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In the third edition of Better Know Your Newspeople: 

SCOTT

Currently in his 30th year in the newspaper business, Scott serves as The American’s copy chief, handling all of the paper’s copy editing duties to ensure clear, readable, concise stories (and the occasional inspired headline) for EA readers. He also doubles as the paper’s calendar and events guru, serving as the go-to person for goings-on in Downeast Maine. When not enjoying his extensive 5,700-plus CD jazz music library, the resident of Verona Island can be found engrossed in a good history or nonfiction book or taking in Maine’s natural beauty with his wife, Sarah.

Hey there Bulletinbeans: It's Thursday, Dec. 17. 

In the weather: SNOW! Finally. Right now, anyway. It'll clear out tomorrow with sun on Saturday as highs rebound into the 30s. Looks like some rain is possible next week but let's not think about that now and all get out and make snowpeople.

High tide was at 12:21 p.m.; low is at 6:40 p.m.
John Southall, MD, an emergency department physician at Northern Light Mercy Hospital in Portland, was among the first group of employees to receive a vaccination at Northern Light Health this week. Hospitals across the state are slowly starting to administer vaccines to front-line health care workers; nearly 1,000 people had been vaccinated as of late Thursday morning, according to the CDC. NORTHERN LIGHT HEALTH PHOTO

MANAGER CANDIDATE WITHDRAWS 

It's back to the drawing board for the Ellsworth City Council, which has reopened its search to fill the vacant city manager position after the leading candidate withdrew from negotiations. “It had nothing to do with the actual negotiations. We were getting pretty close on terms,” said City Council Chairman Dale Hamilton. “[The candidate] ultimately felt it wasn’t the right opportunity at this time.” Prior to selecting a finalist, the council had narrowed the initial 18 applicants down to five. Three were interviewed after two withdrew their applications. The council has decided not to circle back to any of the remaining candidates. Consultant Don Gerrish of Eaton Peabody will continue to facilitate the search process. With several manager vacancies across the state, said Hamilton, the position is proving somewhat difficult to fill.

TEACHER CHARGED WITH SEXUAL CONTACT

Ellsworth High School English teacher Adam Hitchcock, 24, of Bangor, was arrested on a charge of unlawful sexual contact Dec. 11 following investigations into his conduct with a 15-year-old student. “Evidence indicates that inappropriate sexual contact between the teacher and a 15-year-old student allegedly began in March of 2020,” read a joint press release from the Ellsworth School Department and the Ellsworth Police Department.
Volunteers were in lunch mode on Dec. 10 at the Burnt Cove Community of Christ Church preparing lunches for 120 senior residents of Deer Isle-Stonington.

TWELVE DEAD IN NURSING HOME OUTBREAK

Twelve residents at the Island Nursing Home have died of COVID-19 since Dec. 1, said INH Executive Director Matthew Trombley, who spoke on a podcast Tuesday hosted by the Island Health and Wellness Foundation. Trombley told host Anne West that the total number of deaths represents 20 percent of the nursing home’s residents. But the good news, he said, is that 80 percent of the residents and staff are recovering. Traveling nurse Vicky Myers was one of those recovering as she went to work a midnight shift on Tuesday. “I’m going back to work today because they are in desperate need,” said Myers, who is 68.

MCFARLAND NAMED DEPUTY OF THE YEAR

The Hancock County Commissioners recognized Hancock County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff McFarland via Zoom (where else?) on Tuesday for being named the Maine Sheriff’s Association Deputy of the Year for 2020. McFarland was honored for his efforts in saving the life of a suicidal Brooklin man on April 24, 2019. Sheriff Scott Kane said McFarland was supposed to have been given the award last March, but the association’s annual banquet was canceled due to the pandemic. McFarland and his wife, Cheryl, were present Tuesday morning with the sheriff. 

FUNDS FOR REMOTE LEARNING SUPPORT ARE RUNNING OUT

Feeling squeezed by child-care costs is common among working parents of very young children, even more so in the time of COVID. So many rejoiced earlier this year when the Down East Family YMCA partnered with the Ellsworth schools to provide a remote learning center at the Moore Community Center. The program costs $40 per day, including after-school care, and the YMCA has worked with qualifying families to secure state reimbursement and YMCA scholarships to help defray costs for some families. Not long after the program started it became fully funded by federal coronavirus relief funds (CRF). But those funds are set to expire on Dec. 30, and while Ellsworth School Department Superintendent Dan Higgins said he is hopeful that a new relief funding bill will come through, parents will have to arrange payments starting in January. “The [CRF] funding was just a wonderful thing so parents wouldn’t have to pay out of their pockets for this remote care,” said Down East Family YMCA Executive Director Peter Farragher.

