Alna Third Selectman Greg Shute said he was of two minds Wednesday on whether or not the board should meet as scheduled that night, hours into a siege on the U.S. capitol building. He could see canceling the meeting, but holding it would have its own meaning. “Tonight’s a really unprecedented night in our country’s history, and I just want to highlight that. It’s something that caused me pause, and ... I don’t know what the right answer was, whether to postpone this meeting or not ... and I think continuing with this meeting might just be a way not to give in.”

Shute’s comment in the Zoom meeting followed an attendee’s asking if the board thought it might not be the best night to meet. “We’re undergoing some really scary things right now in our country. Things are spiraling out of control,” and perhaps the meeting could be held “when not so much is going on, ” Collin Roesler said in public comment.

In other local reaction to the Washington, D.C. incident, First Congregational Church of Wiscasset Pastor Josh Fitterling told members in an email, he would be lighting a candle outside his home at 7 p.m. and spending 15 minutes “in prayer for unity, solidarity and peace,” in a statewide outdoor vigil with Maine Council of Churches and others. He invited congregation members to do the same “if you feel called to prayer in this way.” His email continued: