News

MADAWASKA- On Flag Day, June 14, members of the American Legion-Posts 147 of Madawaska and 145 of Frenchville gathered at Ridgewood Estates in Madawaska for a flag donation ceremony. Each Post donated a number of flags to the Estates so that each resident would have his/her own flag. 

FORT KENT- The Northern Maine Medical Center Guild gathered for the annual scholarship awards on May 29.

The American people are fortunate to have the most abundant and affordable food supply in the world.  This bounty is the result of the hard work and initiative of our nation's family farmers.

MAINE- ReEnergy Holdings, the owner of four biomass-to-energy facilities in Maine, announced today that it has achieved certification to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, or SFI, standard. This verifies that its biomass procurement program promotes land stewardship and responsible forestry practices.  ReEnergy is the first company solely devoted to electricity production to be certified to the SFI Standard.

FORT KENT – On June 16, the Fort Kent Police Department issued a summons for three charges to John Fongemie, age 19, after the young man ran from both the Fort Kent police chief and one of his officers while operating an ATV illegally on a temporarily closed trail, said Fort Kent Police Chief Kenneth Michaud.

One of the charges, failure to stop for a law enforcement officer, is a criminal charge. The other two charges, operating an ATV on a temporarily closed trail and operating an ATV on a controlled access highway, are misdemeanors.

Addison Lee Michaud

SENIORS             

HIGH HONORS                

Robbie Chamberland                    

Jayme Cyr                          

Michael Demontigny                     

Catherine Guerrette                     

Travis Hebert                    

Nathan Oakes                  

MADAWASKA – Rock The Valley, an all-day music event at the Multipurpose Center on June 15, treated around 300 people to numerous local bands and a family-friendly environment, including an outdoor bouncy house for children. Typically a weekend event, this year's Rock The Valley organizers shaved down the schedule to a one-day event that appealed to the whole family.

ST. AGATHA-On May 30, eight students and two teachers from the Maine School of Science and Mathematics put on quite a show for the students at Wisdom High School. The MSSM students performed various science-related experiments for the crowd, involving everything from fire to ice.

“We are going to start this off with a bang,” said an MSSM student as he fired a mini cannon.

ST. JOHN VALLEY - Hospice of Aroostook welcomes three new hospice volunteers to the St. John Valley after they recently offered end-of-life care training. One thing hospice volunteers have in common is a true desire to help. Volunteers become an integral part of a team of professional members who provide care to a terminally ill patient and their family.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY - TAMC (The Aroostook Medical Center) honored its employees who have reached milestones in their tenure with The County’s largest employer and provider of healthcare services at a recent celebration.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY  -  Northern Maine Community College has announced the Dean’s List for part-time students who earned at least 12 credits during the 2012-2013 academic year.  The college named 32 part-time students to the list, achieving a 3.20 or better, with eight of those achieving high honors with a grade point average of 3.85 or better.  Two of these students had the distinction of earning a perfect 4.0 grade point average. 

FORT KENT – Thursday, June 13, the University of Maine at Fort Kent and the Maine School Administrative District 27 broke ground on a $4 million biomass project on the site of the former Fort Kent Armory that is expected to save the two institutions more than $4 million in energy costs during the next 10 years.

MADAWASKA - Madawaska High School staff and award sponsors presented the following awards and scholarships to graduating seniors during their commencement ceremony on Thursday, June 6.

To the editor,

Did you know? Part I

FRENCHVILLE - The former Dragon Cement outlet located on U.S. Route 1 in Frenchville is now open as Trombley Redi Mix.

Owner operators Craig and Jason Trombley are offering a full line of cement and concrete products. The company will ship materials unavailable in stock from their Limestone plant.

FORT KENT – Soap by Sally is bringing a new world of luscious, lathering and all-natural cleansers to Sally Bateau’s line of handcrafted products, available online to residents in the St. John Valley as well as to people all over the world.

FORT KENT/SAD 27 –On June 18, voters in School Administrative District 27 must choose to approve or disapprove a $2,000,000 no-interest loan that will improve local schools without increasing taxes.

FORT KENT – On June 12, voters in SAD 27 approved the school board-recommended budget in the second of the two-part budget approval process for this district. The total budget amount approved is $12,190,445 for the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

Corrected - June 13, 2013 at 10:10 a.m. to reflect a corrected number of students who completed the program and to correctly identify the  funding source for the program.

FORT KENT - It started with Pomp and Circumstance and ended with a Harlem Shake, but what happened in the middle was most significant. Friday’s graduation ceremony marked the first round of Pleasant Street Academy graduates from Fort Kent Community High School.

ST. FRANCIS/ALLAGASH – It's difficult for some business located in one of the more remote areas in northern Maine, such as St. Francis and Allagash, to cross that invisible I-95 barrier. Northern Aroostook County residents are often told that the reason many things cost more in this area is because of transportation expenses, and businesses that depend on tourist traffic or a large volume of traffic for their existence are confronted with the obstruction that distance often provides.

ST. JOHN VALLEY – Danielle Cote and Maegen Rotondo are bringing an enthusiasm and a set of skills to marketing the businesses, events and organizations of the St. John Valley, that will propel Fiddlehead Focus to the next level of success, said Publisher Andrew Birden on Tuesday.

