By Joshua Archer
Special to the Star-Herald
It was another exciting year for the Star City. Here are some highlights of what happened in the central Aroostook region during the second half of 2016.
July
Nearly 200 unionized nurses at Aroostook County’s largest hospital voted to authorize a strike, amid contract negotiations involving staffing issues at The Aroostook Medical Center they maintained were putting patient care at risk.
Another SAD1 budget made its way back to voters with a smaller tax increase and a plan to start saving for all-day kindergarten.
The Northern Maine Regional Airport in Presque Isle made plans to use a multi-million-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to replace a large section of taxiway. The airport received $4,698,682 through the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, an agency within the Department of Transportation, for the reconstruction of about 3,950 feet of the existing taxiway pavement.
About 25,000 Emera Maine customers in central and southern Aroostook County lost electricity after a tree fell on a transmission line connected to neighboring New Brunswick. Power went out for all customers from Island Falls north to Caribou.
Governor Paul LePage came back to Aroostook County to join the Maine Potato Blossom Festival and hold a town hall meeting in Fort Fairfield.
Maine potato farmers and their supporters gathered for an annual meeting at the Farm Park in Fort Fairfield to enjoy an evening dinner and celebrate reasons for optimism in the industry. The Flewellings of Easton were honored as the Maine Potato Board’s Farm Family of the Year at the organization’s dinner and meeting July 14, while Ryan Crane of Exeter received kudos as Young Farmer of the Year and others were recognized for their work.
Voters in Castle Hill, Chapman, Mapleton, Presque Isle and Westfield again rejected a school district budget and its proposed property tax increase, putting the school board and administration back at the drawing board a month before students were to return to their classrooms.
August
A thunderstorm that rolled through northern Maine knocked down trees and dropped hail in some places. The afternoon thunderstorms dropped between half an inch and three-quarters of an inch of rain in central Aroostook County, according to the National Weather Service’s Caribou office. Wind damage knocked down three trees in Presque Isle, including a large maple tree at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, while Easton received the largest hail, with ping-pong-ball-sized hail stones.
A Florida man accused of strangling Presque Isle resident Leo Corriveau fled the state after the alleged killing by driving the victim’s vehicle to Hermon and then catching a bus back to the Sunshine State.
Robert Craig, the Florida man accused of killing 86-year-old Leo Corriveau in Presque Isle, made his initial court appearance in Aroostook County Superior Court in Caribou. Craig, 80, of Clearwater, Florida, appeared before Justice Harold Stewart II via video link from the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton, where he is being held after he waived extradition from Florida.
The Maine School Administrative District 1 board and administration looked to resolve a budget impasse, the district’s leaders started a collaboration effort with a two-year agreement to share central office services with SAD 45 in Washburn.
The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency dismantled a methamphetamine manufacturing operation that a couple in Washburn were allegedly running within 1,000 feet of a school zone. Darin Cunningham, 36, and his wife, Kaylie Cunningham, 31, were arrested and charged with aggravated operation of a methamphetamine lab from their home near Washburn High School.
The Red Cross and area residents helped an Easton family whose home was destroyed in a fire caused by a clothes dryer. The home belonged to Timothy and Crystal MacFarline at 168 Center Road.
One of the larger unoccupied buildings in downtown Presque Isle was purchased in an auction. The KeyBank at 187 State Street was sold in an online-only auction, with a nominal opening bid of $50,000, through Williams & Williams. The deal with the highest bidder identity was not disclosed.
September
Leaders of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs said they were off to a good start with a new wellness center in Presque Isle that’s serving as a multi-generational gathering and educational space. Officials from the tribe, the federal government and other organizations celebrated the new 8,100 square foot wellness center with the local community during an open house on Aug. 31.
After years of discussion and relying on the local hospital, Presque Isle’s city government is set to run its own E 9-1-1 and ambulance service.
The Presque Isle VFW, on State Road, closed after its last event on Saturday, Sept. 24.
Easton Junior-Senior High School found itself as the lone Maine school on Newsweek’s list of 500 American high schools that are overcoming barriers to student success. Easton came in at 405 out of the 500 schools that are “beating the odds,” according to Newsweek.
October
A third budget proposed for Maine School Administrative District 1’s 2016-17 school year won the support of a majority of voters in the five member communities, after a backlash to high proposed increases.
A collision between an empty potato truck and an SAD 1 school bus crossing Academy Street in Presque Isle left some vehicle damage and no injuries.
Five teenagers faced felony charges for allegedly vandalizing the long-vacant Crow’s Nest restaurant building on Maysville Road during the summer.
Presque Isle’s new Sargent Family Community Center was a project long in the making and city leaders hope it will be a vibrant activity space for youth, adults, families and elders from around central Aroostook County. The $7.5 million, 30,000-square-foot community center is named after the family of local trucking company owner Bruce Sargent, who donated $1.5 million to the project, officially opened Monday, Oct. 31.
November
Construction began on the first section a 7.5-mile bypass around downtown Presque Isle. Madawaska based contractor Ed Pelletier & Sons started work over the fall on the first 1.8-mile section of the bypass, which is aimed at reducing industrial traffic through downtown and residential Presque Isle.
Unionized nurses working at TAMC agreed to a new three-year contract, after working without one for months and staging a strike in July.
