Thumbs up to the efforts in Dayton and Waterboro to use their town websites to solicit community input on fireworks restrictions. Though state law will legalize the use and sale of consumer fireworks in Maine beginning Jan. 1, 2012, it’s up to each municipality to decide how they will regulate it, if at all. For […]

Two marketing firms were recently hired to show how they could promote the Sanford Regional Airport, and we’re glad to see this plan to invest in one of the town’s most valuable assets. The town’s Industrial Development Corporation hired consultants Ron Price of QED, based in Florida, and Lois Kramer of Kramer Aerotek of Colorado […]

At this point, some of you have probably at least heard of the protests going on in New York on Wall Street, and the subsequent copycat protests across the country, including here in Maine. I say “heard” because not all of the media outlets are giving too much credence or coverage to these grassroots movements. […]

Supermarkets are starting to phase out the self-checkout, after a decade of experimenting with the do-it-yourself option. A major chain in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Big Y Foods, recently announced that its 61 New England locations will phase out its self-serve lanes, according to a recent Associated Press story, and other major chains are reducing unstaffed […]

Domestic violence is a scourge worldwide and York County is no exception. More often than not, when we hear of murders nearby, the deed was done by someone the victim knew personally. In 2008, there were 31 homicides in the state and 20 of them were considered domestic violence, according the Attorney General’s Office, while […]

America lost two significant impact makers last Wednesday. The media treated the death of the co-founder and CEO of Apple Computer as though he were a head of state. But because the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth made the mistake of dying within hours of Steve Jobs, his passing received scant notice. That’s a shame. Jobs’ demise […]

America’s leaders need political courage and bi-partisan cooperation to get the economy back on track. We need to reduce unemployment, decrease our national high debt and cut back on public budgets. When our government’s elected officials are in a state of gridlock, with nothing positive happening, other players step in to try to fill the […]

There is no better testament to the marketing prowess of Herman Cain than that he gets applause when he tells audiences he’s not a politician ”“ in the course of seeking their votes for the highest political office in the land. Mitt Romney plays a version of the same card, arguing that “career politicians got […]

Although the selectmen in Lyman have stayed out of the headlines of late, voters at a Special Town Meeting last week made some waves. Voters approved paying resident Margery Sanborn $18,500 to settle her claim of property damage from alleged contamination of her well caused by the town’s road salt, albeit with a caveat that […]

The National Basketball Association last week decided to cancel its preseason and Monday chose to cancel the first two weeks of the regular season as the NBA lockout resumed, and that is bad news for small business owners. It’s a situation similar to what many restaurant and small business owners faced during the summer when […]