Jayna Smith

[email protected]

A high-speed pursuit that began in Hancock County and extended into Washington County on Saturday, April 19, 2025, ended in tragedy and the arrest of a 21-year-old Bangor man.

Washington County Sheriff Barry Curtis is seen after checking out work on the nearly completed Sheriff’s Office building on Court Street on April 24. Curtis said a May ribbon cutting ceremony is still possible, but there are still many details to be addressed, the least of which is making the physical move from the aging sheriff’s office building directly across the street.

Paul Sylvain

A 67-year-old man was arrested at his Wesley home on April 23 and charged with six counts of gross sexual assault involving a minor.

According to a prepared statement issued by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Duane E. Geel was arrested without incident by sheriff’s deputies on a felony warrant issued by the Machias Unified Court following an extended Sheriff’s Office investigation.

Cooke USA organized or participated in shoreline cleanups in six municipalities over five days in April, in and around Earth Day on April 22. The cleanups were coordinated by Cooke USA's fish health team, which includes fish health technicians Jessica Lindsay, Jaelynn Matthews, and Susana DeFrank. 

One of those cleanup events took place earlier in April and was coordinated by the town of Machiasport and its harbormaster, David Cale. About a dozen employees from Cooke’s operation in Machiasport’s Bucks Harbor district participated in that effort. 

From UMaine News

Alexandria Banou Morgan, of Perry, a 2021 high school graduate of Washington Academy, is a 2025 co-salutatorian and the outstanding graduating student in the Honors College and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). She is majoring in psychology with minors in neuroscience and philosophy.

Paul Sylvain

Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Supervisory Special Agent Chris Thornton opened the May 22 Washington County Commissioners meeting by recognizing the collaborative efforts between the county’s sheriff’s office and his department.

Paul Sylvain 

Officers with the Washington County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) arrested 11 people on drug trafficking and other charges in Roque Bluffs and Centerville following the simultaneous execution of two warrants on May 29. 

Maine’s Department of Public Safety said in a media release Friday that the arrests came as a result of a months-long drug trafficking investigation at 75 Duck Cove Road in Roque Bluffs and 43 Mitten Mountain Road in Centerville. 

Paul Sylvain

Coinciding on the 250th anniversary of the June 12, 1775, Battle of the Margaretta, local artist Tom Brennan and many of the town’s Revolutionary War reenactors will be on hand at Machias Savings Bank, 4 Center St., on June 12, for a 6:30 p.m. unveiling of an oil painting by local artist Tom Brennan, depicting one of the events of that historic day.

Burnham Tavern serves as the backdrop for the painting, which shows a group of Machias patriots on their way to capture the British vessel HMS Margaretta on that fateful day.

Rain or shine, the Rhubarb Festival never fails to deliver, and this year’s fourth annual event was no exception. Held on the first Saturday of June, the festival welcomed more than 400 attendees from across the globe, including visitors from the United States, Canada, and even Germany. Festivalgoers hailed from 11 states, including Maine, Pennsylvania, Texas, Georgia, New York, and California, along with 11 Maine counties and two Canadian provinces.

Paul Sylvain

On April 19, 1775, the first shots of the American Revolution were exchanged between British troops and the citizen army called the Minutemen at Lexington Common and North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. On June 12 — one week shy of two months later — Machias patriots, armed with a few rifles, pitchforks, and clubs, would claim their rightful place in history by chasing after and capturing the armed British schooner HMS Margaretta near Round Island in Machias Bay.