Media Nation The National Trust for Local News which is dealing with a leadership transition (see the last item) and business woes Three weekly papers in Maine have reached an agreement to be printed at the Trust’s presses in South Portland Become a supporter of Media Nation for just $5 a month. You’ll receive a weekly newsletter with exclusive commentary, a roundup of the week’s posts, photography and a song of the week. According to a story by Cyndi Wood in The Ellsworth American the papers will include not just the American but also the Mount Desert Islander and the  Midcoast Villager All three papers are owned by Reade Brower Continue reading “A printing deal in Maine boosts the National Trust; plus, updates on fake news and nonprofit news” Please support this free source of news and commentary by becoming a supporter of Media Nation. The cost is $5 a month, and supporters receive a weekly newsletter with a round-up of the week’s posts and other goodies. Just click here to sign up via Patreon Enter your email address to subscribe to this site and receive notifications of new posts by email Tuesday May 6th UPDATE - This project has been postponed. The project is anticipated to be rescheduled in the next two weeks If you are traveling on High Street in Ellsworth on Tuesday night you should be advised that there will be a temporary road closure The City of Ellsworth has let us know that  a section of High Street between Foster Street and Washington Street will be completely closed from 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM for water and sewer connection work Gallery Credit: Arlen Jameson The closure will affect Thru Traffic near the Merrill Lane/Shaw’s Shopping Center intersection.\nRead More Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m with a viewing held that morning at the funeral home from 9:30-10:30 am prior to the service Condolences for the family may be expressed on this page Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors Maine (WVII/BDN) -- Two teen brothers from Ellsworth are receiving lifesaving care at a Boston hospital after being seriously hurt in a dirt bike crash The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife says the brothers were riding dirt bikes along the top of a gravel pit off Route 200 in Franklin about 3 p.m Wardens say they were riding from opposite directions toward each other along a trail when one of the brothers made a sweeping left turn and collided with the other and the boys suffered injuries to their upper bodies The community is coming together to support the family, setting up a GoFundMe that's already generated over $30,000 A local business is also designing decals to hand out in exchange for donations to help with expenses while the boys are being treated in Boston "They’re a family that everybody is aware of they've helped numerous families themselves so for us to help back it's a no brainer,” said Mark Baxter "It's what this community is all about It's why we live here and the support it goes out to those that are in need,” said Jean Wood the associate director of Down East Family YMCA A CrossFit gym in Ellsworth is also holding a fundraising event on Saturday for the family benefiting members of the Charlevoix golf team who were involved in a head-on accident in the team van The accident happened on April 27 on M-115 in Benzie County Police say a stolen SUV out of Antrim County crossed the center line and drove into the team’s van Everyone in the van was injured and taken to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City High school seniors at a neighboring school wanted to step up to help their fellow students Ellsworth High School seniors Brooklyn Swenson and Julia Sundstrom said they felt impacted by what happened to the Charlevoix Golf Team It kind of hurt knowing that some of these people were close to you,” Swenson said “We have our superintendent… his son was involved it kind of hit home knowing these kids were really injured.” “We were really touched because we know a lot of the players personally and we just want to do something to help,” Sundstrom said William Sponable says this was important because he competed against the Charlevoix Golf Team and I know how much that it must suck to have something like this happen,” Sponable said “I just want to be able to give back to those guys We want to help them out as much as possible through this recovery process.” Swenson and Sundstrom came together and asked the staff if they could do something They came up with the idea of a cookout fundraiser at their high school’s softball and baseball games “We knew it would probably be the easiest to make in such a short amount of time that we had the accident to trying to get money to the golf team to help with their medical bills and the families.” The fundraiser will include all food that is donated and they are asking people who attend to make a donation for the golf team I would like people to know just how closely knit we all are William has this message to all the players who were affected “We hope that you guys recover quickly and … You can walk away from this knowing that the community has got your back.” The Montana Senate Ethics Committee published a final report on its investigation into a sitting legislator The report laid out the details of Hamilton Sen Jason Ellsworth’s no-bid deal with a longtime business associate The