I met the guy in the darkest parking lot available along Route 4, a place where weeds have long grown over what used to be a thriving parking lot. I killed the engine and waited, listening to the solemn ticking from beneath the hood. Somewhere nearby, an owl hooted uneasily. Crickets chirped and frogs croaked […]
Mark LaFlamme
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Your questions are important to us
Well, it’s mid-April and that means it’s time to open the old mailbag. True, I’ve never actually answered letters in this column space — but I’ve always meant to and just you shut up. I can do it if I want. Here are some questions I’ve received lately. Thoughtful, intelligent questions asked by people who […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Cream, sugar and shame in my coffee
I was having a sit-down interview with a 70-something woman one recent afternoon when she offered coffee for me. “How do you take it?” she asked. “Cream and sugar.” The woman looked at me a moment over the top of her spectacles. “Geesh,” she said. “What a sissy.” My shame is great. It’s one of […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Street Talk: Street affrays and lewd cohabitation
Oh, the fun I could have had. If I had been a newspaper reporter at the turn of the previous century, I would have worked for free. Back then, Lewiston was but a young city, with childlike dreams and childlike enthusiasm for all that the wild world had to offer. Or something. It was just […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Back in the day, tipsters weren’t friends — and we liked it
There’s this guy who has been feeding me news tips like clockwork for 20 years. Problem is, none of his tips have ever been any good. “Iceland,” he’ll say to me on one of our occasional meet-ups. “They’re tossing the bankers out on their keisters up there in Iceland. You didn’t hear that from me.” […]
Posted inbPlus
What this town needs . . . may be slowly happening here
When readers finished the sentence, “What this city needs is . . .” some definite themes emerged. They generally wanted more business and retail, more arts and boosted self-esteem. We found six experts to ask how doable that all might be. Grow the arts scene here? Very possible, according to Melanie Therrien and Tyson Pease, […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: How to shop for a new girlfriend without getting crushed by a Yule log
Shopping for your new girlfriend? Sweet. Here’s a piece of advice for you: that thing you have in your hand right now? Put it down. Put it down and walk away or it’s going to become a big, old thing and your Christmas morning will be filled with screaming and acrimony, instead of Johnny Mathis […]
Posted inLetters
Writer misreads racism on campus
During the past few weeks, I have seen troubling responses to the college student movement against racism on campus. On Monday, Nov. 23, Mark LaFlamme published an article, “At college campuses, it’s ‘The Crucible’ all over again.” Words cannot begin to describe how incorrect LaFlamme was in analyzing the racial issues across this nation. As […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: At college campuses, it’s ‘The Crucible’ all over again
The world has gone nuts. There’s hardly anything more that needs to be said about it. The world is crazy, and it’s apparently out of our control now to bring it back. In Missouri, a group of students stomping their feet and screaming about phantom insults was enough to force a president and chancellor out […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: The lost art of note-passing
Dear Reader. I like you, do you like me? Your eyes sparkle like diamonds and I think you’re neat. Don’t tell anybody, OK? OK. In Florida, a 9-year-old fourth-grader is in trouble — in BIG trouble, little mister — for passing a love letter to a classmate. Apparently the lovelorn lad wanted the girl to […]