LEWISTON — Ham radio can be more than a fun hobby, Lewiston-Auburn eighth-graders were told April 23. It can be a way to make international friends, fight terrorism and even boost a job resume.

As students waited to make contact with the International Space Station through ham radio operators, they listened to Dave Taylor, technical adviser for the American Radio Relay League.

Tragedies such as the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing can be countered with more one-on-one international friendships through ham radio, he said. “You are the folks who can change the world,” he said. How? “By making friends, talking with people in different lands, finding out about their culture. That puts us in a position we can better understand the differences.”

It’s not daunting to get a license. “There are many operators who are 10, 11 or 12 years old.” He said students who are interested in ham radio should “stop by and see us.” Their website is www.arrl.org.

Taylor also gave students some career advice: Find a livelihood that excites them. As an IBM engineer, when he hires someone, he’s looking for an employee who has “passion, expertise; who has a story to tell.” Someone with a hobby such as amateur radio, who understands the mechanics of being able to talk to a space station, “tells me this person has their head on their shoulders.” — Bonnie Washuk

Encounter with a park bench

Local gallery owner Tammie Grieshaber is recovering after a nasty spill in Dufresne Plaza left her with a split chin.

Grieshaber said via Facebook that she was walking in the plaza Wednesday when she tripped over a raised paver, fell and “had an intimate encounter with a park bench.” An armrest on the bench left her with a three-inch long gash on her chin.

Megan Bates, Lewiston’s deputy director of Highway and Open Space, said the culprit was a brick paver that had been nudged out of place by one of the city’s sidewalk plows this winter.

Grieshaber went to the emergency room Wednesday and was given stitches and pain medication. She said Friday she’s recovering.

Bates said Grieshaber emailed the city at midnight Thursday, and the paver was repaired by 1 p.m. Thursday.

Grieshaber owns the Lyceum Gallery across Lisbon Street from the Dufresne Plaza.  — Scott Taylor