findings largely confirm what Lee Newspapers’ Montana State Bureau first reported in January In the final week of his term as Senate President Ellsworth first attempted to broker two taxpayer funded contracts with his associate each under the threshold that triggers a public bid process Ellsworth later agreed to a single $170,000 contract that he penned under “emergency” circumstances The contractor was directed to track legislation related to the judiciary once the session ends in May Legislative Auditor Angus MacIver later concluded the deal was an abuse of power and waste of resources The ethics committee gathered documents and interviewed witnesses at hearings last week A special counsel hired by Senate President Matt Regier and Ellsworth’s personal attorney cross-examined the witnesses and each offered a closing argument submitted video testimony to the committee but did not appear in person as ordered by a subpoena or the right protecting against self-incrimination Special Counsel Adam Duerk summarized what state employees who reviewed the contract said a short-circuit around normal procurement law 'an intentional evasion of any meaningful review.'” said the investigation was politically motivated and argued Ellsworth adhered to the rules the best he could “Consider this an educational process for everyone but do not find that there was a disclosable personal private interest because there is simply no evidence of that,” Mell said The ethics committee report offers findings of fact but leaves the final decision of whether Ellsworth should be punished or expelled from office up to the full Senate The state department of justice is also investigating the case for criminal violations Volunteer We have new details on the deadly trooper-involved shooting following a domestic incident call at Ellsworth Commons in Malta.Authorities have released the names of the troopers and sheriff’s deputies involved in Thursday’s shooting 37-year-old Brandon Moore was killed after authorities say he pointed what appeared to be a handgun at officers The weapon turned out to be a B-B gun.The state troopers involved are Sergeant Station Commander Michael Musci State Police confirmed these four troopers fired their weapons during the incident Trooper Ahigian and another trooper who did not fire their weapon both suffered minor injuries We have also learned the names of two Saratoga County Sheriff’s deputies that also fired their weapons in this incident They are Deputy Sheriff Ramon Rodriguez Jr All officers involved in this shooting are now on voluntary leave The station representative that can assist any person with disabilities with issues related to the content of the public file is Brittany Moroukian. She can be contacted at bmoroukian@wnyt.com or 518-207-4710 We are now accepting applications for the NYS Trooper Entrance Exam! Please visit joinstatepolice.ny.gov to learn more The State Police members involved in the Officer-involved shooting at the Ellsworth Apartments in Malta are identified as follows: Sergeant Station Commander Stephen Musci Sergeant Station Commander Musci has been a member of the State Police for more than 10 years and is assigned to Troop G Investigator Lenaghen has been a member of the State Police for more than 12 years and is assigned to Troop G Investigator Missenis has been a member of the State Police for more than 3 years and is assigned to Troop G Trooper Ahigian has been a member of the State Police since October 2023 and is assigned to Troop G All Troopers are currently on voluntary leave  Trooper Ahigian and a Trooper who did not discharge a firearm sustained minor injuries and are recovering The names of the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office members involved are being released with the permission of Sheriff Michael Zurlo The Sheriff's Office members are Deputy Sheriff Ramon Rodriguez Jr Deputy Sheriff Rodriguez has been a member of the Sheriff's Office for more than 6 years Deputy Sheriff Wren has been a member of the Sheriff's Office since December 2024 after transferring to the Sheriff's Office from another police agency Both Deputy Sheriffs are currently on voluntary leave -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Troopers and Saratoga County Deputies responded to the report of a physical domestic dispute that occurred in the Ellsworth Apartment Complex an individual involved in the dispute later identified as Brandon R age 37 who resides in the unit refused to cooperate and barricaded himself in the apartment. Law Enforcement was advised he may have access to firearms in the unit While in the process of attempting negotiations at about 10:37 a.m Moore exited the apartment with what appeared to be a handgun Law Enforcement instructed Moore to drop the firearm Moore refused to follow the multiple commands and aimed the weapon at State Police members and Deputies, at which time the Troopers and Deputies fired their department-issued firearms  Two Troopers sustained minor injuries during the incident Investigators have examined the weapon displayed by Moore and determined that the weapon is a CO2 powered BB pistol which was found to be loaded at the time of the incident.  