100 years ago, 1916
A Lewiston man, writing the Lewiston Journal, propounds the following question. “If conditions such as now exist in Lewiston are allowed at this time with the primary election so close what are we to expect will be the situation up to the September election, with regard to the enforcement of law and maintaining decency in the city?” He calls attention to the fact that under the administration of Sheriff Lowe there was great complaint as to the wide open condition which prevailed and then says, “He did not hold a candle to this fellow.” It is a fact that the situation in Lewiston is as near to wide open as could be. While it is true that open bars do not flourish on Lisbon street between Main and Pine, it is not at all impossible to get a drink at that distance. In addition, the number of gambling places which are running every night and some of them thru the day, right on Lisbon street, is astonishing.

50 years ago, 1966
A Portland construction firm today obtained a building permit in Auburn for the construction of a new quarter-of-a-million-dollar addition to the Central Maine Vocational Technical Institute. The addition will provide space for a shop, laboratory and classroom wing. The two-story structure will measure 84 by 122 feet, and will cost $285,895. The new addition is the second major expansion project undertaken at the new school located on upper Turner Street in Auburn.

25 years ago, 1991
A decision on the proposed Waterman Road low-level radioactive waste storage site may come as early as September, members of a newly formed citizen’s task force were told Wednesday. Residents along the road, however, told the task force they’ve decided already: they don’t want it. State geologists plan to conduct tests on land owned by Charles Waterman during June. If the site proves unsuitable for a low-level radioactive waste storage bunker, the decision to reject Waterman’s offer should be announced by September, Feldman said.

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