We will now be closed Monday and Tuesday and open Wednesday-Friday 9am to 3pm until May.
Information Center is open 24/7.
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February menu
Meals are served at 11:30 a.m. at the Senior Center, 125 Broadway, Bucksport. For reservations call 469-3632. $5 per meal. All ages welcome.
Download the menu (.pdf) here.
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Bucksport United Methodist Church
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Church services
The Franklin Street United Methodist and East Bucksport United Methodist Churches have combined to form Bucksport United Methodist Church.
The
Sunday service is at
10 am at 71 Franklin Street in the fellowship hall. (Wednesday evening service is there also, at
6:30p.m.)
Any questions or concern, feel free to contact the church office at 469-3622. Office hours are
Tuesday and Thursdays from
9:00-2:00p.m.
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Private Home Care, Inc., a personal care agency, serving Belfast and surrounding areas is now accepting new clients.
We provide non-medical in home care, 3 to 24 hours.
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The Bucksport Bay Area Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce this year's Bucksport Bay Festival dates! Friday, July 21, Saturday, July 22, and Sunday, July 23, 2017.
#Thinksummer and join us
for #bayfest2017! For more info call 207.469.6818 or visit the festival website.
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Playing at the Alamo Theatre...
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Fri 10 Feb, 6:00 pm
Fri 10 Feb, 8:40 pm
Sat 11 Feb, 6:00 pm
Sat 11 Feb, 8:40 pm
Sun 12 Feb, 2:00 pm
Sun 12 Feb, 6:00 pm
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The Buck Memorial Library
on Main Street in Bucksport
offers a free story time each
Wednesday from 10:30AM
to 11AM.
Children of all ages are welcome.
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Free Small Business Advising for Bucksport Bay Area
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Thinking about starting a business? Or do you already own one? There's a helpful (free!) small business resource for the Bucksport Bay area ready to help you with everything from starting, to maintaining and growing your business. The business advising is confidential, offered at no charge and provided by the Maine Small Business Development Centers. Space for the consultations is graciously provided by Bangor Savings Bank.
Bangor Savings Bank
89 Main Street
Bucksport
By appointment only
Please contact
Betty Egner at 207.664.2990
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BEGINNER-FRIENDLY
Healing Hatha Yoga
Tuesdays 4-5pm
Beth Wright Cancer Resource Center, Ellsworth FREE
Wednesdays
3:30-4:30pm
Bucksport Regional Health Center ($12)
Thursdays 1-2pm
Beth Wright Cancer Resource Center Ellsworth FREE
Discounts for first- responders
All classes FREE to Beth Wright Center clients
All classes are for adults and teens. Anyone under 18 must have a signed waiver from their parent or guardian. Children under 13 are only permitted by special permission from the instructor. Mats and props are provided and no yoga experience is necessary.
More details online
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Free LEGO Club at the Stockton Springs Community library
The Stockton Springs Community Library (SSCL) is proud to offer free LEGO programs on the 3rd Thursday of every month from 4:00 - 5:00 PM through April 20th 2017.
Focus age group is 4 through 10 years old, however children of all ages are welcome to participate in the LEGO Fun! No registration is necessary.
The purpose is to become a creative, engaged, lifelong learner while having fun. The library provides the LEGO bricks and participants provide their imagination and creativity! LEGO creations will be displayed in the library until the following month's LEGO Club.
February 16, 2017
March 16, 2017
April 20, 2017
No registration necessary! SSCL is located at 6 Station Street in Stockton Springs. For more information call
567-4147.
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Valentine's Day is less than a week away!
Andy at BookStacks is hosting a St. Valentine's Day-themed wine tasting and Stephanie Tourles will be at BookStacks with some delectable selections from her new book. Or perhaps for Valentine's Day, you'd like to open your heart to a new canine family member?
In this week's edition, we offer lots of tax advice from the IRS, including a warning about a scam that every employer should read. We also offer several job openings and an invitation to nominate a person, group, or business for our annual awards.
