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This pair of happy fair-goers enjoys a ride at the 1988 Blue Hill Fair.
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Hello! It's Thursday, September 3. That's right folks, it's September. School is starting, leaves are turning, temperatures are dropping. We know everyone is exhausted by basically everything all the time but in a spot of bright news, we all got Rickrolled by Dr. Shah today, who told us:
"Maine CDC contact tracers are
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you."
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FALL SPORTS IN LIMBO
Just when you thought there was a plan...The Maine Principals’ Association last Thursday unanimously approved a decision to go forward with a 2020 fall sports season, but on Tuesday, the return of high school sports was dealt a setback as state agencies recommended the MPA further delay the season. The association got a letter from Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew and Commissioner of Education Pender Makin detailing concerns with the high school sports governing body’s plans for a return to play. The MPA’s plan, the letter stated, contained a few rules that “did not comport” with state guidelines. The agencies’ list of shortcomings included the MPA’s proposals on masks and face coverings, recommendation of 3-6 feet of spacing and “[silence] on the interaction with schools’ plans.” “We would like to know, at your earliest convenience, if the MPA plans on modifying its guidance, and, if so, how,” the letter stated. “We urge you to consider extending your delayed start date for fall sports.”
MAINE COAST MALL APPEALS TAX ASSESSMENT
Nobody really wants to pay taxes, of course. But the owners of the Maine Coast Mall are going to have to do a bit more work to convince the city's Board of Appeals that they deserve a break: the board voted last Monday to give the mall's owners a month to make their case for why the assessing department should cut the total valuation of several parcels, including the building housing T.J. Maxx and Hannaford, by 41 percent, or $7.52 million. “This has importance to the city for a lot of money,” said Board of Appeals Chairman Jeffrey Toothaker, who asked each party to write five pages of arguments “in simple terms” outlining methods and including final figures, and be prepared to reconvene in late September. Representatives from Union River Associates Realty Holdings, LLC argued last week that the parcels are not worth as much as city staff say they are, in part because many of the mall’s spaces have long been vacant and are no longer what retailers are looking for. “Retail is kind of suffering these days,” said Bill McLaughlin, who conducted an appraisal on behalf of Union River Associates. While the Dairy Queen generates between $80,000 and $90,000 per year in rent and is highly visible, “The lots behind it — it’s a hard time to sell those or even attract tenants. Everyone’s kind of contracting at this point in time and it’s highly unlikely that with the lack of visibility you’re going to find any tenants in the near future to ground lease those sites,” said McLaughlin.
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TINA SMITH/ FIRE CHICKS PHOTOGRAPHY
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BLAZE HEAVILY DAMAGES HOME
A home on Mud Creek Road in Hancock was heavily damaged Friday night after a fire that started in the garage spread into the adjacent home. The fire was reported at 6:16 p.m. Aug. 28 after a passer-by spotted smoke and flames coming from the garage at 182 Mud Creek Road, said Hancock Fire Department Chief Chris Holmes. No one was home at the time and there were no pets. Holmes said the fire spread from the garage to the exterior of the home and up into the ceiling. “It burned the roof off, basically,” he said. There was extensive damage to the third floor and less but still significant damage to the first and second floors. The garage was leveled. The home is owned by David Leeman. An investigator from the state Fire Marshal’s Office visited the site Monday, but could not determine a cause, Holmes said Tuesday. “At the moment, it’s still undetermined,” he said. A challenge in fighting the fire initially was getting enough water to the home, which is set a distance from the main road.
CHIEF MOSHIER WILL BE INTERIM MANAGER
Police Chief Glenn Moshier will serve as interim city manager until a replacement is found for City Manager David Cole, who will retire at the end of September. “The council unanimously endorsed the selection of Chief Moshier for this interim assignment based on his demonstrated leadership abilities and the respect he has earned within the city,” Council Chairman Dale Hamilton wrote in a press release. “The council is pleased that Chief Moshier is willing to take on this interim role,” said Hamilton. “We are confident in Chief Moshier’s skills and believe that this is the best interim plan for the city, and in particular, the city employees.” Moshier was named police chief in 2017 and has been with the Ellsworth Police Department for more than 15 years. Moshier will begin the interim role on Sept. 8 and will work with Cole through Sept. 21, Cole’s last day on the job.
