1. Spednic Club Hosts Annual Bowling Tourney for Alzheimer’s

     

    On Saturday, March 18th, the Spednic Club in Baileyville held its annual Alzheimer’s Bowling Tournament.  Magnolia Assisted Living was the corporate sponsor with a generous $1000 donation to go to the Alzheimer’s Association.  Pictured above are the winning team members Michelle Sabattus, Opal Seeley, Jackie Martin, Craig Seeley, and Cierra Seeley, all of whom donated their winnings to the Alzheimer’s Association. The Spednic Club thanks all who participated in the worthy event.  (Spednic Club photo)

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  2. A Very Bad Feeling

     

    Jon Reisman

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  3. The celebrity eagles are at it again!

     

    Based on the behavior of the eagle pair, biologist Maurry Mills estimates that they have been taking turns sitting on eggs in the nest by Route 1 since March 16 or 17. If all goes well, the eggs in the nest should hatch around April 18-20, though we don't want to count our eagles before they hatch! According to biologist Ray Brown, there should be plenty of alewives in the nearby St. Croix River and Magurrewock Marsh to feed the eaglets from late April through early June.  (Photo by Ray Brown, USFWS) 

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  4. Washington County Community College to Offer Free EMT Training

     

    Will Tuell 

    Washington County Community College is moving ahead with plans to offer an intensive three-month course for area residents who want to become emergency medical technicians (EMT) thanks to a partnership with the Kennebec Valley Community College and funding through the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, which allows most enrollees to take the 150-hour course free of charge, according to Nichole Sawyer, WCCC’s Dean of Workforce Development and Community Engagement. 

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  5. Sen. Moore Welcomes Brooke Corbett to the State House

     

    On Thursday, March 16th, Senator Moore (R-Washington) was pleased to welcome Brooke Corbett of Robbinston to the State House.  Brooke served as an Honorary Page during the Senate Session. (Submitted photo)

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  6. AMHC Opens Warming Center in Calais

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    Aroostook Mental Health Services has opened a temporary overnight warming center in downtown Calais.  

    According to Downeast Recovery Center Manager Amy Day, who also manages the warming center aspect, as of March 17, the center will be open Friday and Saturday nights through April 30 from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. for anyone in need of a place to stay safe and warm.

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  7. Driver Charged with Drunk Driving after Crash

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    Drunk driving and speed are believed to have been the cause of a crash that occurred on South Street on March 15.

    According to Calais Police Department, at around 9 p.m. last Wednesday, Officer McCann responded to a report of a “serious accident” on South Street, in the area of Lincoln Street.  

    Upon arrival, the officer found a pickup truck “well off the roadway, severely damaged.”  

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  8. Fire Destroys Baileyville Home

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    A local man is with relatives after a fire tore through his home on Monday, March 20, 2023.

    According to Baileyville Fire Chief Bill Delnicki, shortly before 3:30 p.m., crews were dispatched to the residence on Houlton Road.

    Upon arrival, fire could be seen coming from the mobile home and “there was extensive heat throughout,” he said.  

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  9. Bloom Day Spa Ribbon Cutting

     

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  10. Wrestling: Downeast Wrestling Club Brings Hardware Home

     

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  11. Cook Wins Warner Award

     

    Phil Stuart

    Jace Cook, of the Northern Maine Class C champion Calais Blue Devils, won the William Warner Award as the Northern Maine tourney’s most valuable player. 

    Cook is the 10th Washington County player to win the award and the seventh player from Calais to do so.  

    Joining Cook on the all-tourney team this year are teammates Jacob Sockabasin and Evan Gillespie, along with Ethan Daigle, of Fort Kent, and Will Kusnierz, of Dexter. Ethan Monk of Woodland, Lance Gagnon and Micah Daigle, of Fort Kent, were honorable mentions.

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  12. Wrestling: Tammaro Tanks Bring Hardware Home

     

    The Woodland Recreation Tammaro Tanks went to Washington Academy last Saturday and brought home some hardware.  Pictured with their medals are (front) Violet Dineen, first place; Connor Grass, third place; Oliver Bishop, first place; Jordy Collins, fourth place; Alex Laney, second place; Delylah Grass, second place; Jesse Grass, manager; Justin Bishop, third place; Austin Nichols, first place; Mayson Pulk, first place; (back) Noeah Collins, assistant coach; Cliffy Collins, coach; Elijah Niles-Cowell, assistant coach.  (Submitted photo)

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  13. A Bad Feeling….