The Ellsworth apartment building #2 was evacuated out of an abundance of caution when law enforcement arrived This incident was unfortunately complicated by a sprinkler system activation in the building, which will require flooding mitigation to an unknown number of apartments and has made the building uninhabitable at this time Notification has been made to the Attorney General’s Office State Police want to extend our sincere thanks to Sheriff Zurlo and the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance at the scene.  Additional updates with be published here as they become available below is a photo of the imitation weapon displayed by Moore MEDIA ADVISORY- Officer involved shooting in Malta State Police will hold a press conference concerning an officer involved shooting event that occurred on April 10 The New York State Police and the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office are currently investigating an officer-involved shooting that occurred earlier today at the Ellsworth Commons Apartments located at 2113 Route 9 in the Town of Malta The incident began as a response to a domestic dispute involving an individual at the location Two New York State Troopers sustained minor injuries during the incident They were treated at the scene and are expected to recover fully Additional details will be released as the investigation continues Media Availability will be held later today at SP Wilton located at 301 Ballard Rd State Police have identified the man who died after being shot by troopers during a domestic incident in Malta on Thursday morning.  Police responded to the Ellsworth Commons Apartments on Route 9 at around 9 a.m Thursday morning for a report of a domestic incident Negotiations to get him to surrender were not successful Moore then exited the apartment holding what appeared to be a handgun and they fired their weapons and killed him The weapon was later identified as a carbon dioxide-powered BB pistol Two troopers were hurt during the incident They were treated and released from the hospital Ellsworth Apartment building #2 was evacuated out of an abundance of caution before the shooting Police are working to be able to get residents back into the building which flooded an unknown number of apartments and made the building uninhabitable Police did not state how the sprinkler was activated Christopher Gilroy said at a news conference that Moore had a criminal record NewsChannel 13’s Dan Levy spoke with resident Alicia Pultorak who works an overnight shift at a hospital She said she got home and started to go to sleep She saw three cop cars that pulled up outside Pultorak said she saw a woman come out of the building escorted by police officers An officer told Pultorak a short time later what happened “She had said that the boyfriend had punched her in the face and proceeded to say that he was going to kill everyone in the building and himself,” she said Pultorak said maintenance told her it will probably be three to five days before they can get back in This comes on the heels of a man who was shot in front of the Malta State Police barracks Wednesday afternoon after he started shooting at the building Seen here is the carbon dioxide-powered BB pistol that State Police said Brandon R CLICK HERE TO VIEW ZOOM LIVESTREAM Barbara Thomas Ellsworth was born February 18 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease on December 3rd Barbara was born to Kenneth Lavar Thomas and Emily Ford in Palmyra She was the oldest of 2 surviving children Her fun childhood included playing marbles with the boys and helping her dad on the farm.  Her family moved between farms in Nevada and Northern California where she finished high school and attended college at Sacramento State University She took an accelerated schedule and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in the Physical Education Barbara was always interested in religious studies and had an unusual connection with the spirit at an early age She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and while attending a church service were very active in their church and community.  Utah where she spent many days creating art and building relationships with family and friends.  Erin (Zane) Rust and son Craig (Sherrill) Ellsworth – 17 grandchildren and 38 great grandchildren –brother Kenneth Blaine (Sharon) Thomas.  Barbara will be remembered for the direct guidance that she offered often and freely motivated by her endless supply of love and grace.  December 14th at 11:00 am in the Aztec Stake Center  There will be a viewing at the church from 9:30 - 10:30 am  Interment will be in the North Logan Cemetery  Arrangements by Allen Mortuary of North Logan Funeral services will be livestreamed and can be viewed via the link below: https://zoom.us/j/99915381348?pwd=Ni6AplPQM9wWvmZ1gN0Gxdkje8mG1n.1 *Disclaimer: If for some reason the livestream of the Funeral Service does not work we will record the service and upload the video at a later date.* and LtGen John Broadmeadow for the support of both myself and the program throughout my tenure.\r\n \r\nAbove all I want to express my deepest appreciation to the players I have had the privilege to lead and serve these past seven years You have been the heart of my experience at Norwich and I am immensely grateful for each of you Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here ELLSWORTH — The Ellsworth Township Fire Department continues to provide trail-blazing service to its residents while doing its best to deal with staffing problems all local fire departments are experiencing the department has been subjected to negative comments on social media which the department responded to last month the department released a letter to residents that read these posts have largely been ignored because we at Ellsworth Fire believe the outstanding service provided by the men and women of this department far outweighs the ugliness of a few.” Some of the posts targeted ambulance service and slow response times those response times averaged 8 minutes and that includes mutual aid calls (outside Ellsworth),” said Ellsworth Assistant Chief Zach Williams We have mutual aid agreements with those communities and roughly 30% of our calls are mutual aid.” the average response time is closer to 5.6 minutes Ambulance service at the Ellsworth Fire Department is fairly young transports were handled by Lane Ambulance service Ellsworth had trained emergency medical responders but did not transport patients to the hospital made for a challenging time for Ted Smith in 2018 Assistant Chief Jillian Smith said Ted Smith was able to steer Ellsworth down a new path in 2019 “We were the first (local department) to do 24-hour part-time staffing,” Jillian Smith said “A levy passed in November of 2022 for 5.77 mills helped us transition from an all-volunteer department to part-time 24/7 staffing.” The prior fire department operating budget was $130,000 and included an equipment levy passed in 1994 and a 1.5-mill operating levy in 2002 The funds the 2022 levy provided enabled Ellsworth to purchase two ambulances and provide pay for the part timers who staff the station on state Route 45 on a full-time basis To staff the station 24 / 7 meant being creative with the schedule EMTs and paramedics often work at one or more other departments “I am a lieutenant in Ellsworth and a captain in Liberty,” he said “I’ll work a 24-hour shift in Liberty then come here to Ellsworth for an eight-hour shift.” Opsitnik’s situation has become common among area fire departments Having personnel who work multiple departments helps solve staffing needs while giving firefighters a good income doing what they love Jillian said the passage of the levy helped greatly in providing a competitive wage She said departments that can’t be competitive find it hard to keep staff The rest have medical certification except the four junior members “We have four junior firefighters,” Jillian said “All four are seniors in high school and all four are taking an EMT class at MCCTC They train with us once a week and once they turn 18 and obtain their certification they can become active members of the department.” She said the junior firefighters are a great way to deal with staffing shortages and encourage more young people to serve “When I first joined the fire service “Now a candidate can pick and choose where they want to go.” the number who wanted to join a fire department dropped drastically It continues as departments struggle to fill rosters On top of the staffing issue are equipment needs as was evident with the Cardinal Joint Fire District’s new ambulances that came in close to $369,000 each Chief Ted Smith found a way to keep up to date with ambulances while keeping costs down “We use remounting,” Williams said They take the box off the chassis and put it on a new chassis with a new engine.” He said the cost is half of an all-new one The department has a 2022 and a 2009 ambulance The older one is on a list to be remounted in 2027 When the department promised taxpayers outstanding service Jillian said Ellsworth soft-bills its residents for ambulance service She said that means submitting the bill to the patient’s insurance and accepting what they pay Any co-pay or leftover balance is forgiven for residents since they already are paying through their taxes Jillian Smith said Ellsworth has made agreements with Berlin and Canfield townships to soft-bill as well Should an Ellsworth resident need an ambulance in Berlin Township or Canfield Township they won’t have to pay out-of-pocket The same goes for Berlin and Canfield residents who need the Ellsworth ambulance Ellsworth responded to 530 calls last year of which 211 were for mutual aid in a neighboring township Jillian Smith said one problem with ambulance service is the wait time at a hospital She said when a patient is brought to a hospital they have to wait until the hospital admits the person and finds a room we try to have people standing by at the station until we return to quarters,” Williams said “We also notify our mutual aid partners.” He said Ellsworth is probably better situated than most but the administration continues to look at the future “We are presently looking into what a possible joint district would be like with Milton and Jackson townships,” Jillian Smith said but their levy is higher than ours.” all members of the Ellsworth Fire Department are proud of the effort they make every day to insure residents’ safety and peace of mind Jillian Smith said no one is going to let negative comments on social media undermine those efforts and Ellsworth Fire will continue to give quality service to its residents thousands of children across Ohio will be biking safer thanks to the “Put A Lid On It” Campaign .. WARREN — Mayor Doug Franklin is urging the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to investigate for-profit hospital .. YOUNGSTOWN – Three independent candidates filed for Youngstown mayor