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On Saturday, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs dedicated a new national cemetery in Jonesboro. Acadia National Cemetery is the first national cemetery to open to new interments in Maine in nearly 60 years. The first phase of the cemetery is now complete, offering space for more than 1,400 interments. The first burials at the new cemetery were held in July. / NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION PHOTO
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DONATED BLOOD TO BE TESTED FOR ANTIBODIES
In an effort to identify possible convalescent plasma donors and as an incentive to get blood donations up after they plummeted this spring, the American Red Cross is testing blood donations for COVID-19 antibodies, giving those who donate confidential results in a week to 10 days. The Red Cross rolled out antibody testing in mid-June after months of stay-at-home orders and physical distancing resulted in canceled blood drives and a “severe blood shortage,” according to a press release from the organization in mid-March. Drives usually held at colleges, workplaces and schools were canceled, resulting in 86,000 fewer donations, according to the press release. Volunteer donors are the only source of blood for patients needing transfusions after car accidents, for surgery or for cancer treatments, and blood is perishable and can’t be stockpiled, so it has to be constantly replenished. Red blood cells have to be used within 42 days of donations and platelets within five days. To meet the needs of the nation’s patients, the Red Cross needs to collect nearly 13,000 blood donations and 2,600 platelet donations every day. In Ellsworth, the organization has a goal of 90 donations per month. Donations dropped off sharply in February, according to figures provided by the Red Cross, to 37 percent of the monthly goal (from 73 percent in January). Numbers were up in March, nearly hitting the 90-donation target, and down in April, but have rebounded significantly since May, when the Ellsworth Rotary Club began volunteering.
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$1.8 MILLION BUDGET PASSES AT BLUSTERY TOWN MEETING IN GOULDSBORO
A camp chair flipped, a few hats flew off and the shoreland zoning map fell over in the 20-mph wind gusts at last Wednesday evening’s 2020 annual Town Meeting held outdoors on the ballfield at the Gouldsboro Recreation Center. The 33-article warrant drew little discussion from “the lawn,” where more than 60 masked and bundled voters huddled in beach, camp and metal folding chairs spaced properly apart. Warrant copies flapped and fluttered in the breeze. “Thank you for coming under these very strange circumstances,” Gouldsboro First Selectman Dana Rice said, greeting the 65 registered voters, three nonresidents and as many as 10 citizens who watched from home as the proceedings were live-streamed via the online conferencing platform Zoom. Before Town Meeting commenced, Rice recognized Gouldsboro Police Chief John Shively for his hard work, diligence, empathy and compassion since being hired to take over the job late last year.
MMA REPORTS COVID CASES
In the latest round of schools to announce positive cases, Maine Maritime Academy had reported four individuals (out of 1,400 tested) had tested positive for COVID-19 as part of the college’s fall entry testing. Three cases are active, according to the MMA website. On Monday, MMA President William Brennan issued a letter advising the school community that “two students who returned to the area over the weekend from out of state tested positive.” He said those students were asymptomatic and had limited contact with others on campus. After tracing who the students did have contact with, a total of nine students were placed in isolation for two weeks. “This is the plan and process that was developed to support our return to classes,” Brennan said. “Our screening testing worked as we had hoped. By catching these asymptomatic cases early, we limit the spread of the virus.”
