Governor Mills & Washington County Legislators Announce Agreement on Future of Downeast Correctional Facility

Governor Janet Mills and the Washington County Delegation announced today that they have reached an agreement to build a new pre-release center on the grounds of the existing Downeast Correctional Facility. This agreement comes in lieu of an earlier proposal to open a facility elsewhere in Washington County.

On Thursday, May 4, the FBI made a major sweep across Washington and Hancock Counties, charging 13 people with drug trafficking. The raids came after months of investigation by Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Three separate raids occurred in Beals, Jonesport and Sullivan. More than $16,000 in cash was seized, along with illegal drugs and a sawed-off shotgun. The drugs involved include fentanyl, heroin and cocaine.

The  State Board of Veterinary Medicine issued this warning today, April 17, about Dr. Cynthia Teer in Machias.  

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

On Thursday, April 11, attorneys for Acadian Seaplants filed a Motion of Reconsideration with the Maine Supreme Court. The motion asks the Court to reconsider its recent decision in the case of Ross v. Acadian Seaplants, which found that “rockweed attached to and growing in the intertidal zone is the private property of the adjacent upland landowner.”

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A long-awaited verdict has just come down for a case heard by the Maine Supreme Court in October 2017. All seven justices found in favor of a group of landowners in what is known here as “the rockweed case.” The finding means that rockweed, a plant which only grows in the intertidal zone, is the private property of the landowners adjoining the coastline, or the “riparian” landowners.

• 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

The final meeting of the Washington County Budget Committee took place in Machias on Tuesday, Dec. 4 and the 10-member committee spent two hours negotiating. Led by committee chairman Lewis Pinkham of Milbridge, the committee ultimately passed a budget that includes a near-zero increase of .1306 percent, but still includes the addition of three sheriff’s deputies.