FORT KENT– After a successful re-start to the Fish River Canoe Race as the 2013 Lions River Run, participants could be found at the finish line with big smiles on their faces, even after many of them went for an unexpected swim in the racing current found in the wake of rainfall amounts near 200 percent of normal for this time of year.

FORT KENT – Down East Enterprise, “a multimedia company based in Rockport, Maine, devoted to celebrating “Maine at its Best,”” has recognized Fort Kent’s own 10th Mountain Ski Center with a Best of Maine award, to be presented during an awards ceremony at the Portland Club in Portland on June 27.

Twenty-five pounds.

That’s how much fat I’ve gained since falling off the resolution bandwagon sometime in early February of this year.

It’s the entire 15 pounds I managed to lose in 2012 plus an extra 10 – just for the heck of it.

WAGON WHEEL JIGSAW — Or, more likely, the remains of a dock that the fast-flowing Fish River transported from some far away camp in the wake of high rainfall amounts. Wet conditions continue into June, leading to an exciting Lions Club River Run Race. This photo is near the locally-named Jacuzzi Falls, just upstream from New Bridge. — Julie Daigle image

In order to see the solution, you must click on the title of this article and scroll down.

ASHLAND- At a June 11 event at the former Levesque Sawmill on Levesque Mill Road in Ashland, Maine Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner George Gervais and Ecoshel CEO Bryan Kirkey detailed Ecoshel's plans to create 78 new jobs at a patented cedar-shingle manufacturing facility in Ashland.

ST. JOHN VALLEY- Eastern Maine Railway, operator of Maine Northern Railway, has completed an agreement to purchase the 28-mile line between Madawaska and Van Buren known as the Van Buren Subdivision from the Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway. All regulatory approvals are in place and the transaction closed on June 10, 2013.

SAD 27 –Voters in the towns of the School Administrative District 27, which includes towns from St. John to Eagle Lake, should head to their local voting stations to cast their decision on the school budget.

Polls open in Fort Kent from 12-6 p.m.

FORT KENT – A premier exhibition of photographs by University of Maine at Fort Kent student Sarah Englund titled "Sarah Jean Photography," will be on display in UMFK's Blake Library Gallery through Wednesday, July 3.

FORT KENT– In the first of a two-step process, SAD 27 held their annual budget hearing on June 4 in the Fort Kent Community High School gymnasium, with over 70 people in attendance. The next step in the process is for voters to participate in a referendum vote for the budget on June 11, and then to participate in a referendum vote again on June 18 on the School Revolving Renovation Fund.

FRENCHVILLE – At approximately 10 a.m. on June 10, the Frenchville Fire Department responded to a call about a structure fire in a residence in Frenchville, at which a fatality occurred. 

PORTAGE - March 26, 2013 was a terrifying day for the Portage Lakers Snowmobile Club. The club groomer, as well as operator Ken Fones, went through the ice on Portage Lake.

FORT KENT - Martin-Klein Post 133 is throwing a party.

On June 30, the Fort Kent American Legion Post with the assistance of the Fort Kent Historical Society will hold a 90th Anniversary Historical Open House. The open house is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is open to the public. There is no cost for the meal.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY –The Maine State Police out of Houlton responded to several moose and vehicle collisions on Thursday that all took place in less than an hour, prompting Sergeant Brian L. Harris to issue a cautionary note to local media outlets.

To the Editor,

BANGOR/Frenchville –Members of the aviation community have often said that any landing a person is able to walk away from is a good one, even the landing accident from an unplanned tire failure for Frenchville commercial pilot David Fernald Jr. Thursday evening, June 6 at the Bangor International Airport.

FORT KENT -Michelle and Bart Plourde of Fort Kent are proud to announce the birth of their son, Abram Bradley Plourde, on June 6, 2013 at the Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent.

Abram's maternal grandparents are Peter and Nola Sirois of Fort Kent, and his paternal grandparents are Dean and Karen Plourde of Fort Kent.

ST. JOHN VALLEY – A local dental practice in Madawaska is set to close this June, requiring patients in that area to seek out a new provider. While some practices in the St. John Valley are unable to accept new patients at this time, one practice is open to any patient with traditional insurance and another practice is accepting any patient, with or without insurance.

MADAWASKA – Maine College Circle has recognized  27 Madawaska Elementary School students for their aspirations and effort by awarding them Future of Maine College Aspirations Scholarships this spring.

MADAWASKA - Elementary school students in Madawaska have let the dogs out and are raising funds for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

MADAWASKA -The Guidance Department at Madawaska High School has reported that 76 percent of the Class of 2013 plans on attending some form of post-secondary education following graduation. 

To the Editor,

The suggestion put forth by the school committee to reduce the number of credits required for graduation is at best a foolhardy, misinformed suggestion which would do irreparable harm to the high school curriculum and thereby shortchange the education of Madawaska' s students.

VAN BUREN– The Van Buren girls' high school tennis team, a Class D team, won the Eastern Maine Class C Championships on June 5 in a 4-1 match against number one-ranked team Mattanawcook Academy from Lincoln.

ST. JOHN VALLEY - In this week's Fiddlehead Focus, Valley businesses and friends and families of graduating seniors from the four St. John Valley high schools expressed their thoughts of congratulations and best wishes to the young men and women who are ending one chapter of their lives and beginning another as they graduate from high school at the end of this week.