We also look ahead to Bay Fest, the visitor's guide, and school vacation!
Scroll down to find out how to vote for your favorite nonprofit in the BSB Community Matters more campaign, as well has how to enter a tee-shirt design contest, and the Robin Bray Museum-based Learning Award contest.
We hope you weather the snow this week with ease and that your Valentine's Day is sweet. Send us your news!
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Increase visibility for your business!
Production has started with the 2017 edition of our Visitor's Guide. Advertising opportunities begin now and include some new choices and same affordable rates!
If you're not a member yet, and would like to join, this is the perfect time for that! You still have time to join and get the member discount rates on your ad in our 2017 Visitor's Guide.
Download an application (.pdf) today and receive all the year-round benefits of Chamber membership including these discounted advertising rates for 2017!
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2017 Annual Awards Nominations
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Your voice counts
All nominations for annual Chamber awards, including New Business of the Year, Business Person of the Year, and Non-Profit of the Year, MUST be in by
February 17, 2017
.
Members will be asked to vote on the nominees,
February 22 - March 7, 2017
. Presentation of the awards will be at the Chamber's Annual Awards Meeting on
March 21, 2017
. You may submit your nomination by sending it via email to
[email protected]
or via US mail, Bucksport Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 1676, Bucksport, ME 04416
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Frost Fest, February 18th
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Winter fun
Frost Fest is an annual winter celebration held in Bucksport over February school vacation. Activities this year will be on Saturday, February 18, 2017. An old fashioned ice-skating party at the ice-skating rink will kick it off at 11am. Other activities include a snow sculpture competition already sponsored by Seaboard Federal Credit Union and miniature golf in a course made of SNOW!
By sponsoring this event you can help us:
Provide a healthy, invigorating cold weather experience in our community.
Demonstrate that our multi-faceted communities are active destinations for those looking for exciting and diverse activities during the winter months.
Help raise funds and awareness for the local Chamber of Commerce, Our Community PTO, and the Recreation Department.
We invite you to contribute anywhere from $50 to $500. All sponsors get recognition at the event, on the website, Facebook and in the e-newsletter. $500 dollars gets you the exclusive hold on any particular event during Frost Fest, e.g. "Snow Sculpture Competition Brought to you by Seaboard Federal Credit Union."
For more information please call the Bucksport Bay Area Chamber of Commerce at 207.469.6818 or email [email protected]
Please send your checks to: BBACC, P.O. Box 1676, Bucksport, ME 04416
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Healthy Acadia
Do you want to join our amazing team? Healthy Acadia, a community health coalition serving Maine's Hancock and Washington counties, seeks three Community Health Coordinators to join a dynamic team passionate about making it easier for all people to lead healthier lives.
Community Health Coordinators will foster collaborative partnerships, deliver health promotion education, and support policy changes to prevent obesity in schools and early childcare facilities and/or prevent tobacco use and promote treatment resources with schools, municipalities, worksites, healthcare, and other venues across Hancock and Washington counties. Individuals must be highly motivated, be facilitative leaders, and have excellent communication skills. The following positions are available:
- Hancock County - 1 full time (40 hr/wk) tobacco and obesity prevention coordinator
- Washington County - 1 full time (40 hr/wk) obesity prevention coordinator
- Washington County - 1 part time (20 hr/wk) tobacco prevention coordinator
Candidates should have a Bachelor's degree and a minimum of two years experience delivering community-based or public health programs or services. Familiarity with local communities is a plus, and regular travel through the county is required. View full job postings
here.
To apply: Email in a single document a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three professional references to: Maria Donahue:
[email protected]. Application deadline is
5pm,
2/15/17.
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Wine-tasting
Love, and $avings
are the Air
Saturday, Feb. 11
4 to 6 p.m.
From Andy...There is definitely something
to be said for a great mid-winter holiday like St. Valentine's Day, more than say, President's Day, but that's probably only because I'm a romantic. Plus it's a great time to get a deal, and save some money.
