100 years ago, 1914
Supt. D.J. Callahan of the Lewiston schools most heartily endorses the efforts of State Supt. Payson Smith to simplify graduations, especially in the grammar school. “Our schools are democratic,” said he to the Lewiston Journal, “and it is poor taste for parents of means to wish to make these exercises elaborate and showy. The exercises should be kept simple and nothing in the way of expense should be demanded of the children which would prove a burden to their people. There has been a tendency to get away from simplicity of late years, but the need to retain it is all the greater. I am glad that Supt. Smith has sounded his warning.”

50 years ago, 1964
Lewiston firemen, with help, from the Auburn department quickly put a two-alarm blaze on Lincoln Street under control yesterday afternoon, but there was considerable damage to the top floor of the large tenement building. Fire broke out shortly before 3 p.m. in a fourth-floor apartment at 185 Lincoln St., and, was discovered by Sheila Crowley of 16 Lincoln St., who was babysitting at the time. The woman told firemen that she heard a noise coming from the bathroom and, upon investigation, heard crackling above the ceiling, where the fire was believed to have started. Lewiston Fire Chief Roland G. Dumais said the fire was confined to the top floor, but that there is water damage throughout the building. The three top floors are apartment units, separated in the middle by a stairway, and the street floor is a restaurant known as Paul’s Place.

25 years ago, 1989
Lewiston firefighters checked a light fixture at the Intown Manor at Bates and Ash streets Thursday night after an electric light reportedly “blew up” shortly after 8:30 p.m. The ballast in an old-style fluorescent lighting fixture overheated and caught fire and some residents were evacuated as a precaution before firefighters were able to determine that the flames had not spread. They were allowed back into their rooms after a few minutes. Damage to the building was estimated at $500.