PARIS – A UFO sighting above The Handy Store on East Main Street at 1 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, brought Patrolman Nathan Bowie to check out the report from Thomas O’Connor of Paris.

“I did observe a bright light with a red glow on the horizon,” the officer said in his written account. “I spoke with the (Federal Aviation Administration) in Portland who observed the object on radar. We determined that the object was a balloon from the festival in Lewiston.”

Indeed, the Great Falls Balloon Festival was under way that weekend, but a flight to Paris at 1 a.m.?

Someone took the red-eye.

– Mary Delamater


$5 at the farmers market

LEWISTON – I almost didn’t stop at the weekly farmers’ market in downtown Kennedy Park. But it’s corn season.

I only had $5, actually a wad for me. With my $5 I bought a half dozen ears of corn, some small tomatoes, a cucumber, plus a big sunflower.

Days later, that 50 cent sunflower is still smiling at me from my kitchen window sill.

Maine’s native produce isn’t here long. Don’t bypass farm stands or the farmers’ market.

– Bonnie Washuk