As a 1960-72 former member of the Auburn Planning Board, I would like to share a fact-based overview. Prior to 1964, there was no zoning in rural Auburn beyond the city limits. In the 1950s, Auburn city councils were very concerned with residential building in the rural areas, due to the cost of municipal services […]

Congratulations to Walmart for asking Mainers, who, by state law, can openly carry guns in their stores, not do so because they are scaring children and some adults. Walmart should also inform Mainers that if they choose to openly carry guns in their stores, they open themselves to being the first target if something happens. […]

Katie Boss is running as an at-large candidate for Auburn’s city council. She has been active in the community and I believe she is ready to take her next step by becoming an Auburn city councilor. I serve with her on the Lewiston Auburn Complete Streets Committee. She brings a perspective that is valuable to […]

As much as residents love it, Lewiston continues its slide off the banks of the Androscoggin River. With a 21.4% poverty rate (source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2018), a school system rated second-worst in the state (MEA District Scores, 2017-18), festering violent and petty crime, a thriving drug trade and its numerous ripple effects, a pitted, […]

Lewiston needs a mayor who cares about enhancing the city’s reputation as a safe and inviting place for both current and future residents and investors. Mark Cayer is the right candidate for the job. With a career that started on a foot beat and finished as a lieutenant of a criminal investigation division, Cayer is […]

Recent Sun Journal syndicated columns forcefully attacked Greta Thunberg, the teen climate activist. Rich Lowry (Sep. 28) claims she has nothing useful to say: “(kids) just repeat back what they’ve been told by adults, with less nuance and maturity.”  Cal Thomas (Oct. 1) makes the same point, citing 50 years of failed ecological predictions (ironically, […]

Lewiston now has a brand spanking new elementary school — the Robert V. Connors Elementary School. The only thing it needs now is more custodians to clean the school. It’s not just that school, but all the schools. It is pretty bad when the people who actually clean the areas of their school are never […]

I write in support of Mark Cayer’s bid to become the next mayor of Lewiston. Cayer is an experienced public servant. He worked for two decades as a law enforcement officer, then as a Lewiston city councilor and, lately, as a member of the Lewiston School Committee. Those who know him can testify to his […]

Recovering from substance use disorder is immensely difficult and can be discouraging in the best of times. Why would anyone make recovery more difficult? It may not seem like it, but criminalizing and stigmatizing substance use disorder does just that. Maine has harsh drug sentencing laws and a high rate of opioid deaths. Harsh sentencing […]

This year, I retired after 35 years in real estate and I remember two instances with land zoning issues. The first involved a farmer with more than 200 acres of land in rural New Auburn. He wanted to give his son land on which to build a home. The son would have needed to use […]