Jayna Smith
[email protected]
 
Volunteers at the Calais Skatepark worked diligently this past weekend to construct a new mini ramp, all made possible through the Brendan Leddy Memorial Fund.

The park already included several q-pipes, along with starter ramps and others.  The addition of this new ramp is the first mini ramp for the park.  

“This provides entry-level riders a place to progress at a much faster rate,” said skatepark committee member Spencer McCormick.

Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The road to becoming a Maine Game Warden drives new recruits through 14 weeks of training and into five regions of Maine, too, including Machias where last month trainees practiced crime scene management during a storm that dropped five inches of rain in a single day.

Jayna Smith
[email protected]

Access to broadband internet has been a hot topic nationwide, especially in rural areas, for a few years, however, the City of Calais and the Town of Baileyville–and now some surrounding towns–are ahead of the game with Downeast Broadband Utility (DBU).  

Jayna Smith
[email protected]

Emergency crews from Calais and surrounding towns battled a structure fire Sunday night that destroyed a downtown business.  
The call for the fire at The Roost Pub, 445 Main Street, Calais came in just before 9 p.m., Calais Fire Chief Ken Clark said.

According to owner Carl Bailey, eight apartments in the three-story building were occupied by tenants.  Some were not home when the fire broke out, and those who were escaped without injury.  

Jayna Smith
[email protected]

A new store has filled a space downtown, and its owners say they are looking forward to serving the community.  

The White Birch Exchange, at 345 Main Street in the former Urban Moose building, opened its doors last week.  

Owners Craig Bruce and Michael Novack are no strangers to border-town business, having recently moved from Windsor, Ontario, directly across the river from Detroit, Michigan where their online business was based.  

After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the Washington County Children’s Chorus will resume rehearsals from 3-5 p.m. on Sunday, May 22, at Centre Street Congregational Church in Machias.

Jayna Smith
[email protected]

Fiddleheads are a springtime delicacy across Maine and New Brunswick, and in the downeast area, are nearly ready to be harvested.
The ostrich fern fiddleheads can be identified by the brown, papery scale-like covering on the uncoiled fern.  Because they are perennial, they come back year after year, and according to University of Maine Cooperative Extension, nearly all ferns have fiddleheads, but not all fiddleheads are edible.

Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Jury selection for the trial of Thomas Bonfanti of Northfield is set to begin May 23 in Belfast.

“We’re anticipating three to four days to pick a jury and up to two weeks for the trial,” said Bonfanti’s attorney Jeffry Toothaker, who was appointed to the case on April 8.

Bonfanti has entered a plea of not guilty, and earlier this year requested his trial be held in another county to avoid possible tainting of the jury pool by pre-trial publicity.

Jayna Smith
[email protected]

Since early March, three Calais Elementary School students–Turner Redding, Parker Cole, and Sebastian Bassett–have added their talents to the Maine Sting basketball team.  

Maine Sting is an AAU team based in Old Town.  Along with Redding, Cole, and Bassett, on their division’s team are five others, all from Mount Desert Island, Lincoln, Belfast, and Fairfield.

Editor’s note: The Friends of Cobscook Bay last week submitted the following press release. - SCD  Pembroke voters last week came out to pass a local metallic mining ordinance on May 4. Pembroke’s new ordinance is the first in Maine under the new state mining laws passed in 2017.

Natalie Boomer
[email protected]

Calais Free Library has had some interesting visitors this month.  Painted Lady Butterflies have made their way to the children’s section!
“I am super excited to be raising butterflies again this year,” mentioned youth services librarian Skye Green-Hall. “This is our second year raising Painted Lady Butterflies at the Calais Free Library.

Jayna Smith
[email protected]

Jayna Smith
[email protected]

Before the closing of the congregational church, the women’s club there held an annual plant and pie sale.  That sale was always successful, with many coming for a healthy, happy plant and a sweet treat, all for a great cause.

Now, like last year, Calais Downtown Revitalization Coalition (CDRC), with lots of help from everyone’s favorite local gardener Jane Eaton, will host a plant sale on Saturday, June 4.

Jayna Smith
[email protected]

Over 40 percent of infant formula brands were sold out during the first week of May, according to a report by Datasembly.  That is up from 31 percent just three weeks prior.

Across the nation, and including in Maine, many major retailers have placed limits on the amount of formula shoppers can purchase.  
The shortage of baby formula can be attributed to the COVID-era supply chain issues, coupled with a top manufacturer’s recall in February.  

Jon Reisman

When the news came in Sunday afternoon about the mass shooting in Buffalo, I had a sinking feeling. First, because I have a deep familiarity and connection with Buffalo, and second because I am all too familiar with how the left and their media cheerleaders use tragedy to attack their enemies and increase their power. Democratic politicians and the media confirmed my fears before night fell Sunday.

Natalie Boomer
[email protected]

The Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, Cobscook Bay State Park, and the Friends of the Moosehorn NWR invite children 16 and under, along with their families, to go fishing at Cobscook Bay State Park Headquarters Pond in Edmunds on Saturday, June 18.  The event marks the 24th annual fishing derby.

“The State of Maine will stock brook trout into the pond just before the derby,” said Supervisory Wildlife Biologist Ray Brown.

Jayna Smith
[email protected]

The Woodland Dragons baseball team is having a successful season, currently with a record of 11-1.

On May 16, Coach Kenny Murphy and his team traveled to Jonesport-Beals High School, where they picked up a 14-4 win, thanks in part to Evan Curtis, who drove in four runners, with a single in the first and a triple in the fifth.  

Jayna Smith
[email protected]

The top ten ranked graduating seniors at Woodland High School were honored at a ceremony on Wednesday, May 11.
With parents, grandparents, friends, and others in attendance, guidance counselor Janice Rice welcomed all to the special event before each student was recognized by a teacher or staff member of their choice. 

Upcoming Workshop to Focus on Improving Wildlife Habitat

Jayna Smith
[email protected]

Logan Johnson, a Calais native, now Northeast Region Coordinator for the Forest Stewards Guild, will lead a group in a Forestry for Maine Birds workshop set to take place at Devil’s Head on June 11.