I think we've got a pretty good line-up, which our friend and wine expert Jack Scully, of Easterly Wine, will present.
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Help feed the hungry of Hancock County
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Food drive
If you are able to participate in the 2017 Hancock County Food Drive in any capacity, will you please call Emily Herwerden of Healthy Acadia at 667-7171 or email her at [email protected] by Wednesday, February 15th, 2017.
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IRS Warns, Dangerous W-2 Phishing Scam Evolving
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Targeting Schools, Restaurants, Hospitals, Tribal Groups and Others
The Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and the tax industry issued an urgent alert this week to all employers that the Form W-2 email phishing scam has evolved beyond the corporate world and is spreading to other sectors, including school districts, tribal organizations and nonprofits.
In a related development, the W-2 scammers are coupling their efforts to steal employee W-2 information with an older scheme on wire transfers that is victimizing some organizations twice.
"This is one of the most dangerous email phishing scams we've seen in a long time. It can result in the large-scale theft of sensitive data that criminals can use to commit various crimes, including filing fraudulent tax returns. We need everyone's help to turn the tide against this scheme,'' said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.
When employers report W-2 thefts immediately to the IRS, the agency can take steps to help protect employees from tax-related identity theft. The IRS, state tax agencies and the tax industry, working together as the Security Summit, have enacted numerous safeguards in 2016 and 2017 to identify fraudulent returns filed through scams like this. As the Summit partners make progress, cybercriminals need more data to mimic real tax returns.
Here's how the scam works: Cybercriminals use various spoofing techniques to disguise an email to make it appear as if it is from an organization executive. The email is sent to an employee in the payroll or human resources departments, requesting a list of all employees and their Forms W-2. This scam is sometimes referred to as business email compromise (BEC) or business email spoofing (BES).
The Security Summit partners urge all employers to be vigilant. The W-2 scam, which first appeared last year, is circulating earlier in the tax season and to a broader cross-section of organizations, including school districts, tribal casinos, chain restaurants, temporary staffing agencies, healthcare and shipping and freight. Those businesses that received the scam email last year also are reportedly receiving it again this year.
New Twist to W-2 Scam: Companies Also Being Asked to Wire Money
In the latest twist, the cybercriminal follows up with an "executive" email to the payroll or comptroller and asks that a wire transfer also be made to a certain account. Although not tax related, the wire transfer scam is being coupled with the W-2 scam email, and some companies have lost both employees' W-2s and thousands of dollars due to wire transfers.
The IRS, states and tax industry urge all employers to share information with their payroll, finance and human resources employees about this W-2 and wire transfer scam. Employers should consider creating an internal policy, if one is lacking, on the distribution of employee W-2 information and conducting wire transfers.
Steps Employers Can Take If They See the W-2 Scam
Organizations receiving a W-2 scam email should forward it to
[email protected]
and place "W2 Scam" in the subject line. Organizations that receive the scams or fall victim to them should file a complaint with the
Internet Crime Complaint Center
(IC3,) operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Employees should file a Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit, if the employee's own tax return gets rejected because of a duplicate Social Security number or if instructed to do so by the IRS.
The W-2 scam is just one of several new variations that have appeared in the past year that focus on the large-scale thefts of sensitive tax information from tax preparers, businesses and payroll companies. Individual taxpayers also can be targets of phishing scams, but cybercriminals seem to have evolved their tactics to focus on mass data thefts.
Be Safe Online
In addition to avoiding email scams during the tax season, taxpayers and tax preparers should be leery of using search engines to find technical help with taxes or tax software. Selecting the wrong "tech support" link could lead to a loss of data or an infected computer. Also, software "tech support" will not call users randomly. This is a scam.
Tax professionals also should beware of ongoing scams related to IRS e-Services. Thieves are trying to use IRS efforts to make e-Services more secure to send emails asking e-Services users to update their accounts. Their objective is to steal e-Services users' credentials to access these important services.