Copyright © 2025 Eastern Ohio Newspapers, Inc. | https://www.vindy.com | 240 Franklin Street SE, Warren, OH 44482 | 330-841-1600 | Terms of Service HELENA — After a controversy that’s been in the background for much of the Montana Legislature’s 2025 session the Montana Senate finally debated Monday whether to take disciplinary action against former Senate president Sen senators couldn’t come to agreement on a possible punishment The Montana Constitution gives the Senate the authority to “expel or punish a member for good cause” if two-thirds of senators agree More than half of the Senate voted Monday to remove Ellsworth but the motion fell short of that two-thirds threshold Even fewer senators were willing to vote for an alternative motion to censure him (Watch the video to hear the debate on whether and how to discipline Ellsworth.) Both parties were split on the votes. In total, 27 senators supported expulsion, including 23 Republicans and four Democrats. 14 Democrats and nine Republicans – the group, including Ellsworth, that has broken with party leaders since the start of the session – opposed expulsion and supported the censure motion Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, was Senate president through the end of 2024. The Senate Ethics Committee investigated his approval of a contract with Bryce Eggleston The $170,000 contract called for Eggleston’s company to conduct an analysis of the outcomes from a slate of judicial reform bills Republican legislative leaders are prioritizing this session A Legislative Audit Division report said the proposed contract was originally split into two smaller contracts and that it appeared that was an attempt to get around the rules for oversight on state contracts Some of the allegations in the Audit Division report were forwarded to the Montana Department of Justice for criminal investigation The Ethics Committee focused on one remaining question: whether Ellsworth violated his ethical obligations by not disclosing his ties to Eggleston and he made the initial motion to expel Ellsworth Monday then moved to make the expulsion immediate Mandeville said the Senate shouldn’t be limited to considering only the specific findings in the Ethics Committee report when determining good cause to expel a member “What the former Senate president did is a betrayal of the institution of the state Senate and a betrayal of the public trust,” he said Ellsworth himself spoke in response to the expulsion motions Though he has been voting remotely for several weeks he was at the Capitol in person for Monday’s debate Ellsworth said he didn’t personally benefit from the contract but he that he regretted it might create “the appearance of impropriety” for the public God bless her – colleagues and all Montanans “And I accept whatever discipline this body deems appropriate.” said he wasn’t convinced by Ellsworth’s apology and that it was clear he should have known the right thing to do Hertz argued any punishment short of expulsion would be essentially “a slap on the hand.” “We don't need to do anything with studying this we don't need to put particular rules in place we don’t need to change our rules,” he said “We all know what ethics are and what we should and should not do – except for the person in Seat 31 who has a problem with that.” told his members they could “vote their conscience” but that he would be opposing expulsion He said Ellsworth had shown “bad behavior,” but that he didn’t believe there was enough justification for expulsion based on the limited findings from the Ethics Committee “I think the more obvious accountability is going to come through the investigation that's being done by the Department of Justice – and depending on their work we may end up back here this session facing the same question,” Flowers said during the floor debate It would have removed Ellsworth from two of his committee assignments kept him off any interim committees when the session ends and barred him from the Senate floor through April 12 Kassmier said Ellsworth had made a mistake but he recognized it and agreed to terminate the contract He said expulsion wasn’t an appropriate punishment for failing to disclose a conflict of interest “I don't think there's any doubt much of this desire to expel him is a politically motivated punishment,” he said “We need to be thoughtful about our approach today leaders from both parties needed to work together to make sure it was crafted appropriately and he asked Kassmier to withdraw his motion we don't want to penalize one of our members,” he said was one of the four Democrats who supported expulsion he said he expected the Senate would eventually settle on censuring Ellsworth – but he didn’t think they were ready on Monday we haven’t got the votes to do either one,” he said “And so we’re going to have to figure out a plan.” Ellsworth told reporters after the debate that he had not yet determined whether he’d be attending Tuesday’s floor session in person the Montana Republican Party's executive board released a statement saying the Ethics Committee's findings showed Ellsworth was “no longer fit to serve in the Montana State Senate” and saying they would back his expulsion if he didn't step down “We urge Senator Ellsworth to resign voluntarily in order to restore trust in the Senate and allow for a focus on the work that lies ahead for the people of Montana,” they said.