Editor’s Note: The following are some of The Star City and Crown of Maine’s top news stories from 2023.
January
Aroostook Mental Health Clinic, which offers substance use disorder treatment in Limestone, announced it will expand to 176 Academy St. in Presque Isle. AMHC had outgrown its Residential Treatment Facility, nicknamed “The Farm,” in Limestone, and will move to Presque Isle in fall 2023.
A library in Fort Fairfield that some thought would not retain its state funding without a director retained its Maine sponsorship. The Town Council voted 3 to 2 in November to terminate the full-time Fort Fairfield library director position and instead rely on two part-time librarians as part of budget cuts.
A Presque Isle hotel abruptly closed its doors on Jan. 9, leaving employees floundering. Signs were posted at the Presque Isle Inn & Convention Center doors that morning that said “We are closed indefinitely.” The abrupt closure stunned people in the Star City as the future of the iconic inn remained in question.
Two Aroostook County businessmen announced they want to launch Maine’s first log cabin village to help boost tourism. When Troy Haney and Jim Gamage started to plan the upcoming SnowBowl, Caribou’s inaugural snowmobile festival slated in March, they discovered area hotels already lack enough rooms for the thousands of people expected to attend. The project would be located near the Caribou Municipal Airport on the site of a former trailer park, pending FAA permits.
February
Two Aroostook County Sheriff’s deputies are cleared in their use of deadly force, the Maine attorney general’s office said. Deputies Isaac Ward and Jonathan Stewart were involved in two separate shootings on April 14, 2021 in Mars Hill and on July 31, 2022 in Stockholm. Each was found to be justified in their actions, Attorney General Aaron Frey said in letters to Aroostook County Sheriff Shawn Gillen.
The Presque Isle landfill nears the end of its capacity and will cease operations this summer, according to Mark Draper, solid waste director of Aroostook Waste Solutions. In 2019, Presque Isle joined Aroostook Waste Solutions, which operates the Tri-Community Landfill in Fort Fairfield and includes Caribou, Limestone and Fort Fairfield. Part of the agreement was to stop operating the Presque Isle site. The move to Tri-Community will cut about $630,000 in operational costs at the Presque Isle landfill.
As Fort Fairfield climbs out of more than $1 million in debt, staff and elected officials said they want to ensure the town never winds up in the red again. Since September, Fort Fairfield has worked to eliminate $1,275,000 in short-term debt that was revealed after Interim Town Manager Dan Foster took office.
An Aroostook County hospital revived a program to interest youth in careers in health care. Following a three-year hiatus, Aroostook Career Exploration has returned to offer hands-on training to students from five local high schools. Presque Isle’s A.R. Gould Hospital created the program as a unique way for Aroostook County to address the health care worker shortage, while retaining local youth by providing career opportunities at the hospital.
Local students took advantage of an artificial intelligence platform to propose educational changes at their school. Central Aroostook Junior/Senior High School in Mars Hill started a student-led research project last month with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The results will be presented to the school board in the spring.
March
A deal for the purchase of the Aroostook Centre Mall was said to be imminent as mall tenants wait in limbo. There are two potential local buyers, but their names were not immediately made public. Presque Isle officials and mall tenants were informed the mall would close because the owner, Kohan Retail Investment Group, failed to pay utility bills.
Presque Isle residents became part of a national oral history study of community libraries. Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library is the only one in Maine chosen to participate in research by Jennifer Arns, professor emerita at the University of South Carolina’s School of Information Science.
Police arrested a Madawaska man in connection with two bank robberies in Presque Isle and Mars Hill. Angel Montes, 35 of Madawaska, was arrested after leading police on a short foot chase in Mars Hill, Maine State Police Lt. Brian Harris and Presque Isle Police Chief Laurie Kelly said in a joint statement.
An Aroostook County school superintendent was arrested after trying to coerce a woman to drop domestic violence charges against the superintendent’s son, police said. Elaine Boulier, 61, of Mars Hill first appeared March 8 in court in Presque Isle, charged with two felonies, tampering with a victim and violation of release conditions, Aroostook County District Attorney Todd Collins said.
An Ashland mill owner said it is planning a $7 million expansion to produce a new wood pellet product. Tyler Player, a mechanical engineer and owner of MaineFlame Inc., wants to turn out more than the compressed logs his company now produces at the former Levesque lumber mill in Ashland. The expanded operation would manufacture a different type of industrial heating pellet.
Pride Aroostook held rallies in Presque and Houlton to support trans and queer youth. Around 11 people gathered on March 31 near the bridge on Route 1 in Presque Isle. On the same day, another group met in Houlton’s Monument Park. Pride Aroostook organized the rallies to support and show the faces of the transgender community in Aroostook County, similar to the Two-Spirit rally in Bangor held the same day.
