100 years ago, 1914
The crying need of larger hotel accommodations in Lewiston is apparent this week. Several men from out of the city left Wednesday night because they couldn’t find a place to sleep. All the hotels were crowded and in one place guests slept in the help’s quarters rather than take a chance on the city common.

50 years ago, 1964
More than 5,000 students showed up at Lewiston public schools for first-day classes, Wednesday, with more to come. Schools Supt. J. Weldon Russell, who called a meeting of school principals to assess the situation, reported Wednesday night it’s already evident that some of the schools are too crowded, “We’ve got to move a lot of pupils out of district and bus them,” Russell reported. Although he had not compiled an overall total registration, Russell said more than 5,000 students showed up at the various schools and that additional registrations are expected today and Friday. At the high school, which is geared to handle 1,250 students, the total registration was nearing the 1,600 mark.

25 years ago, 1989
Roland J. Champagne is sending a “litter-al” message to the city every morning that it needs to do a better job cleaning up lower Lisbon Street. Champagne, owner of the Lewiston Pawn Shop, started Wednesday morning sweeping up the trash that had collected overnight on the sidewalk at the corner of Lisbon and Cedar streets, where his business is located. But instead of putting the litter in a bin, he just keeps on sweeping it — smack dab into the middle of Lisbon Street. “The trash I have here is unbelievable,” Champagne said. “And it’s not my trash.” It is left by people who gather on the two park benches he has had in front of his store for 10 years, he said. Champagne said he plans to keep up his sweeping protest until the city replaces a trash bin that has traditionally stood outside his store. The city took the bin down four or five months ago. When he has called the city during that time, he said, the response has been that a new one is on order. “But it doesn’t take four or five months to order a trash can,” Champagne said.

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