by Jonathan Reisman

Organizers of Eastport Arts Center's 13th Annual Festival of Trees are thrilled to have received the names and themes of this year's trees, as follows. In addition to the ‘main event’ of lovingly decorated tabletop trees available by silent bid, the event will feature a ticket raffle of gift-worthy items donated by local individuals and groups, live music, and take-out snacks. The event will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Saturday, December 10, and is a key fundraiser for the Center’s year-round programming for all ages. 

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 Hazel Stark

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 Nancy Beal 

For about a month, folks in the extended Moosabec area have had a new option when seeking medical treatment. At the end of October, BreAnna Libby opened Moosabec Medical Family Practice in Jonesport, across Main Street from the Jonesport Shipyard, in the little building behind the original (now vacant) Moosabec Video structure that once housed the school superintendent’s office.

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 Sarah Craighead Dedmon

This month, Washington Academy Head of School Judson McBrine notified students and parents that the school’s water supply has tested above safe limits for Per-and Polyfluorinated Substances, known more commonly as PFAS or “Forever Chemicals.”

“Today [Nov. 17] we received water test results that showed that we had 21.9 parts PFAS per trillion parts water, which is above the state’s threshold of 20 parts per trillion,” wrote McBrine. “The federal threshold is 70 parts per trillion.”

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. 

USW Local 27 members at Woodland Pulp are on the verge of a “strike vote,” according to a press release from a spokesperson at Maine AFL-CIO on Thursday, November 17. 

The workers are “demanding that the company present a contract offer that provides high enough wage increases to keep up with the cost of living.”  

Union members are scheduled to take a vote on whether to strike or accept the company’s final offer after their bargaining session with the company on Monday, November 28.