Perhaps, changing how we look at downtown Lewiston starts with changing how we actually look at it. Pine Street, downtown, runs one way between Canal and Sabattus streets. It’s a vein that relieves pressure on the city’s two primary arteries: Main and Lisbon streets. Today, Pine Street has little aesthetic or architectural significance. It is […]

There’s no harm in giving municipal officials five extra days to certify signatures on petitions. None. Zero. Zilch. It’s needed. There are occasions now when town offices must rush through validations for reasons beyond their origination. If a petition-gatherer dawdles until the last day to drop off their sheets, officials must respond in haste. This […]

Citizen opposition to bond issues often falls along these lines: (a) the state shouldn’t spend money it doesn’t have, and (b) when the money runs tight in my house, I cut my budget instead of borrowing more. All good points; we don’t like spending or borrowing beyond our means, either. But the true measure of […]

We should have expected this to happen. As soon as Sen. Olympia Snowe voted for health care reform, the nation’s eyes turned toward her counterpart, Sen. Susan Collins. Hijinks ensued. Some stories said she was open to reform. Others said she was signaling her willingness to vote for it. (How, we don’t know. Semaphore flags? […]

Ten years ago, Maine voters legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. A wise method of procuring marijuana, however, was never created by the Legislature. So the state’s handful of medical marijuana users either grow their own in small amounts or break the law to comply with the law. Question 5 now comes before voters this year, […]

Cheers and jeers from around the news: • Cheers to Lewiston and Auburn, for voting to buy new software to streamline joint services. The votes didn’t merit much fanfare. It was done quickly and efficiently — just the way we like it. City officials were ebullient about it after the vote, and said the software […]

Picture this. You live on a pristine speck of land that fronts a picturesque bay. There are evergreen-topped islands out on the horizon and a rocky shoreline at your feet. Soft summer breezes cascade your front porch and, during the night, the only sounds you hear are the lapping of gentle waves. Then, a powerful […]

On Tuesday, many landlords in Lewiston came to the City Council to protest a new city action started in the wake of an August fire that killed a 9-year-old girl, Taylor McQueeney. The action was this: The city would post placards on apartment units without power, telling tenants and landlords they would be fined if […]

If the state was interested in promoting the economy in central Maine, it should direct investments in railroad infrastructure into Auburn, where the inland “port” handles more freight traffic than any of the state’s three seaside shipping locales: Portland, Eastport and Searsport. This investment would serve a twofold purpose: strengthening the ability of the busy […]

Letters regarding the matters to be decided on Election Day, Nov. 3, must arrive at the Sun Journal (or be postmarked) by Friday, Oct. 23, at 5 p.m. Submissions delivered after that deadline will not be published. Given the volume of submissions regarding this year’s ballot items, letters that are over our 250-word limit will […]