When Bates College alumna Victoria Wyeth gave art gallery talks with students this week, she not only taught them about her grandfather Andrew Wyeth’s art. She jumped into the role of aspirations coach.

“I had so much fun in the (Bates) Commons with you guys,” she said to Auburn Middle School students as one of her talks ended. “I hope you guys keep your grades nice and high and come to school here. You will never be hungry if you come to Bates.”

To see middle school students on campus enjoying themselves was the highlight of her day, Wyeth said. She got a kick out of how the students were taken with the soft-serve ice cream machine. She and Bates students ate lunch with the kids. “That’s what Bates is all about,” Wyeth said. “Getting out and working with the community.”

— Bonnie Washuk

Outrageous speeders

In his weekly communications report Friday, Maine Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland cited four “outrageous speeders” recently stopped by troopers:

* A 16-year-old Cheverus High School student clocked at 103 mph on the Maine Turnpike in York. The boy faces three speeding charges, plus weaving in and out of traffic and following too closely. “The boy will also lose his license,” McCausland wrote.

* A 17-year-old Gorham boy, who only had his license for two weeks, and another driver, were both cited for going 108 mph on the Maine Turnpike. “The teen was attempting to race the other car,” McCausland said. “He will also be losing his license.”

* A 38-year-old Aroostook County woman was stopped doing 93 mph in a 45 mph zone on Route 1. Her three young children were in the car. 

* An 82-year-old man was clocked at 108 mph on I-95 in Carmel. J. Walter Miller of Holliston was charged with criminal speeding and driving to endanger.

— Bonnie Washuk

City saving on light bill

The city of Lewiston just finished a city-wide street-lighting upgrade expected to save taxpayers $19,000 a year, according to Community Relations Coordinator Dottie Perham-Whittier.

This year, the streetlight bill was $400,000; next year, it’s expected to go down to $375,000, electrical superintendent Denis Caron said.

The upgrade included replacing outdated and energy-inefficient streetlights with 400 70-watt, high-pressure sodium lights and 144 75-watt, light-emitting diode luminaries, Caron said.

The city paid for the upgrade with a $157,700 Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant  from the U.S. Department of Energy. The funding was also used as seed money to acquire additional grant funding from Efficiency Maine to increase the number of streetlights replaced.

— Bonnie Washuk

El Patron

A rough, handwritten sign appeared on the door of Hacienda El Patron in Lewiston this week: Temporarily closed.

There was no further information on the sign, which hung there Friday.

The Lewiston restaurant closed abruptly last week after its owner was arrested on charges of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens and hiring unauthorized aliens after a raid at The Fajita Grill, his Mexican restaurant in Westbrook.

— Kathryn Skelton