Following mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, some confuse town with Lewiston, Idaho
Oct. 26—With Lewiston, Maine, in the international spotlight after a mass shooting Wednesday evening killed at least 18 people, some media sources confused the town with Lewiston, Idaho.
Mayor Dan Johnson received two emails Wednesday night from CNN and a British radio station requesting interviews.
The first email came from CNN at 6:58 p.m., which was 9:58 p.m. EDT, asking Johnson to join an interview at 10 p.m.
"Sorry to be reaching out under these circumstances. Any chance you could join in the 10p hour even via phone. (Or Skype)," the email stated.
Johnson replied that he was the mayor of Lewiston, Idaho, not Lewiston, Maine, but was sad to hear the news.
Johnson then received an email at 10:24 p.m. from Leading Britain's Conversation, a talk radio station based in London. A producer for Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, "UK's biggest commercial news radio show in London," requested an interview with Johnson, according to the email.
"We are leading our show on the shooting in Lewiston. We would love to hear from you if you can spare 5 minutes over the phone to join us and explain to our listeners what has happened, what we know so far and what it is like in Maine at the moment," the email states. "We can offer a fee of $75 if you are able to appear — please let me know if you are able to help."
The Lewiston Tribune also received an interview request from Sky News of the United Kingdom, and its X account (formerly Twitter) rapidly gained dozens of followers Wednesday evening.
It's not the first time Lewiston, Maine, and Lewiston, Idaho, have been confused with each other. Johnson said that the human resources department will sometimes receive calls from people looking for jobs and end up calling the wrong city.
"They do these searches and they type in Lewiston and we're the first one that comes up," he said.
However, with the spotlight on Maine, that could start to change.
"That's probably going to change now because everyone's googling Lewiston, Maine, now so they'll probably get where they want to go easier," Johnson said.
While the name of the two towns are the same, there are other similarities. The area code for Lewiston, Maine, is 207, with Lewiston, Idaho, being 208. The population of Lewiston, Maine, is 36,617, and the population of Lewiston, Idaho, is 34,447, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The two cities' websites look noticeably similar.
Johnson noted that even though the shooting didn't happen here, the name of the town made an impact.
"We're watching like everyone else," Johnson said. "It's a very sad situation."
Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.