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Understanding the Sharing Economy
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Webinar
Understanding the Sharing Economy
Presented by:
IRS Stakeholder Liaison
Thursday, February 16, 2017
8:00 a.m.
and
11:00 a.m.
Pacific (60 minutes)
This web conference will provide an overview of the following:
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What is the Sharing Economy?
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Tax Implications for Individuals Performing Services
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Determining Employee/Independent Contractor
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Rules for Home Rentals
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Business Expenses
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Employer/Payer Employment Tax Obligations
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Resources
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Plus a live Q & A
Register and Attend:
***
Closed captioning offered for 11:00am web conference ONLY.
Questions: Email us at [email protected]
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The Net Result: Our Evolving Fisheries
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Tee-shirt design contest
In 2017, Penobscot Marine Museum will explore Maine fisheries in
our new exhibit The Net Result: Our Evolving Fisheries. To fit with this focus we are asking Maine students to help us design a fisheries related t-shirt. A panel of area artists and art enthusiasts will choose one student's fish design to be incorporated into a t-shirt that will be sold in our Museum Store. The student whose design is chosen will receive a life-time membership, as well as free museum admission for their class. Please have entries to PMM by April 1.
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Museum-Based Learning Award
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Robin Bray Award
Attention Area Teachers:
Robin Bray Award
March 1st Application Deadline
The Robin Bray Museum-Based Learning Award was established in honor of Robin Bray, an Orland Consolidated School teacher who supported student learning by advocating the use of experiences beyond the classroom. It annually provides a professional development stipend of $500 to a Blue Hill, Brooksville, Bucksport (including Orland, Prospect, Verona Island), Penobscot, Sedgwick, or Surry 5th - 8th grade teacher to develop a project that integrates the resources of the Wilson Museum with a regular curriculum component in their classroom. Teachers of all disciplines are encouraged to consider developing a project that would be enriched by the resources and support provided by the Wilson Museum.
For 2017-18 information, click here.
For 2017-18 application, click here.
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Meet Blue
Blue is an 8-year-old intact Pit Bull that came to Bucksport Veterinary Hospital from an abuse situation.
He is very sweet, but does not like cats.
We are looking to adopt him out to a dog-only family.
Blue does have some skin issues that will likely require ongoing medications.
If you are interested, please call Bucksport Vet 469-3614 for more details.
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Island Pool & Spa job opening
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Full-time position
Island Pool & Spa is hiring a service technician for a full-time year-round position. Download the full job description
here (.pdf).
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Myths and Facts from the IRS
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Jop openings
Wahl's Dairy Port is seeking servers and an assistant manager for the 2017 season!
Who doesn't want to spend their summer at the ice cream parlor?
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BRHC
WABI did a live broadcast from BRHC's Wear Red event on February 3rd.
You can see some of WABI's coverage online here
. If you click on the 6:00 Live link, you can watch a video of Naomi Graychase teaching WABI reporter, John Krinjak how to do Tree Pose and Dancer Pose as a partner pose.
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Stephanie Tourles
Find the perfect Valentine's Day gift and meet
Stephanie Tourles,
author of
Making Love Potions
Saturday, February 11,
1 to 2 p.m.
at
BookStacks
Her newest book,
Making Love Potions: 64 All-natural recipes for irresistible herbal aphrodisiacs. Inside you'll find recipes for liqueurs, oil infusions, cordials, perfume oils and more.
There will be samples!
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All-You-Care-To-Eat breakfest
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Breakfast buffet
The Bucksport United Methodist Church, at 71 Franklin Street in Bucksport, will host a breakfast buffet on
Saturday, February 11
, from
6:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.
This All-You-Care-To-Eat meal features many delicious entrees, beverages and homemade baked goods. The cost is $8 for adults, $4 for children, and $25 for a family of four or more. For more information, please call the church office at 469-3622 or Ed Petravicz at 469-9979.
