Former Army Sgt. Aaron Rollins is no longer homeless, thanks to the attention and generosity of people in the Winthrop-Augusta area.

Rollins, who is in the midst of a divorce and forced from his home by court order, had been living in his truck at a parking lot at the Sam’s Club in Augusta for several weeks. With him was his service dog and constant companion, Mabel.

After Rollins’ story appeared in the Kennebec Journal last week, a fellow veteran from Winthrop offered Rollins the use of a motor home, and an Augusta woman has given him a place to wash his clothes and shower.

The solution isn’t permanent, but it’s tremendously better for this veteran and his dog than for the duo to be living and sleeping in a truck.

We wish Rollins well in his pursuit of an education, which will help stabilize his living situation, and offer a hearty cheer to the good people who offered this man help.

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Every baby cries, but not every parent is emotionally equipped to deal with a child’s cries, especially the kind of relentless crying that afflicts some newborns.

In Farmington, the Franklin County Children’s Task Force is working in partnership with Franklin Memorial Hospital to help educate new parents about infant crying. Task force members donated 410 purple hand-knit and crocheted baby caps to the hospital, along with educational videotapes that offer techniques to help parents avoid getting frazzled when their baby cries.

The “purple” color of the caps is intended to remind parents of the so-called period of excessive “purple” crying, between two weeks and two months of birth, that can sometimes lead to abusive actions by parents who aren’t able to cope with this natural cycle of an infant’s growth.

It takes a lot of effort to craft 410 caps and to reach out to educate new parents, but that effort is well-worth the very worthy goal of keeping every baby safe.

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Hats off to Central Maine Power crews, and crews from other power companies across New England, who were still in Connecticut this week repairing heavy damage from the Oct. 30 snowstorm that knocked out power to much of that state.

These kinds of mutual-aid compacts are standard operating procedure for utility companies, organized well in advance of predicted storms. Companies that may have extra crews available will offer assistance to cities and towns in need, all in the name of getting customers’ service restored as quickly as possible.

In Connecticut, it was particularly important to act quickly as the temperatures dropped and people struggled without heat.

October was the second month in a row that CMP and other Maine crews traveled out of state to help, working long hours in Vermont in September to restore power in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene.

Maine greatly benefited from these mutual-aid efforts as crews from as far south as North Carolina arrived to help us during the Ice Storm of 1998. It’s good to see Maine crews returning the neighborly favor.

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Congratulations and happy birthday to Kalib Fortier, one of an untold number of children across the world who celebrated their 11th birthdays on 11/11/11.

As his great-grandmother Wanda Smith said, “Having an 11th birthday on 11/11/11 is pretty cool.”

Congratulations also to Maynard Carter and Lizzy Ivy of Auburn, whose son Damien was born at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center at 12:48 a.m. on Friday.

The 5-pound, 10-ounce boy is Carter’s second child, and Ivy’s first. He was due to be born on Nov. 21, so the notoriety of the 11/11/11 birthday was an unexpected surprise for the young parents, and will be a lasting “fun fact” for this little boy.

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The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.