Roger Theriault, the owner of the Central Maine Civic Center, wasn’t far off when he said, “There are one and a half million little details.”

Theriault was referring to the things that he and his staff had to do to prepare for the Maineiacs’ home opener.

OK. So maybe one and a half million is a slight exaggeration. But getting ready for Friday’s hockey game required much more than making sure the ice was smooth and the concession stand was stocked.

On Thursday, as crews of workers rushed to finish the big jobs (installing the bleachers, hanging the scoreboard, hooking up the new soda machines), the employees in the office pondered the protocol for hanging the flags above the rink.

They knew that the American flag should go in the middle. But they weren’t sure whether the Maine flag should go on the right and the Canadian flag on the left. Or vice versa.

“We just wanted to get it right,” said the office manager.

Since nobody knew for sure, they decided to call the place where they bought the flags. They were told that it didn’t matter – as long as the American flag had center stage. So, with that said, they told the workers to hang the Canadian flag on the left and the Maine flag on the right.

One detail down, 1,499,999 to go.

– Lisa Chmelecki
The name’s Booth

As a kid, Eric Booth never told folks that he was a direct descendent of America’s most notorious assassin.

These days, however, the actor, teacher and author includes the tidbit in his official biography: “He is a descendant of Edwin and John Wilkes Booth.”

The topic of his infamous relation never came up Thursday, when Booth addressed the Great Falls Forum in Lewiston. Before his lecture, however, he said it’s a piece of history that still draws attention, especially in the South.

Down there, folks want to know all the details of his lineage, exactly how he is related to the man who killed Abraham Lincoln. People send him books and e-mails with links to Web sites, all about the presidential assassination.

He has also drawn attention from National Public Radio, which accompanied him to Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. That’s where John Wilkes Booth, also an actor, shot Lincoln.

The visit made for poor radio, said Booth, who had trouble summoning up lots of feeling for the microphone.

“It was a short story,” he said.

– Daniel Hartill
A cultural gamble

Casino proponent and consultant Tom Tureen visited the Sun Journal offices twice in the past few months to discuss the Sanford proposal. He talked about the amount of money it would bring in and the number of jobs.

“Frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if we came up with a training program for Somalis and had busing” so people could travel from Lewiston to work there, Tureen said.

But it turns out that’s a bit tricky.

Somalis are culturally and religiously opposed to gambling, according to Lewiston caseworker Abdiaziz Ali. “People can work at casinos as long as they don’t play,” he said.

Another potential problem: Somalis generally won’t handle alcohol, which would be served and sold at the casino.

He said that’s the reason why you typically don’t see Somalis working at gas stations or grocery stores. They would have to touch alcohol to sell it.

– Kathryn Skelton

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