The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and several Northern Light hospitals, including in Ellsworth and Blue Hill, are scheduling vaccination appointments for those 70 years of age and older as part of Phase 1B of Maine’s vaccination plan. But getting through may take time. “Keep trying,” Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said on Jan. 19.
Delta Thermo Energy will be the new owner of Coastal Resources of Maine, the waste-to-biofuel facility in Hampden that has had a dramatic, if short, history since opening in April 2019. The facility closed in May of 2019 and was subsequently placed in receivership. Headquartered in Feasterville-Trevose, Pa., Delta Thermo Energy has a solid track record in waste facilities. The company operates facilities in South Korea, Germany, Japan, Romania, Russia, South Africa and Singapore, as well as piloting programs in the United States.
Interim City Manager and Police Chief Glenn Moshier officially dropped the “interim” from his title on Friday, Jan. 15. He also has dropped “police chief,” as that position will no longer exist. “The [police] department will be reorganized. The position of police chief will not exist as functions are being redistributed as described,” City Council Chairman Dale Hamilton spelled out in an email after the contract had been signed. Instead, Moshier will “act as de facto police chief for high-level policy matters and administrative purposes,” according to his contract.
ELLSWORTH — Deer hunting season may be long over, but it is still possible to bag a deer — on the road. Numerous accidents occurred on local roadways this past week as a direct result of deer running in front of moving vehicles. The crashes resulted in injury and death for the deer involved, but …
The Maine Department of Resources has released its 2021 elver quotas for license holders and they look the same as those in place for 2020. The quotes also propose a new “tending requirement,” requiring that the contents of fyke nets and Sheldon box traps be removed at least once every 16 hours, with the theory being that if fishermen regularly check their nets and traps, the risk of bycatch and elver mortality will decrease.
Last year elver prices dropped to a 10-year low, $506 average price per pound, down from $2,000 per pound in 2015 and $2,366 in 2018. The price drop was largely related to a drop in demand from Asian buyers, mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to elver fisherman Darrell Young, who founded the Maine Elver Fishermen Association. Demand for the coming 2021 season is difficult to gauge, he said.
A Gulf of Maine offshore wind power initiative Maine Governor Janet Mills rolled out late last year has raised concern in the lobster fishing community, with Maine Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Patrice McCarron telling The American that “the area identified by the state of Maine for a potential offshore wind farm is prime fishing bottom for Maine fishermen.”
As a parish priest, Father Berngeh will serve St. Joseph and Catholic churches in Bar Harbor, Dedham, Manset, Bucksport, Castine, Stonington, Northeast Harbor and Winter Harbor as well as the Blue Hill Mission. But first he needs a Maine driver’s license. “I just got the DMV book to study for my driving test,” he said, adding he had learned to drive in the United States while in Los Angeles.
City Council Chairman Dale Hamilton recognized Mike Hangge for 40 years of service to the city, including as a member of the Ellsworth Fire Department, fire and life safety inspector and plans examiner. He was honored by Councilor Marc Blanchette (above) and all council members on Jan. 11.
ELLSWORTH — Maine residents are receiving the COVID-19 vaccination — but slowly. A total of 53,511 frontline health-care and other workers and residents of long-term care and nursing home facilities have been vaccinated since late December, with 8,493 of them receiving the required second dose, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Executive Director Dr. …
The Jackson Laboratory received over $100 million in 2020 from new federal grants awarded for research and education programs across a range of fields: Alzheimer’s, cancer, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases and COVID-19. The research institute pivoted last year to help with the COVID-19 effort, including processing tests for 60,000 Mainers at its Farmington, Conn., campus.
20 percent Ellsworth High School students are failing, Ellsworth High School Principal Dan Clifford told school board members on Tuesday, a number that’s far higher than the typical four to eight percent failing rate. “It has everything to do with attendance,” said Clifford.
The Planning Board on Jan. 7 accepted as complete a preliminary application to convert a former medical building at 8 Union St., seen here, into a mixed-use building with office, commercial and residential units.
Questions have been raised, however, on whether the uses detailed are permitted under the city’s unified development ordinance. “I have no problem with this particular development and what’s being proposed,” board member Rick Lyles said. “But it’s really not an allowed use as stated [in the application].”