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SUE CHARLES PHOTO
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HAIR-RAISING REGATTA CAPS UNUSUAL SEASON
With the oddest summer sailing season in memory winding down, the Northeast Harbor Fleet put the wrapper on its 2020 racing season last Sunday with the annual Warburg Cup regatta. It was a doozy. After a Saturday that featured torrential rain Downeast, Sunday brought blue skies and blustery winds to the waters around Mount Desert Island. According to the National Weather Service, during most of the morning and afternoon, a west wind averaged 12 to 15 miles per hour. Between 10 a.m. and the end of the afternoon, gusts steadily topped 20 miles per hour with frequent gusts in the 25-mph range. Tempest notwithstanding, NEH Fleet sailing master Fran Charles was able to send a rugged, if reduced, fleet out to vie for the Warburg Trophy. Most yacht clubs have a sailing master of some sort who oversees their on the water activities, but few have the background, or are as fluent writers, as Charles, whose “real” job is sailing master at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he started as varsity sailing coach in 1992. Charles has been the sailing master for the Northeast Harbor Fleet since 2009, and provided colorful descriptions of both days' races. The first day, the rugged conditions favored the smallest boat in the race, Domino, a Luders 16 sailed solo and without spinnaker by Ned Johnston. “Ned was untouchable. Nobody could reel him in over the 11-mile course,” Charles said, and Domino won the pursuit race during which “sailors got washed overboard and retrieved and the tension on the lines and sheets felt like you were holding a pipe.” The second day was won by Ranger, a Morris 42X sailed by Ken Weg, who made exactly the right choice in balancing a smaller headsail and the correct amount of reef in the mainsail and “hit the ball out of the park with an almost seven-minute victory on corrected time.” Domino, sadly, suffered a broken backstay and was forced to retire.
SCHOOLS BUSY PREPPING FOR FIRST DAY
The Ellsworth School Department has worked out preliminary groups for students starting school next week, but transportation schedules and other details are still being ironed out, administrators reported at a workshop last Tuesday evening. As of Aug. 25, there were 1,314 students enrolled in grades kindergarten through 12, said School Department Superintendent Dan Higgins. That includes 832 in kindergarten through eighth grade and 482 at the high school level, although school administrators said enrollment continues to fluctuate. Students had the option of fully remote instruction or a hybrid model of in-person and remote learning. Students whose families opted for the hybrid model will be divided into two groups — maroon and gray — and attend school on alternating days. “Our enrollment is certainly still in flux,” said Erica Gabbianelli, principal at Ellsworth Middle School. “I have three new registrations sitting on my desk for placement, so that is changing daily.”
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SOUTH GOULDSBORO WHARF AND LOBSTER POUND TO BE AUCTIONED
Looking for a lobster pound? You're in luck: Overlooking Bunkers Cove, Gouldsboro Enterprise’s wharf and lobster pound as well as a three-bedroom year round home and smaller lot are scheduled to be sold by Tranzon Auction Properties at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Ill health and an uncertain outcome have led the owner to sell her four Shore Road properties in South Gouldsboro. Melinda Boumans confirmed late last week that the business’s lobster buying station, consisting of a 65-foot long wharf, pier, floats and storage building, lobster pound and adjoining wharf, pier, warehouse and office, two-story house and a .09 acre parcel, are being sold. Boumans also owns Anderson Marine & Hardware on Route 1 in Gouldsboro. She said plans for the more than half-century-old enterprise are still being finalized, but she is hopeful it will reopen in the near future. “As many in the community know, I became ill back in February and unable to work. Though not COVID-related, my health issues put me in a high-risk category for a negative outcome,” Boumans said in a prepared statement. “Like everyone else, I was in a wait-and-see situation as the impact of the pandemic began to take shape. Eventually, it became clear that there was not going to be a quick return to normal, for me or anyone, and I have had to make some tough decisions about my businesses.”