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Estimated Taxes
Taxes must be paid as you earn or receive income during the year, either through withholding or estimated tax payments. If the amount of income tax withheld from your salary or pension is not enough, or if you receive income such as interest, dividends, alimony, self-employment income, capital gains, prizes and awards, you may have to make estimated tax payments. If you are in business for yourself, you generally need to make estimated tax payments. Estimated tax is used to pay not only income tax, but other taxes such as self-employment tax and alternative minimum tax.
If you don't pay enough tax through withholding and estimated tax payments, you may be charged a penalty. You also may be charged a penalty if your estimated tax payments are late, even if you are due a refund when you file your tax return.
Employment Tax Due Dates
Generally, employers must report wages, tips and other compensation paid to an employee by filing the required form(s) to the IRS. You must also report on the
taxes you deposit.
Find the due dates and details
here.
Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records
This publication provides basic federal tax information for people who are starting a business. It also provides information on keeping records and illustrates a record-keeping system. Find it
online here.
Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income
You can receive income in the form of money, property, or services. This publication discusses many kinds of income and explains whether they are taxable or nontaxable. It includes discussions on:
- employee wages and fringe benefits,
- income from bartering, partnerships, S corporations, and royalties
- disability pensions,
- life insurance proceeds, and
- welfare and other public assistance benefits.
Understanding Employment Taxes
Sharing Economy Tax Center
If you use one of the many online platforms available to rent a spare bedroom, provide car rides, or to connect and provide a number of other goods or services, you're involved in what is sometimes called the sharing economy.
The IRS encourages taxpayers working in these areas to understand the potential tax issues affecting them. The IRS is providing additional information to help people, and
many tax professionals
with tax issues and questions related to this emerging area. The tax software industry is also looking at this area, and many software programs can assist when you do your taxes in 2016. Learn more here.
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The Incredible Years: Free parenting workshop
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Snowshoe/ice-skating event
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GPMCT
Great Pond Mountain Trust has postponed its snowshoe/ice skating event from this weekend back to
February 19th
.
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February School Vacation Day Camp
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The Amazing Doctor Wilson
The Wilson Museum is excited to offer
The Amazing Doctor Wilson,
a children's camp recommended for grades 1 - 8, during the February school break. Camp will begin on Tuesday, February 21 and end on Friday, February 24, starting each day at 8:30 a.m. and concluding at 12 p.m. All participants should bring a lunch and all-weather clothing for outside. The camp will explore the travel and adventure of Museum founder Dr. John Howard Wilson, as he discovered treasures that would establish the beginnings of his collection at the Wilson Museum.
Day 1 starts with exploring Dr. Wilson's life. Groups will construct a timeline of his life and deduce what it was like for him traveling abroad. Participants will make a pith helmet similar to the hat Dr. Wilson used while traveling. Everyone will learn how to use a compass. Day 2 will focus on outdoor shelter building. While traveling abroad, Dr. Wilson often explored far away from cities and relied on building basic structures for shelter. On Day 3, students will explore one of Dr. Wilson's destinations - the American Southwest. Native American sand art and leatherworking will be the highlights of the day.Students will use the compass skills from Day 1 to complete an orienteering activity. Day 4 will focus on documenting artifacts to be added to a Museum collection. There will also be another orienteering activity. The conclusion of camp will be celebrated with a party. Every camp day will include games, focusing on collaboration, problem solving, hand-eye coordination, and strength - all qualities Dr. Wilson needed as a successful traveler.
It is not necessary to attend every day and parents are welcome to stay and participate. Pre-registration is required. The deadline for registration is Tuesday, February 14. The cost of the camp for one child is $5.00 per day, or $15.00 for the entire week. Contact the Museum at (207) 326-9247 or [email protected].
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Community Matters More--time to vote!
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Make your vote count!
The 2017 Community Matters More voting takes place during the month of February, beginning February 1 and ending February 28. Winners will be announced in April.
It's easy to vote for your favorite nonprofits by visiting Community Matters More or stopping by any of our 54 branches statewide.
A complete list of voting guidelines and eligibility requirements for write-in nominations are available at www.bangor.com/cmm.
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