100 years ago, 1917
Saloons, brothels and gambling dens in Lewiston are doomed in the reorganization of the police department. The members of the commission, particularly Ralph W . Crockett, the chairman, and Alfred Williams Anthony are reformers, and the democratic member, F. X. Marcotte, is a man of high moral purpose, altho not so widely known in connection with public reform. Ralph W. Crockett in his first interview with any member of the commission told a reporter from the Lewiston Journal Friday that he was opposed to all vice. He was particularly stern in his denunciation of commercialized vice.

50 years ago, 1967
A bill to effect basic changes in the Auburn City Charter, the first in its fifty year history, will be given a public hearing by the Legal Affairs Committee of the Legislature at the State House tomorrow afternoon. The hearing provides Auburn citizens, and other interested persons, a chance to express their views for or against any of the provisions in the bill, as well as to offer substitute suggestions for consideration. The Auburn charter bill was the product of a charter study committee which worked over a period of many months.

25 years ago, 1992
An agreement up for City Council approval Tuesday would give the troubled Millhouse neighborhood an infusion of $750,000 in grant and loan money. “We’re looking to cull out buildings that financially and structurally cannot be rehabbed,” said Sylvia Hudson, the city’s housing and community development planner. The goal: “Total neighborhood revitalization,” Hudson said. The inner-city neighborhood, encased by Bartlett, Walnut, Park and Willow streets, is saddled with crime, drugs, poverty, structural deterioration and absentee landlords.

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be edited.