FRANKLIN PLANNING BOARD OKs SOLAR PROJECT

Solar, solar everywhere: the Franklin Planning Board last Thursday unanimously approved two plans for solar energy generation facilities and accepted as complete an application for a third. The approved plans for sites on Hog Bay Road and Cards Crossing were presented by Dale Knapp of Boyle Associates on behalf of applicant Consolidated Edison Development Inc. (Con Ed). A third application for a solar farm presented by Hog Bay Solar 1, LLC, care of Borrego Solar Systems Inc., was unanimously voted as complete by the board, with a public hearing tentatively scheduled for Jan. 7. Taken together, the two approved projects are expected to cost close to $20 million and generate nearly 9 megawatts of energy.
Linda McBrearity of Hermon attaches an American flag to her pickup in the Shaw’s parking lot in advance of the Wreaths Across America convoy this week.

JAIL REPORTS INMATE CASE OF COVID-19

While many of Maine’s county jails have been dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks for months now, Hancock County just had its first COVID-19-positive inmate this week. The inmate was released on bail after a couple of days, according to Hancock County Sheriff Scott Kane. That was on Monday. “He was arrested for a domestic and we knew when he came in that he had tested positive,” Kane said. The inmate is related to someone at the Island Nursing Home in Deer Isle, which has been dealing with an outbreak since Thanksgiving week.

PERU'S PRIZED WOOL FINDS A NICHE IN MAINE

Weaving together romance, compassion and a keen business sense, Karina Pomroy has bridged the more than 10,000 miles between tiny Amherst and the South American nation of Peru to create a thriving enterprise through soft, silky wool. For more than 20 years, Peruvian Link has served the niche market of apparel created from alpaca’s super soft fibers. Unlike sheep’s wool that itches against bare skin or through a thin underlayer, alpaca wool is soft and lightweight, yet still durable. Alpacas are members of the camel family rather than the Bovidae family, which sheep and most livestock belong to. “Alpaca used to be known as the fiber of the gods,” said Pomroy.

MDI BEGINS WINTER SPORTS; DEER ISLE-STONINGTON TO START TODAY

Pandemic aside, the winter sports season continued in Hancock County this week, with two more schools joining in on the action. Mount Desert Island became the third high school in the area to begin winter sports when it held its first day of skills and conditioning exercises Monday. The list of Hancock County schools participating in winter athletics is set to expand to four members today, Dec. 17, as Deer Isle-Stonington holds its first practices. The start of practices at MDI and Deer Isle-Stonington means the majority of Hancock County high schools will have begun the winter season as of this evening. Ellsworth and Bucksport held their first practices last Monday, the earliest start date permitted under Maine Principals’ Association and state guidelines.

Heard Around Town: Saluting winter, Parker Ridge Residential Community resident Louise McKinney recently dressed up as a “snow leopard” and completely coordinated her outdoor garb in honor of her daughter Carol Leonard’s visit at a safe distance outdoors on the deck.

“It’s back and life is good!” declared former Hancock County District Attorney Michael Povich, who reports that his top favorite soda pop, Diet Moxie, has finally returned to Hannaford store shelves in Ellsworth. The diet version of Maine’s official soft drink had been absent throughout the pandemic. “It has a totally unique flavor,” gushed Povich, who has detested the real-deal Moxie since boyhood. He says the diet drink lacks the bitter aftertaste, but its gentian root flavor shines through.

Going out? Wear your mask, wash your hands, keep your distance. 

Tonight: Check out an online talk with Carol Pelletier: "In Search of Light: From Penobscot Bay to Cape Ann" at 7 p.m. 

Tomorrow at 4 p.m., tune into an online holiday performance by singer-songwriter Noel Paul Stookey or visit the River Church for A Night In Bethlehem - A Christmas Drive-In Experience at 6 and 7 p.m.

Starting Saturday, Opera House Arts is streaming holiday productions through Dec. 31. Also on Saturday in Gouldsboro, check out the Meetinghouse Theatre Lab Christmas Program at 1 p.m. at Gouldsboro Town Park. There's a drive-by holiday cookie sale from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth. On Saturday night, tune into the Bagaduce Chorale Virtual Christmas Concert, "Songs of Love and Joy from Our Homes to Yours," at 7:30 p.m.

On Sunday, drive through the Festival of Lights from 4 to 9 p.m. at St. Francis by the Sea Church.

Doing something cool? We want to know about it! Submit an event here.

As of Wednesday, each citizen’s share of the outstanding public debt was $82,962, up $64 from $82,898 last week. Students who attend school in Maine leave with an average student loan debt of $32,521.

Dad joke of the day: I got hit in the head with a can of soda yesterday. Luckily for me, it was a soft drink.
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