DMR JOINS SHARK TRACKING EFFORT
In late July, Maine experienced its first recorded fatal shark attack when a great white shark attacked a woman swimming close to shore in a cove on Bailey Island in Casco Bay, a tragedy that shook surfers and swimmers up and down the coast. Late last month, the Department of Marine Resources announced that it would be joining the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries in a research effort to provide information about the presence of great white sharks in Maine’s inshore waters. DMR science bureau staff will place 20 passive acoustic receivers in near-shore Maine waters to capture data from tags placed on great white sharks in research conducted by the Massachusetts DMF since 2010. Approximately 210 great white sharks have been tagged so far in the ongoing research work. “We have a long history of partnering in both management and science with Massachusetts DMF,” Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the DMR, said in a statement announcing the cooperative venture. “Massachusetts certainly has had their share of experience with white sharks. With a study already in progress, we can immediately engage with them to help expand and improve the understanding of this species.”
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HANCOCK HISTORICAL SOCIETY PHOTO
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AT LAST, SOCIETY HAS HOME FOR RICH COLLECTION
A climate-controlled archive room. An audio-visual corner, a museum space, a library and a conference room. “The building is finished and it’s gorgeous,” said Charlene Clemons, volunteer curator at the Hancock Historical Society. The 30-by-80-foot space sits on an acre of land off Route 1, just behind Best Wines, donated by the Pierre Monteux School. It’s airy and spacious as well as handicapped-accessible, with high ceilings and gentle lighting, and will allow the society to move its collections from their current home on the second floor of the Hancock town office at 18 Point Road. “The process went beautifully,” said Clemons. “We’re on schedule and they did a beautiful job.” The all-volunteer organization raised more than $320,000 for the project, including $50,000 in in-kind donations, enough to pay for the building and start a small endowment, said Treasurer Don Parker. Roughly $250,000 of that was in cash. “The $10 ones matter just as much as the $110,000 ones,” said Clemons. If they are able to raise a bit more, she said, they are hoping to eventually put solar panels on the roof and offset some of the electricity costs.
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With Labor Day just over the horizon and school — virtual or in-person — about to start, a group of children gathered on the East Blue Hill bridge for one last chance to leap into McHeard Cove before setting aside the joys of summer for the unknowns of the coming autumn. Emily Young is about to make a splash.
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ONE YEAR SENTENCE IN BAD CHECKS CASE
A Brooksville woman has been ordered to serve a year in prison for 11 counts of writing bad checks, a judge ruled in late August. Karen Lewis, 53, appeared before Justice Bruce C. Mallonee on Aug. 21 in Hancock County Superior Court and waived her right to indictment by a grand jury . “Ms. Lewis has accepted full responsibility for her actions and is committed to making the businesses impacted by those actions whole again,” said attorney Zachary McNally of Hale and Hamlin in Ellsworth, who is representing Lewis. Lewis has a history of convictions for negotiating worthless instruments dating back to at least 2008, according to court records. “This was an unusual case because she has so many prior convictions and pending cases for the same conduct,” District Attorney Matt Foster said this week. “At one point in this recent run of NWI [negotiating worthless instrument] cases, she was on five sets of bail conditions and still continued to write bad checks.
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Heard Around Town: Congrats to Patsy (Wilbur) Jordan of Waltham for being the first to guess the whereabouts of “the Big Rock” featured as the “Where Is This?” mystery photo in the Aug. 27 issue of Out & About. At age 7, she charged 50 cents a couple and $1 per carload to guide people into the Waltham woods to see the glacial erratic near the shore of Little Webb Pond. Patsy, shown above with her late sister Rae (Wilbur) Rogers at the Big Rock, says the massive boulder measures 40 feet high and 66 feet long and stands on land now owned by her son Duane Jordan. The sisters’ father cut a path for his daughters to follow down through the woods and back to their childhood home.
Maine Master Naturalist Alice Noyes of Franklin also correctly guessed the erratic’s location and adds that the huge rock weighs 3,375 tons and resembles “a huge dinosaur egg sitting in the woods.”
In addition, Kristin Murphy of Bar Harbor also guessed the huge rock’s location between Big and Little Webb ponds.
Joanne Jodfrey of Waltham recognized the rock, too, having played there and attending a Girl Scouts cookout there as a youngster. She said it’s the third largest rock east of the Mississippi.
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