Robot invasion! Sorry to scare you like that. It’s just important that you know that a veritable army of robot reporters has been covering local news lately. As I predicted years ago, by the way. I find these stories from time to time while researching current news. After a pedestrian accident in Auburn last week, […]
Mark LaFlamme
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Positive change you've been waiting for
One of these days, I’m going to up and run for mayor. It’s not that I have an interest in helping to run the city, mind you. I don’t like making decisions very much and I have trouble sitting through meetings that last longer than three minutes — which is how long all meetings should […]
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Posted inMark LaFlamme, sj-web
Talk of the town: Are these for anybody?
En garde! At one of the merger debates, one debater appeared so irate about the other guy making fun of the acronym COLAC, I thought for sure he was going to demand a duel. We don’t get anywhere near enough dueling around these parts. (You had to ask: Coalition Opposed to Lewiston-Auburn Consolidation.) Cayer for […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Driving you crazy
I thought the guy in the pickup was going to blow a blood vessel and die right there on Longley Bridge. At every stop between Auburn and Lewiston (there are an estimated 900 traffic lights between Court Street, Auburn and Main Street, Lewiston) the dude found new fuel for his road rage. First it was […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme, sj-web
Talk of the town: Clowning around on Walnut Street
Sun Journal staff writer Mark LaFlamme is transformed into Bow the clown at the Shrine Circus. Pop goes my bladder There’s a total misconception out there that I’m afraid of clowns. It is to laugh! I am not afraid of clowns. Not even a little bit. It would be absurd. A clown is just a […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Let's go to the movies!
The kid with the baseball cap was sitting just a few rows ahead of me, but that didn’t matter. I could have spotted his game a mile away. The way he leaned in close every time he offered the girl his popcorn. The way he laughed whenever she did and of course, the classic yawn-and-stretch […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme, sj-web
What not to wear when covering stories
You can never be too careful It finally happened. I arrived at an assignment on my motorcycle and then couldn’t get the helmet off my head. Buckle was stuck shut. It might have been all right rushing into a shooting scene or blazing house fire with a helmet on my head – that’s just kind […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Shaking off the news gets harder after each tragedy
A couple of weeks ago there was a fatal car wreck in a nearby town. As a news story, it was pretty standard stuff. Time, location, number of cars involved. Get the identities of both drivers, throw in whatever police narrative is available and you’re done. Someone will follow up with the conditions of survivors […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme, sj-web
Talk of the town: Your top prime cut of meat
Thor punch to the eardrum Tuesday’s storm brought some of the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. I’m not saying I screeched at very first clap and sprang cat-like to the ceiling, where I clung upside down from a chandelier. But that’s totally what would have happened if I lived in a place with a chandelier. […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: A Guide to Not Watching Netflix
I used to be like you, you know. I used to have a life. Oh, those were grand times. If we weren’t on some weekend vacation to exotic lands such as Wiscasset or Vassalboro, I was riding my bike deep into the woods and doing everything possible to lose my way back. Nights were forays […]