     

    Jon Reisman

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  14. New Simulator Prepares Local High School Students for Careers in Law Enforcement

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    Students enrolled in the criminal justice program at St. Croix Regional Technical Center (SCRTC) now have an additional tool to get them prepared for real world situations, thanks to a state-of-the-art police training simulator.

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  15. Lions Club Bookrack Provides Funding for Local Scholarships

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    Many have seen the bookrack in the vestibule of Tradewinds Shop ‘n Save.  What some may not realize is that that bookrack generates over $3,000 annually for the Calais Lions Club.  

    According to Lion Ben Knowles, the money allows the club to present $1,000 scholarships to three graduating seniors at Calais and Woodland High Schools each year.  Even more, the club hopes to expand its scholarship offering to include Shead High School.

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  16. Love in Every Stitch: No Donation too Small to Help with Lap Quilts for Hospice

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    Quilting has long been around, with the sewing technique used in clothing originally believed to have been worn under armor for extra protection.  It is more common–as it has been used for centuries–for added warmth in bedding.

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  17. CHS Students, Staff Welcome Winter Carnival

     

    Calais High School students welcomed the week-long winter carnival last week, postponed from the week before February break due to weather.  The fun is hosted annually by Student Council.  Among the fun were dress-up days, including  “In Your 80s or From the 80s Day,” hall decorating, snow sculpture contests, and various other fun games and events.  Also included was the annual evening bonfire.  (Photo courtesy of Principal Heather Bowles)

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  18. Huntley Brook Drummers Perform at the State Championship

     

    The Huntley Brook Drummers performed at the state championship basketball game on Tuesday in support of the Calais Blue Devils team and their fellow Passamaquoddy tribal members.  The Calais team this year included eight tribal members.  Shown are (front) Muwin Dana, Amuwes Dana, Quoqsis Dana, Lennox Dana, (back) Aaron Dana, Wambli Martinez, Petak Lola, Tony Dana, Daniel Dana, and Matthew Dana II.  (Photo by Jayna Smith)

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  19. Local Wrestlers Have Impressive Showing at Recent Competition

     

    On Sunday, March 12th, Downeast Wrestling Club (DWC) traveled to Bucksport.  There were many teams in attendance for the competition and a packed house.  

    Though DWC may be a small group, they are tough and great at putting on a show, with an impressive showing at the competition.

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  20. What's Up, Calais?

     

    Sending deepest condolences to the family of Christina McCarty–her parents Greg and Shirley Hold, who now reside in Florida, and brothers Brett, Trevor, and Jamie, along with Christy’s extended family, many of whom still live locally.  Christy passed away on Sunday, thankfully with her family by her side, after a battle with cancer.  She was a long-time friend of mine who grew up in Woodland.

    This Thursday, March 16, Calais United Methodist Church at Main Street is having a take-out supper.  Pickup will be from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.  

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  21. High School Students Benefit from Donation of International Culinary Collection

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    Culinary arts students at St. Croix Regional Technical Center (SCRTC) now have an additional collection of recipes at their fingertips, thanks to a donation of the Dr. Suzanne Haines Crawford International Culinary book collection.

    According to SCRTC director Stan Sluzenski, Linda Godfrey, of Eastport’s Atlantic Leadership Center, facilitated the donation of over 100 culinary books from Dr. Crawford.  

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  22. Ranger News from East Range II School

     

    We took our Rangers to Mt. Jefferson in Lee to go tubing. They had so much fun being pulled up the hill with the towing system and then flying back down. We hope to go again next year.

    Our peewee basketball players played their end-of-the-season game against their parents. It’s always an exciting game playing against their mothers, fathers, older siblings, and grandparents. The players beat their parents this year and were pretty ecstatic about that!

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  23. The Ides of March

     

    Jon Reisman

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  24. City of Calais Welcomes New Police Officer

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    Calais Police Department recently welcomed a new addition to its force.  Officer Chris McCann has joined the ranks from a department in Maryland. 

