Great Falls Forum

Last year, Bates College professor Dr. Francis Eanes suddenly found himself in the middle of a heated debate in Auburn, Maine regarding the future of the city’s large agricultural zone.

At the time, proposed rules intended to modernize the zone had the potential to usher in tremendous change to a rural area that had been largely untouched for decades.

As officials on multiple city boards and committees began weeding through the ordinance changes, Eanes picked up on the conversation and began research that sought the opinions of residents living in the zone.

Now that the dust has settled, and as Auburn rolls out a new agricultural zone ordinance that many officials have deemed a compromise, Eanes spoke on Thursday, February 20, 2020 at the Great Falls Forum at the Lewiston Public Library in Lewiston, Maine.

Eanes laid out his research, the basis of which was a survey that received 315 responses from landowners. His talk was titled “Conflict, Consensus, and Community in the Future of Auburn’s Ag Zone.

More at http://www.sunjournal.com

On Thursday, November 21, 2019, arguably the largest crowd in Great Falls Forum history listened as Sarah Perry and retired State Police Lt. Walter Grzyb candidly discussed the 1994 murder of Sarah's mother, Crystal Perry, in Bridgton and the subsequent investigation, ending in a 2006 arrest and eventual conviction of Michael Hutchinson. The murder is the subject of Sarah Perry’s book, “After the Eclipse: A Mother’s Murder, a Daughter’s Search.” It was named a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice, a Poets & Writer’s Notable Nonfiction Debut, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick.

Throughout the hourlong forum, Perry and Grzyb exchanged questions about the investigation and discussed Crystal Perry’s life, Gryzb’s devotion to the case, and the impact the horrific incident and investigation had on Sarah’s adolescence.