By J.W. Oliver
Maine gubernatorial candidate and 2nd Congressional District Rep. Mike Michaud visited Lincoln County April 14.
U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud enjoys a Moxie float at Waltz Soda Fountain in Damariscotta April 14. The Democratic candidate for governor visited Lincoln County April 14. (J.W. Oliver photo) |
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Michaud, D-East Millinocket, stopped in Boothbay, Damariscotta, and Newcastle to meet with residents and tour businesses and other places of interest.
The candidate started his swing through the county with a visit to the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay.
The state-of-the-art, 60,000-square foot campus on the Damariscotta River opened in December 2012. The $31.8 million project was funded in part with federal and state grants.
The staff of the laboratory told Michaud about some of its groundbreaking research.
The laboratory, at the request of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, recently developed a new method to test shellfish for dangerous toxins. The previous method injected the toxins into mice.
The Bigelow method saves mice and money. Senior Research Associate Carlton Rauschenberg bills it as much more accurate at half the cost. “It’s good for us, it’s good for the state, and it’s good for the consumer as well,” he said.
Michaud then met Henry, the laboratory’s autonomous submersible.
The 114-pound, $180,000 cylinder can travel through the ocean for days at a time, at great depths and in any weather. During a mission, Henry surfaces once every six hours to send data to the laboratory and receive new instructions.
Senior Research Scientist Dr. Barney Balch said vehicles like Henry represent the future of ocean research, because research vessels are expensive to operate, at a cost of $10,000 to $40,000 a day.
“It’s really extraordinary technology that gives us a presence out there that we wouldn’t have otherwise,” Balch said.
Michaud also learned about the work of Dr. Jose Antonio Fernandez-Robledo to combat the oyster parasite Perkinsus marinus and simultaneously help the U.S. military develop a human vaccine for malaria – a close genetic relative of the parasite.
Michaud started the afternoon with a meeting with members of the Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation’s Elder Empowerment Committee at the Boothbay town office.
Michaud listened to the committee’s concerns, which largely focus on the October 2013 closure of St. Andrews Hospital and Health Care Center, now the St. Andrews campus of LincolnHealth, in Boothbay Harbor.
Boothbay Town Manager James Chaousis II said the community organized “the most brave attempt to try to save their hospital that probably ever will happen in the state of Maine and fell flat on their face, not from effort, but because none of the safety net requirements are there.”
Michaud assured the group he would focus on ensuring the state has a “quality health-care system at an affordable price for individuals, regardless of where you live.”
The candidate then headed north to visit Lincoln Academy in Newcastle, where he heard about the school’s plans to build a new dormitory and technology center.
Across the bridge in Damariscotta, Michaud stopped into several small businesses. The candidate learned about startups Tori Anna Designs and Seawicks Candle Company and their efforts to make and sell unique products in Lincoln County.
Tori Anna Dyke, proprietor of Tori Anna Designs, designs and fabricates her line of handbags in a studio behind her 49 Main St. shop.
Michael and Cara Gaffney, owners of Seawicks Candle Company, make their candles in Edgecomb and plan to move the operation into their 112 Main St. storefront. Seawicks candles are in more than 200 shops around the U.S. and Canada.
The candidate stopped by Waltz Soda Fountain for a Moxie float and a chat with Bob and Mary Kate Reny before a short drive down Maine Street for a tour of Rising Tide Community Market.
He wrapped up his time in the county with a fundraiser at the Damariscotta home of Dean Curran.
Curran, a former U.S. ambassador to Haiti and Mozambique, chairs the Damariscotta Democratic Committee and represents Lincoln County on the Maine Democratic Committee.
Michaud was a state representative from 1980 to 1994 and a state senator from 1994 to 2002. He was elected to Congress in 2002 and is currently serving his sixth consecutive term. He will challenge Maine Gov. Paul LePage in the November election.
An April 1-2 poll by Public Policy Polling gives Michaud the lead in the race, with 44 percent of the vote to 37 for LePage and 14 for independent Eliot Cutler.
