Victoria Johnson, left, jumps rope Jan. 3 with Tree Street Youth staff member Bisharo Abdi, right, while Nadia Adam, back left, and Paulo Bosala, back right, await their turns. Light rain throughout Lewiston did not dampen the children’s spirits or keep them from playing outside. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Neil McLean Jr. of Turner holds his badge after being sworn in Jan. 2 as district attorney for Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties at the Androscoggin County Building in Auburn. His daughter, Christina, holds onto his jacket. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Mike Klick of Lewiston High School attempts Jan. 5 to the prevent the ball from going out bounds during a game in Lewiston against Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Levi Henderson, right, and his uncle, Alexander Henderson, chase a remote control car on a balmy Jan. 2 in the front yard of Alexander’s home in Lewiston. Alexander’s father is controlling the car. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Rebekah McLean of Turner prays Jan. 4 before a Mass for the repose of the soul of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Demetrius Clark of Lisbon/Oak Hill takes down Owen Gaudette of Mountain Valley High School on Jan. 4 in Rumford. Gaudette won the match. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Glenda Drapeau, director of Freeland Holmes Library in Oxford, logs a donated book Jan. 5 into the library’s collection. Drapeau records each new book coming into the library by hand. She writes the title, author, subject and other details into a handwritten logbook. She then uses an electric typewriter to type each card for the library’s card catalog. “We are an old-fashioned library,” she says. Drapeau has worked at the village library for 44 years and says she is not worried about today’s children and their reading. “Whether they are reading a book or their phone,” she says, “they are reading all the time.” Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

A hymn is performed Jan. 4 during the Mass for the repose of the soul of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, which was shown on television and livestreamed. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Jennifer Simmons helps Levi LeDuc, right, during a Life Lessons Guidance class Jan. 6 with sixth graders at Greene Central School. Mackenzie Gorham looks on from the left. Simmons was recognized as MSAD 52’s Patience Norman Award winner this year. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Javin Grenier, left, and Robert Vallee-Labonte finish a game of pond hockey Jan. 5 on Lake Andrews in Lewiston. The body of water, more commonly called “The Puddle,” is on the Bates College campus. Grenior is a junior at Franklin Alternative School. Vallee-Labonte is a senior at Edward Little High School. Both schools are in Auburn. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

After finishing her assignment Jan. 4 at Washburn Elementary School in Auburn, fourth grader Penelope Eisenhaur cuddles up in her cubby with a bag of chips and reads a Harry Potter book as her classmates finish their work. “My brothers have been bugging me to read it. It’s a family thing,” she says. “Everyone in my family reads a lot.” Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal