100 years ago, 1914
Twenty-six deputy sheriffs will be on duty at the polls in Lewiston and Auburn today to guard against any possible crooked work. Sheriff Stevens appointed eighteen special deputies yesterday and these men who hold their office for but one day received their commissions at five o’clock this morning. The names, however, were kept secret until the last minute to guard against any possibility of harmful influence. The men were hardly made known to each other and have been ordered to be on the watch for any shady work at the polls. Sheriff Stevens is pursuing the same course of action in Androscoggin county that Sheriff Graham has promised to pursue in Cumberland county. Sheriff Graham stated, it is alleged, that he would place deputy sheriffs in every ward and arm them with warrants which would meet every emergency.

50 years ago, 1964
Lewiston’s “skinny mix” program is almost completed and city officials are pleased with the results. The “skinny mix” is what trade people call a bituminous concrete road surface treatment which the city is trying out for the first time this summer. It isn’t supposed to last as long as the regular “permanent street” paving but is less expensive and is comparable to the Public Works Department’s regular tarring material. Tons of “skinny mix” have been spread throughout the city in the past several weeks on a number as streets.

25 years ago, 1989
A new home for United Ambulance seems a certainty after members of the Lewiston Planning Board on Tuesday gave final approval to the controversial facility, which is to be located on Russell Street. The volunteer board voted 5-2 to approve the development plan for 192 Russell St. after incorporating several recommendations from an opponent of the facility into the project. United agreed to alter a planned “buffer” row of trees and bushes on its border with (a neighbor’s) property. It also agreed not to plow snow onto the buffer strip and to notify local school officials that a school bus stop is located directly across the street, where ambulances will be entering the roadway.

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