Thursday was a real humdinger of a news day.

Perhaps one of the biggest national events of the year, the presidential inauguration, was held in Washington. President Bush took the oath of office and delivered an inspiring speech about the need to spread democracy, liberty and justice around the world.

The Maine Legislature passed a plan to deliver property tax relief and increase funding for education. The passage was the culmination of enormous political pressure from the electorate and enormous political will from the governor and the Legislature.

And locally, Lewiston announced a major redevelopment of Island Point on the Androscoggin River, which will include residential and commercial space. With an estimated investment of $29 million – about $7.5 million of which is public money – the project is a huge local story that will impact city residents for years to come.

Through much discussion and debate by the news staff, a decision was made to play the inauguration as high on the Sun Journal’s front page as possible, even above the name of the newspaper. Space was cleared inside for more complete coverage. We certainly recognize the historic significance of the inauguration.

The majority of the front page was dedicated to the Island Point project.

Finally, tax relief, which has dominated state politics for the last two years ended up at the bottom of the page, along with a photo from Iraq referring to a story inside the paper.

All three stories deserved huge play, and we have heard from readers that, by dedicating the most space to the local story, we made a mistake.

It’s a fair criticism, but we believe local news comes first.