    McCann has spent his entire career in police patrol, most recently the last 14 years with the Cumberland (Maryland) Police Department.  Prior to his transition to Calais, he served as sergeant in charge of Cumberland’s nightshift.

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  25. Raffle to Benefit Local Young Woman Battling Cystic Fibrosis

     

    Natalie Boomer

    [email protected]

    A young woman from Perry is in a fight against cystic fibrosis, a disorder that damages one’s lungs, digestive tract, and other organs throughout the body.

    Ashley Larose-Kilby has been battling this awful disease for many, many years. She finally qualified for a lung transplant in hopes to improve her quality of life, and received this life-saving operation five years ago.

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  26. Young Cheer Teams Shine at States

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    There was lots of cheering to be had at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Sunday for the 26th annual Maine State Junior High and Elementary Cheering Championships.  

    The event is organized and sponsored each year by Calais Recreation Department.

    This year’s competition saw 58 teams from across the state take part, up from last year’s 49 teams.  

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  27. Maine to Commemorate Rich Fishing Heritage with Annual Alewife Day

     

    Will Tuell

    Representative Ken “Bucket” Davis (R-East Machias) received unanimous approval for his bill to designate the last Saturday in May as Maine Alewife Day during a meeting of the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee on February 16. Davis, who has taught dozens of seventh and eighth graders about the Down East tradition of cold smoking alewives at one of the last remaining smokehouses on the Maine coast, submitted the bill for another harvester in the Midcoast who is also trying to keep the heritage fishery alive. 

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  28. Wheels on the Bus Still Go Round and Round, Even as Local Schools Struggle to Find Drivers

     

    Joyce Kryszak, 

    Maine Monitor

    The shortage of school bus drivers has reached a crisis point in Washington County, with school administrators resorting to extreme measures — including driving the bus themselves. 

    “When I open the bus door, they look up and see me and say, ‘Oh! Mr. Maker is driving the bus today,’ ” said Tony Maker, principal of Elm Street School in East Machias. “I say, yeah, you never know who you’re gonna see driving the bus.”

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  29. Washington County Game Warden Follows Instincts, Locates Missing Topsham Women

     

    Sarah Craighead Dedmon

    Kimberly Pushard and Angela Bussell had been missing since Wednesday, Feb. 22, when they were last seen in a Springfield, Maine, gas station. The Topsham police department had issued a silver alert the day prior, and Maine law enforcement agencies, including Maine Game Wardens, joined in the search.

    Warden Brad Richard of Princeton was brought onto the search on Sunday, Feb. 26, after two days of single-digit and subzero temperatures. 

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  30. F.A. Peabody Donates Local Book

     

    In honor of last week's Read Across America Day, staff in all 11 FA Peabody branches donated 10-year-old Harleigh Clark's book Can You Teach Me? to local schools.  The company is also conducted a drawing for one of three copies of the book.  Pictured is Kristina Dean of the Calais office, presenting the book to the St. Croix Regional Technical Center early childhood education students and instructor Lauren Gillespie.  (FA Peabody photo)

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  31. Storytime at Lincoln Memorial Library

     

    Storytime came at the Lincoln Memorial Library in Dennysville on Tuesday, March 7.  First, we read a winter-themed book called Stranger in the Woods that’s also titled A Photographic Fantasy. Then, we checked out some of the animals that were present to discover the “stranger” in a book called Animals in Winter.

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  32. Lots of Hardware Won by Downeast Wrestling Club

     

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  33. Tangled up in Wu

     

    Jon Reisman

    Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”- Walter Scott

    Liar, Liar, pants on fire”- various attributions, most recently credited to anyone exposed to Joe Biden, Adam Schiff, Anthony Fauci, Andrea Mitchell and/or White House spokesweenies.

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  34. Number One-Ranked Calais Blue Devils Dominate Class C North Tournament

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    Quarterfinal

    Coach Dean Preston’s top-ranked Calais Blue Devils outscored the Penobscot Valley Howlers 46-36 in Maine Principals’ Association Class C North quarterfinal action on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

    The Blue Devils had three players in double digits in the victory.  Jacob Sockabasin paced Calais with 14 points, Jace Cook had 12, and Evan Gillespie had 11.

