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Greetings from Downeast, where music is the air and boats are in the water – perhaps including the 250-year-old Revolutionary War schooner HMS Margaretta. Researchers think they’ve found the 19th-century shipwreck in Jonesport’s Sawyer Cove. The possible discovery will make this year’s 250th Margaretta Days, on June 20 and 21 in Machias, an even bigger celebration.

There’s plenty of other summer fun on the horizon: the Music on the Green summer concert series in Calais; the LAMPS summer concert series in Lubec; the Milbridge Friday night concerts at the Marina; the Acadia Traditional Music Festival on MDI; and the memorial Bill Kitchen Summer Concert Series, which debuts in Machias on June 19. 

With the alewives’ run over, the nets came down this week at the Gardner Lake dike in East Machias, making way for swimmers at the public beach, at least until MaineDOT begins work on the new Chases Mill bridge, TBA. Vendors will be on the dike in Machias too. Construction won’t begin until November, according to town officials.

But swimmers and campers who look forward to spending summer days at Aroostook and Cobscook State Parks will have to wait. The state parks are temporarily closed due major infrastructure upgrades. According to the state’s website, a reopening date has not been determined.

What the public lands fight means for Maine

“It’s hard for me to understand how gutting ‘America’s best idea’ isn’t America’s worst idea,” said Sen. Angus King.

Read this story by Chris D'Angelo of The Maine Monitor

While The Maine Monitor does not place its content behind paywalls, some newsrooms we link to in this newsletter may. 

Researchers think they have found the shipwreck of HMS Margaretta, a ship that wrecked off Maine during one of the earliest naval conflicts of the Revolutionary War. | Bangor Daily News

Bar Harbor secured another favorable legal decision after a judge denied a motion to have the court reconsider its decision in the matter of honoring previous cruise ship reservations. | Mount Desert Islander

Discussion about salmon farm plans in Lubec becomes heated | Quoddy Tides

Maine’s craft breweries are concerned about the rising cost of cans after tariffs on steel and aluminum imports shot up last week. | Portland Press Herald

Officials from Witham Family Hotels and Ellsworth broke ground this week at the former Maine Department of Transportation lot for a new Home2 Suites by Hilton. | Ellsworth American

A dispute over whether seniors' caps for graduation at Shead High School could be decorated with articles of cultural or religious significance was quickly escalated and diffused. | Quoddy Tides

A Hancock County grand jury convened June 5 and indicted the driver in a fatal crash that occurred in the Washington County town of Wesley in April. | Ellsworth American

Longtime lawman Corey Bagley has announced his run for Hancock County sheriff, as a Republican, in the 2026 election. | Ellsworth American

Southwest Harbor road work continues as summer traffic ramps up. One-way traffic will continue on Main Street until June 20. | Mount Desert Islander

Rifts between the Gouldsboro Select Board and Budget Committee came to a head during the annual Town Meeting in the Peninsula School this week. | Ellsworth American

On the brink of an upcoming revaluation in Bar Harbor, the town office tasked with handling that process will be down its top two officials. | Mount Desert Islander

Mariners, Maine lawmakers call on Coast Guard to delay removal of dozens of navigational buoys. | Maine Public

Margaretta Days Festival to mark 250 years since first naval battle | Quoddy Tides

Have feedback, a correction or know of something we should look into? Send it to our newsroom. If you have feedback or a tip that you want to send to Joyce Kryszak directly, email her at: joyce@themainemonitor.org. 

The Maine Monitor is a publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, an independent and nonpartisan nonprofit news organization that produces investigative journalism. We believe news is a public good and keep our news free to access. We have no paywall and do not charge for our newsletters. If you value the reporting we do for Maine, please consider making a donation! We cannot do this reporting without your support.

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