Maine
Fellow Maine clerks, Alna honor Lynette Eastman
Alna has been so good to her, Deputy Town Clerk Lynette Eastman is almost sad to be retiring.
“Almost,” the former Woolwich and Pittston official repeated, laughing. Eastman, in public service 37 years, leaves the Alna job later this year. Selectmen and others lauded and applauded her Sept. 26.
The recognition, at the start of the board meeting at the town office and over Zoom, included a detailed recounting of Eastman’s recent, surprise receipt of a lifetime achievement award from Maine Town & City Clerks’ Association.
The town kept the secret a month, including Town Clerk Sarah Perkins’ close call that stemmed from a pocket dial. Perkins was home, working in her barn, when her phone called the phone of Eastman’s husband George, one of the contacts Perkins had made in connection with the surprise. Then Perkins’ phone rang. “And Lynette’s voice was on the other end of the line. She said, ‘You just called this number?’”
Perkins told her the phone just dialed it and she had no idea why. She didn’t think Eastman would buy it. “I thought, ‘Oh, no … we have totally blown our cover.” But the woman Perkins said is very hard to surprise “with anything,” accepted the apparent fluke.
Eastman said she was very surprised by, and appreciative of, the lifetime achievement award. “I can’t get over it. I really can’t.”
Perkins recalled getting Eastman to go to the event up by signing her up for a class at it. Eastman said she, as a “lame duck” due to her impending retirement, wondered why the town would send her. Perkins insisted she go, saying it was a wonderful class, the two recalled.
Third Selectman Coreysha Stone said Perkins assembled “a crew” of Eastman’s family, friends and past co-workers. Stone said they all hid “behind stage, behind curtains” until the award was announced.
“She has served … with grace, class and professionalism,” Perkins said. “Since 2018, Alna has truly benefited from her hard work and dedication … Lynette, we congratulate you on receiving this award. And though I wish I could keep you forever, Lynette will be retiring in a few short months, and I, for one, will miss her.”
“Well, thank you,” Eastman said. She said of the nomination which officials described as a group effort, “You don’t know how much that means to me … What a shock it was when I heard my name called (at the event) as the honoree … I have never been so honored or so grateful to be working with such thoughtful people. You folks are the best.”
The award came with a certificate and an engraved, handcrafted rocking chair; both are wonderful keepsakes, Eastman said. She noted she and Perkins assembled the “absolutely beautiful” chair Sept. 24.
A letter Stone, board chair Nick Johnston, Second Selectman Steve Graham and former selectman Ed Pentaleri signed as part of the nomination stated, “Although Lynette’s experience and expertise are of the highest order, it’s her character that truly sets her apart … She possesses unwavering integrity and grace, navigating all manner of challenges without drama,” including keeping the office open in the pandemic.
Eastman was Woolwich’s town administrator from 2007 to 2017 and, before that, its tax collector, according to Wiscasset Newspaper files.
Also Sept. 26, the board supported a liquor license renewal for The Alna Store; and — pending voter approval of a proposed tap of American Rescue Plan Act funds at a 6 p.m. Oct. 24 special town meeting at the fire station — selectmen nodded a $30,840 bid from Quality Services of Alna for roadwork on Bailey Road.
Ford Enterprises of Houlton bid $78,400, Johnston said.
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
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