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  35. School Spirit on Full Display at Downeast Cheer Comp

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    Calais High School was the place to be on Saturday, Feb. 25, for the 2023 Down East Cheering Invitational.

    According to organizer Calais Cheer Coach Heidi Ryan, this is the tenth year of the competition.  

    This year, it drew 10 different teams of various divisions, consisting of cheerleaders in grades pre-kindergarten through eight.

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  36. Dragons Eliminated from Tourney with Heartbreaking Loss

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    It was not the outcome hoped for by the number five seed Woodland Dragons when they met up with the number four seed Fort Fairfield Tigers on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at Bangor’s Cross Insurance Center.  The matchup was a Class C North quarterfinal game in the Maine Principals’ Association Basketball Tournament.

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  37. Young Daisy Scout Sells Girl Scout Cookies in all 50 States

     

    Natalie Boomer

    [email protected]

    Maddison White, of Waite, is a five-year-old who has her eyes on the prize!

    Her goal as a first year Daisy Scout with Troop 2253 in Calais was to sell enough cookies to earn a free week at summer camp, but she didn’t stop there. 

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  38. Locally-made Barbecue Sauce Popping up in Area Stores

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    Many may have been noticing lately a new barbecue sauce–On the Corner BBQ Sauce–on the shelves at local stores.  One thing that sets this particular one apart from the others is that it is made locally, right here in Washington County in Robbinston.

    Owners of On the Corner Farm Jason and Heidi Cronister only recently got their sauces in the local stores, but they are not new to creating the deliciousness.

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  39. Jace Cook Hits 1,000 Point Mark

     

    Congratulations to Calais High School basketball standout Jace Cook for scoring his 1,000th career point.  The shot came from beyond the three-point arc during the Blue Devils’ Maine Principals’ Association Class C semifinal 70-47 win over Fort Fairfield played on Friday, Feb. 24. Cook dropped in a game-high 31 points as the Blue Devils advanced to the Northern Maine finals. (Photo by Jayna Smith)

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  40. Dr. Sammis Retires After 38 Years of Practice in Washington County

     

    Sarah Craighead Dedmon

    She came Downeast intending to stay just a few years, but last Saturday, more than 150 people gathered to celebrate Dr. Cynthia Sammis’s retirement after 38 years of family practice in Washington County.

    “I literally grew up with all of you, I came from my residency program to here and was going to stay for four years, but you see how that worked out. It was a little bit longer,” Sammis told the gathering. “I fell in love with the place, the people.”

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  41. Missing Maine Women Located Two Hours from Calais

     

    Jayna Smith

    [email protected]

    Two women from Topsham, near Portland, who were reported missing on Wednesday, Feb. 22, were finally located on Sunday, Feb. 26.

    According to the Topsham Police Department, Kimberly Pushard and Angeal Bussell were located near Nicatous Lake in East Hancock, about two hours from Calais.

    On Wednesday, Feb. 22, Pushard, 51, and Bussell, 50, were reported missing by Topsham police.  

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  42. K-9 Memphis to Receive Bulletproof Vest

     

    Will Tuell

    A member of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit, K-9 Memphis, who has been on active duty with his handler, Deputy Toni Bridges, will be receiving some much-needed protection in the form of a bullet- and stab-proof protective vest courtesy of the nonprofit Vested Interest in K-9s later this winter. 

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  43. The Winds of War

     

    Jon Reisman

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  44. FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

    Preventing Derailment: Conquering Rancor by Building Unity

    It has become apparent that there are a lot of hurt feelings and rancor being disseminated on social media in Calais in regard to the current administration of Irene Chadbourne Ecumenical Food Pantry.  This must stop.  

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  45. Strout Proposes Bill to Set Minimum Hunting Age

    Strout Proposes Bill to Set Minimum Hunting Age 

     

    Will Tuell

    Representative Tiffany Strout (R-Harrington) presented a bill that would require youth hunters to be at least five years old during a public hearing before the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee Feb. 13. The bill, LD 261, would reinstitute a minimum hunting age after it was repealed for all species except moose in 2015. 

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