Strout

Kate Somes, a senior at Washington Academy, has been selected to receive the 2019 Maine Principal’s Award, Head of School Judson McBrine announced today. The award, sponsored by the Maine Principals’ Association, is given in recognition of a high school senior’s academic achievement and citizenship. Kate is the daughter of Sara and Adam Somes.

Coastal Washington County Institute of Technology Director Brian Leavitt announced this week that Nicholas Mathews has been nominated and selected as the 2019 Student of the Year. Each center or region in Maine, 27 in all, selects one outstanding Career & Technical Education student to represent their school.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

At a public hearing which ran more than three hours on Wednesday, March 27, legislators, former employees and concerned Downeast residents spoke in favor of reopening the Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport and Maine Department of Corrections Commissioner Randall Liberty spoke in opposition to reopening the site.

by Nancy Beal
Four of the six towns that make up the Pleasant River Solid Waste Disposal District (PRSWDD) have held town meetings at which the issue of staying with the group or leaving was raised and voted upon. The votes were necessary because the old intra-town agreement, which governed the operation of the Route 1 transfer station in Columbia Falls and how it should be paid for, expired December 31, 2018. That lapse forced all the towns in the group to vote on whether to sign a new contract. A “no” vote was equivalent to bowing out.

by Nancy Beal
Beals Elementary School is lit up with lighthouses this spring in anticipation of a visit next month from children’s author/illustrator Sophie Blackall, whose Hello Lighthouse recently won a Caldecott Medal for the best-illustrated children’s book in 2019. Blackall’s visit will be sponsored by Island Readers and Writers, a group on Mt. Desert whose mission is to bring artists and authors into island and coastal schools.

On Saturday, March 16, Cub Scouts Pack 125 held an Arrow of Light ceremony and a Crossing Over ceremony. The Arrow of Light award is the highest award a Cub Scout can earn.  Arrow of Light is the equivalent of an Eagle Scout award for a BSA Scout or Boy Scout.

Pack 125 Cub master Darrell Daniels had the honor of presenting the Arrow of Light awards to Nicholas Hennessey, Linus Patterson, and Blaze Moody. Following the Arrow of Light ceremony, the crossing over ceremony was held. The Cub Scouts crossed over to become BSA Scouts of Troop 125.

Author Martin Irons will speak at Porter Memorial Library in Machias on Saturday, April 6 at 2 p.m.

Irons' book, "Phalanx Against The Divine Wind: Protecting the Fast Carrier Task Force During World War II" recounts the fate of the USS Haynsworth and the rest of the Fifth Fleet on April 6, 1945 during the largest kamikaze attack of WWII. Among those lost that day was Hobart MacLaughlan of Machias.

by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Mark R. Alvarez

The morning was auspicious, but the weather wasn’t, with a stormy sky, intermittent rain and heavy winds, but for one Mainer, the tradition of planting a flag to commemorate the state’s birthday was going to happen no matter what.

Navy Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate Ed Bennett climbed to the top of Guam’s tallest peak, Mount Lam Lam, to plant the Maine state flag and celebrate Maine’s 199th birthday, March 15.

According to CNN, the Petagon has identified two soldiers killed Friday in Afghanistan.  The two were Spc. Joseph Collette, age 29, of Ohio, and Sgt. 1st Class Will Lindsay, age 33, of Colorado.  

Collette was assigned to the 242nd Ordnance Battalion, 71st Explosive Ordnance Group in Fort Carson, Colorado, and Lindsay was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Force Group (Airborne) out of Fort Carson.  

These two deaths are the third and fourth of American troops killed in Afghanistan this year during the U.S.'s longest war, now in its 18th year.

• Purchase price of $959 million USD ($1,286 million CAD) for shares plus acquired debt, for total enterprise value of $1.3 billion USD ($1.8 billion CAD)
• Fully achieves the targeted asset sale component of Emera’s three-year funding plan and proceeds will be used to support Emera’s capital investment opportunities within its regulated utility businesses and reduce corporate level debt

by Brian Lonergan

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT) Project Manager Jacob Van de Sande addressed the Machias Board of Selectmen at their bi-weekly meeting held Wednesday, March 13.

Van de Sande was following up on an earlier conversation about the old Seagull Motel, most recently used as the Machias River Redemption center. Van de Sande told the board MCHT has secured an option to purchase it and is prepared to facilitate the town’s purchase and demolition of the building to create a public green space.

by Nancy Beal