Lucille Gooldrup’s billionaire dream didn’t come true last weekend.

But she’s not ready to give up yet.

Gooldrup, a 58-year-old grandmother from Lewiston, was one of 200 Pepsi “Play for a Billion” contest finalists. Last weekend, she and her husband took an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles, where they went to the Universal Studios Theme Park, attended Pepsi-sponsored parties and toured the city. The highlight of the trip was a televised sweepstakes on Sept. 12.

Gooldrup could have won between $10,000 and $1 billion on the show. But her number never came up.

She and her husband flew home empty-handed.

It was a disappointment. But not a defeat.

“We had fun. It was a good trip,” she said.

Gooldrup, who was also a finalist last year, was overjoyed just to be a finalist for the second year in a row.

She’s already looking forward to a third.

– Lindsay Tice
Goodbye, Duke

Memorial services for fallen police officers are always solemn affairs. It was no different this week when Lewiston officers gathered to pay tribute to Duke the police dog.

They huddled inside the lineup room on the second floor of the police station. At the front of the room was a golden metal box containing the ashes of the deceased. Duke’s badge was attached to the front of it. There was a photo of the German shepherd sitting on the hood of a police cruiser in the compound on Park Street.

Chief William Welch stood before a podium and said a few words about Duke’s contribution to police service: his skill in searching for lost persons; his success in sniffing for illegal drugs; the sense of protection he provided for other officers.

Duke served on the police force for five years. Those who worked with the dog said he was as dedicated to the job as any police officer in uniform.

In late August, Duke suffered deadly injuries after he was run over while off duty. The dog was euthanized and later cremated. The metal box containing his remains will likely be given to Officer Ryan Rawstrom, Duke’s handler and partner for the past four years.

– Mark LaFlamme