By Maura Murphy 

Whether you are in favor of or opposed to the new “mixed income” Avesta housing project proposal that has sailed through Lewiston city hearings without much meaningful discussion by the planning board or the city council, it is time for we the people to examine the implications of this project within the wider, deeper context of what we want Lewiston’s development to look like, now and into the future. 

While “mixed income housing” might sound fine upon first hearing, the picture changes when we look beyond the frame developers and supporters of the proposal have used to limit the public’s awareness and understanding of who will really benefit from this project and other similar projects it will pave the way for. 

Jazz clarinetist Brad Terry will be joined by guitarist Peter Herman for a very special concert at the Village Coffeehouse of New Gloucester on Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Inspired and mentored at a young age by his childhood neighbor, Benny Goodman, Brad Terry is a world renowned clarinet player and virtuoso whistler who has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Doc Cheatham, Buck Clayton, Red Mitchell, Buddy Tate, Elliot Zigman, Eddie Thompson, John Basile, Steve Grover, and Lenny Breau. He has led jazz workshops and clinics in many countries.

This concert is a “homecoming” of sorts for Terry, who lived in the Historic Village District of New Gloucester in the early 1970s. Via a serendipitous coincidence, the current owners of his former house in New Gloucester found his contact info during a renovation of their kitchen, and Village Coffeehouse couldn’t pass up the opportunity to invite him back to his former stomping grounds to perform.

Temple Shalom of Auburn will present a Café Shalom Musical Variety Show on Saturday, April 27. There will be a pre-show wine and cheese reception at 6 p.m. Beginning at 7:00, the program will feature live performances of Jazz, Pop, Classical, Rock, Blues, Irish, French, American, Yiddish, and Klezmer music, magic, and a special surprise. 

The event will be hosted by Rebbetzin of Ceremonies Lisa Mayer. The cost is $10 per person. Temple Shalom is located at 74 Bradman Street. For more information, see www.templeshalomauburn.org. 

John Johnson, VP of Technology at Elmet Technologies in Lewiston,has been named a recipient of the American Powder Metallurgy Institute (APMI) International’s 2019 Fellow Award. 

Established in 1998, the Fellow Award is APMI International’s most prestigious award, recognizing members who hold a high level of expertise in the technology, practice, or overall business of the powder metallurgy (PM) and particulate materials industry. 

Johnson, who has over 20 years of experience in the PM industry, has authored more than 100 technical papers. He holds a Ph. D from Pennsylvania State University and has served on various committees and boards, including the APMI Board of Directors and the MPIF Technical Board. These contributions to the PM industry, among many others, made Dr. Johnson a model recipient for the Fellow Award.

Five seniors from the Bates College football team – including Kyle Flaherty of Litchfield – were honored recently as the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame announced the members of the 2019 Hampshire Honor Society. The society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college career. Flaherty is a running back majoring in history.

Lewiston Mayor Kristen Cloutier recently released the following statement:

I would like to extend my thanks to the Lewiston Police Department, the Maine State Police, and the State Attorney General’s Office for conducting a thorough investigation into the events that resulted in the death of Donald Giusti. 

This has been a long and complicated investigation, and it is my sincere hope that its conclusion will help bring closure to the members of the Giusti family and allow our Lewiston community to begin the process of healing and reconciliation. 

As the Mayor of Lewiston, I hope that we will come together as a community to grieve and process our losses, but also to get to know our neighbors, whether long-time residents or newcomers, and build relationships that will strengthen our community’s bonds and prevent tragic events like this from happening in the future. 

We must be vigilant in denouncing violence and retaliation and encourage peaceful solutions to the complicated issues we face, both here in Lewiston and throughout our country. We cannot be complacent in the face of intolerance, regardless of its source. We must make a concerted effort every day to relate to each other with civility and understanding and to reject that which would divide us. 

This will be hard and sometimes uncomfortable work, but I know we have the strength to confront it. The safety and future of our community depend on it.

During my campaign for governor, I promised a new and better direction for our state. In these first one hundred days, I believe my administration has delivered on that promise.

In the last 100 days, my administration has made significant progress in ensuring that Maine people have access to affordable health care, in protecting Maine’s environment, in addressing climate change, in investing in public education, and in strengthening our economy.

Thanks to Medicaid expansion, more than 19,000 people across the state now have access to life-saving health care coverage, and the influx of millions of federal dollars will help support the financial stability of our rural hospitals.

We have protected health care coverage for Maine families by enshrining patient protections under the Affordable Care Act in state law, and we have started to rebuild our public health infrastructure through measures like hiring public health nurses to combat any potential outbreaks of disease.

Zion Aube, a 13-year-old from Lewiston who has been blind from birth, has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to purchase a new medical device that doctors say would, for the first time in his life, allow him to visualize the world around him.

Although Aube cannot see because of non-functioning optic nerves, he has the opportunity to gain some amount of vision by using a new device, called a Brainport Pro, that utilizes a camera to stream visual data to the brain by way of other nerves in the body. 

Donald Dion, a 1972 graduate of Saint Dominic Academy (previously Saint Dominic Regional High School), is challenging the community to help raise $300,000 in scholarships to help local families facing financial challenges send their children to the school he credits with launching his successful career in finance. 

Through May 1, Dion will match every dollar donated to the scholarship fund, up to a maximum of $150,000.

When she was just a baby, Kyra Widdecombe of Turner was admitted to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital after a bad fall. This year, Widdecombe dedicated her eighth birthday on March 18 to BBCH and the care that made her recovery possible. Instead of asking for gifts, Widdecombe asked her friends and family to contribute donations for the BBCH to support the outstanding medical care they provide to children in Maine.