Stories by Anthony Brino

9 years ago

SAD1 to pursue right-sizing, repurposing concept

Administrators and board members with Maine School Administrative District 1 are starting to seek feedback on a conceptual plan that could consolidate school buildings in Presque Isle.
The SAD1 board of directors unanimously voted to authorize the administration to start developing and seeking feedback on a plan to close Pine Street Elementary and revamp the three other schools in Presque Isle in a bid to reduce long-term costs amid declining enrollment.
For more than a year, board member Paul Saija, assistant superintendent Clint Deschene and others on a building and grounds committee have been analyzing the issue of “right-sizing” and formulating a range of options.

9 years ago

Good harvest on fewer acres

Lower yield in Northeast

Following great yields last year, Maine potato growers saw another good harvest overall this year on a smaller spread of acres, according to statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture.

9 years ago

SUV crashes into home

The Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office is investigating how an SUV crashed into a home in Mapleton early Tuesday evening.

9 years ago

Brief power outage

If you live in Presque Isle and your power went out a bit on Monday morning, you weren’t alone.

9 years ago

Ash borer shows no signs in Maine

     The invasive emerald ash borer that has been decimating American ash trees has not been found in Maine — not yet, at least.
9 years ago

BEP revises metal mining rule drafts

AUGUSTA, Maine — Controversial metal mining rules proposed by state regulators have been revised, and the public again has a chance to weigh in before the measures go any further.

9 years ago

First phase of PI bypass begins construction

Construction has begun on the first section a 7.5-mile bypass around downtown Presque Isle, and if this coming winter is like the last, work might continue straight into spring.

Madawaska-based contractor Ed Pelletier & Sons started work this fall on the first, 1.8-mile section of the bypass, which is aimed at reducing industrial traffic through downtown and residential Presque Isle. Crews will be working on the new thoroughfare between Route 167 and Conant Road at least until January, said Beecher Whitcomb, project manager with the Maine Department of Transportation.
“They’re going to work as long as they can, weather permitting,” Whitcomb said. “They said if it was like last year, they might go all winter.”

9 years ago

300,000 acres change hands in North Woods

More than 290,000 acres of northern Maine forestlands in Aroostook, Penobscot and Piscataquis counties have been sold to Tall Timber Trust, according to forestry consultant Gary Bahlkow.

9 years ago

Mars Hill bank robbery riled Maine 45 years ago

Why would a young man rob a bank in the town he grew up in and think he could get away with it?

On Nov. 12, 1971 — 45 years ago this Saturday — then-24-year-old Mars Hill native Bernard Patterson did just that.
Dressed with a blue wig and armed with a toy gun, he robbed the Northern National Bank of $177,000, more than $1 million in today’s dollars, and set off an international manhunt.

9 years ago

Estey House plans new public garden

The Presque Isle Historical Society is opening a public garden on the grounds of the Estey House Museum, creating a new art and nature space with a nod to the historic resident’s heritage.

The Historical Society’s public garden will open in the spring at the 1875 Vera Estey House Museum on Third Street, as a revamped replacement of the antique peony garden that was the target of a theft in 2015.