April
Homeless Services of Aroostook learned it will receive more than half a million dollars to buy a building and expand its services. The Presque Isle organization is among 17 agencies in Maine, and the only one in Aroostook County, to receive a MaineHousing grant to help craft long-term solutions for people without housing.
As the national public health emergency for COVID-19 nears its May 11 end, the levels of the virus in Aroostook County have flipped from low to moderate in recent weeks. Even though the virus is in a less severe state, the population still doesn’t have herd immunity because fewer people are receiving the latest COVID-19 booster.
Aroostook County Veterans will have to wait a few months longer for a new clinic. Construction on the veterans outpatient clinic in Presque Isle was delayed until the end of 2023. Veterans in rural Aroostook often had to travel three or four hours to visit a clinic in Bangor or Togus in Augusta.
It was announced a new settlement agreement will pay Aroostook County more than $1 million for opioid abatement programs. The settlement with CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Teva and Allergan is in addition to $1.5 million in National Opioid Settlement monies paid to The County by drugmanufacturerJohnson & Johnson,starting last November.
May
Presque Isle area schools learned they will receive more than $600,000 to better care for students’ mental health. The district is one of nine throughout Maine identified with a high need for mental health services, Maine Department of Education officials said. It’s the only school district in northern Maine to receive funding.
Unionized nurses demand that Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital management hire more nurses to care for patients. Negotiations started in February between the union and the Presque Isle hospital, according to the Maine State Nurses Association.
An Ashland High School senior will have a college degree under his belt when he gets his diploma next month. Micah Calhoun received an associate in liberal arts during the University of Maine at Presque Isle commencement ceremony.
As Fort Fairfield attempts to rid itself of debt, residents debate whether the town’s next budget should focus on repaying that debt or lowering the mill rate. In September 2022, newly appointed interim town manager Dan Foster revealed that Fort Fairfield had only $199,000 in the bank on June 30, the end of the fiscal year, compared to $946,000 in June 2020.
June
A Mars Hill school superintendent pleaded not guilty to three charges in Presque Isle District Court after being charged with three felonies. Elaine Boulier, 61, of Mars Hill pleaded not guilty on two charges of tampering with a witness and one charge of violating conditions of release, which are Class C felonies, and to a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence stalking.
There was a packed room as the Presque Isle city council went over a stacked agenda. A proclamation was made by Presque Isle council chairperson Jacob Shaw at the beginning of the June 7 city council meeting to recognize June as LGBTQIA2S+ Pride month. Presque Isle is the latest city in Maine to show local government support for the Pride community.
After several years of financial troubles, Fort Fairfield passed a fiscal year budget that town officials say will eliminate its debt by cutting expenses by nearly $1 million. Town councilors unanimously approved a $7,420,355 fiscal year 2023-2024 budget, a decrease from the $7,743,565 budget for 2022-2023.
“You don’t get a rainbow without some rain” read the slogan on Pride Aroostook’s Facebook page before the start of the Pride Aroostook Festival on June 17. Some people within the LGBTQIA2S+ community can feel isolated in their hubs across Aroostook County, but Pride Aroostook shows that people within the community can feel more represented in the Crown of Maine, organizers said.
TYLin International and Maine Department of Transportation presented their Village Partnership Initiative feasibility study to a group of Presque Isle residents. TYLin International’s feasibility study began in March as their employees surveyed and assessed the areas on Route 1 with a focus between Maple Street to the intersection of Park Street and Allen Street for possible improvements to roads and sidewalks.
The state’s recent recognition of the Mi’kmaq Nation’s right to self-govern now means the real work begins for the tribe. Gov. Janet Mills signed the Mi’kmaq Restoration Act into law on June 30, recognizing the tribe’s federal status.
July
Locals gathered under the open tent in Fort Fairfield for the first-ever Potato Dish in the County cooking contest at the Maine Potato Blossom Festival. The cooking competition was split into two parts with three teams of career technical chefs cooking their potato-themed dishes from ingredients collected from local farms around Aroostook County.
The Central Aroostook Soil & Water Conservation District will expand its local food scrap composting program with a $32,418 grant from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. It’s one of three Waste Diversion Program grants, totaling more than $111,000, chosen from nine applicants.
A $15.6 million project in Presque Isle eliminated the dumping of toxic sludge in local fields. Sludge often contains harmful “forever chemicals,” known health hazards that can leach into soil, crops and water. The project allows the Presque Isle Utilities District to dry out the sludge and then have it sent to a landfill.
Gov. Janet Mills’ veto of a bill to give farmworkers minimum wage elicited different reactions from two of Maine’s agricultural powerhouses. Mills vetoed An Act to Make Agricultural Workers and Other Workers Employees Under the Wage and Hour Laws. The Maine Potato Board applauded the decision because the group said the bill, which had seen several changes including the removal of an overtime pay stipulation, left too many questions unanswered. The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association blasted Mills, saying farmworkers, who now receive the lower federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, should be paid the same as other laborers.
August
Potatoes have had a good year, especially in the Northeast. Sales in grocery stores topped $16.9 billion for the fiscal year ending in June, according to Denver-based Potatoes USA, the national potato promotion group.
Easton, a town of about 1,300 people, expanded broadband internet access to every resident by combining funding sources and working with a provider that already had accounts in the town.
The dwindling number of car race tracks — down to four in Maine — has made the mission of the Maine Motorsports Mobile Museum all the more important to the racing community. Former NASCAR driver Andy Santerre, who moved back to Maine in 2012, volunteered to bring the Maine Motorsports Mobile Museum to the 168th Northern Maine Fair Aug. 3-6.
City Manager Martin Puckett resigned from his post effective Oct. 15 after serving Presque Isle for 11 years. Puckett submitted his letter of resignation to the City Council on Thursday, Aug. 17.
September
More than 70 fire departments turned out for the 59th annual Maine State Federation of Firefighters Convention that featured a Saturday parade down Main Street in Presque Isle. Around 65 different fire trucks drove down the parade line with sirens and horns blaring to the excited crowds.
SAD1 School Board in Presque Isle voted unanimously to hire an English for speakers of other languages teacher to meet the needs of an increasing population of students in the school system.
Pride Aroostook, the local LGBTQ+ community in northern Maine, says a recent hate incident makes them more determined to educate people through planned events. The hate-filled slogan painted on the Presque Isle Congregational Church was discovered by a Post Office employee on Sept. 19.
October
The Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office says a Mars Hill woman waited too long to claim excessive force when she was shot while being held hostage. Lena Gerber filed suit in August with U.S. District Court in Bangor against the sheriff’s office. Attorneys from Wheeler & Arey of Bangor, representing the sheriff’s office, issued a motion on Oct. 9 to dismiss some counts of the lawsuit largely because Gerber was too late filing her claim. The lawsuit was filed beyond the two-year statute of limitations, according to the motion. In addition, Gerber did not sufficiently state the occurrence of excessive force in her complaint, the motion stated.
Northern Maine’s only commercial potato chip producer can’t keep up with demand for its crunchy snacks even after completing a major expansion of its production facility. Fox Family Potato Chips Inc. opened its new manufacturing building earlier this year in this small Aroostook County town.
Aroostook County potato growers took advantage of dry weather to harvest the crop before more rain hits. Following a wet September, when 4 inches or more fell around The County, there’s been very little rain this month.
Like most of Maine, Aroostook County is searching for ways to attract and retain young workers to fill gaps as older employees retire out of the workforce. Working toward that goal, local and statewide stakeholders attended a forum called Magnetize Maine at the University of Maine Presque Isle.
November
A young family member was the only survivor of a fire that claimed the lives of three people in Fort Fairfield on Nov. 2. The fire at the 85 Riverside Avenue residence was reported at 2:05 a.m., according to Maine Department of Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss. The victims of the fire are Erik Elmer, 47; Jessica Elmer, 39; and their daughter 17-year-old Rose Elmer.
It didn’t take long for Rose Elmer’s high school classmates to find a way to honor their friend, who died along with her parents in a Fort Fairfield house fire earlier this month. Only one member of the family, Elmer’s younger brother, survived. Her friends started a scholarship program in her name.
Aroostook County is famous for its potatoes, but two family farms are using its fertile soil to help grow the beer industry in Maine. Aroostook farmers have successfully pioneered several specialty crops, including broccoli and alfalfa. Aroostook Hops in Westfield and the Maine Malt House in Mapleton both started small, but have expanded their reach far beyond The County’s borders. They now provide Aroostook-grown products to breweries from Fort Kent to Boothbay Harbor and elsewhere in New England.
Snow and cold are setting in, and people without reliable accommodations are at the mercy of winter in Aroostook County. With Presque Isle’s homeless shelter near capacity, staff are working to help those in need find shelter from the elements.
December
Passengers boarded the three-car ‘Believe in Wishes’ Holiday Train at Riverside Inn Restaurant on Dec. 2 and enjoyed a memorable ride.
The agricultural industry must learn whether “forever chemicals” contaminate pesticide containers, an expert warned during a conference in Presque Isle. More than 80 growers, industry representatives and scientists gathered for the UMaine Cooperative Extension’s Potato Health Conference.
Aroostook County food pantries struggled to help rising numbers of hunger Mainers because of higher cost and lack of donations.
Aroostook County residents don’t usually have to dream of a white Christmas. This year will be an exception. After a storm earlier this month dropped around two inches of rain, Monday’s lashing wind and rain storm dissolved most of the remaining snow in The County, leaving the landscape soggy and bare. The County experienced its 7th green Christmas since 1939.
