Not the needle-tracks-in-the-arm type of user. You’re probably not even a smoker. But your addiction for petroleum products is costing you a pretty penny these days. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for… Read More
I don’t normally get choked-up over goldfish dying. But I’ll admit when a dozen or so tropical fish went belly up at the University of Maine’s Aquaculture Research facility, it nearly brought a tear to my eye. The victims were in fact not gold, but… Read More
Not too many years ago, an editor told me to talk to Nevada business owners. The state ranked first in the country on that year’s Small Business Survival Index. The editor wanted some perspective for other states struggling to make their way up the list. Read More
The Palesky tax cap initiative has probably received more newspaper ink in Maine this political season than the Presidential election. Proponents have cited the need to control “runaway spending” and the dire consequences of taxing old folks and low income people out of their homes. Towns have scurried… Read More
Wave a hand over one of several large fiberglass vats in the cellar of the Marine Research Center at the University of Maine in Orono and young clownfish swarm to the surface. Any kid will tell you the goggle-eyed fry, orange- and white-striped, just like the animated film… Read More
Editor’s Note: This is one in a continuing series of columns tracking businesses, from start-ups to larger-scale management strategies, in our area. As a guy who saws, chisels and hammers my weekends away, I’ll admit I quietly covet Paul Bowden’s hands. It’s a pair of… Read More
We downed the season’s first grilled shish kebabs, then settled in to listen as our hosts contemplated a gamble. He was a pro in his service-oriented industry, a seasoned observer of the local markets. He worked with a small group of businesses bought by and being tucked into… Read More
Government revenuers have long suffered abuse at the hands of U.S. taxpayers. But they generally get the last laugh, ridding our wallets of due taxes. They have faced a tougher task, however, in collecting sales taxes on purchases made on the Internet and from other… Read More
Per person, $5,440. For the whole country, $1.6 trillion. That’s what we paid for health care last year. If that sounds like a lot, it’s probably because it is. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner… Read More
Sometimes managers at this venerable old newspaper find a winner, and the “Over 70, Seniors in the Workplace” series is one of them. Every time we run one of the stories, we get many suggestions about other workers worthy of such attention. Readers aren’t the… Read More
Driving up the East Coast from Washington, D.C., to Bangor provides interesting insight into Maine’s economy. By comparison, it seems we have an anemic level of activity. But once home in Maine, we realize we have other things that matter, perhaps more. googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
A lot of Maine homeowners might be surprised to learn the market value of their real estate. During the three-month period ending Sept. 30, the median sales price of houses in the state was $162,000, which represented a 13.3 percent gain over last year’s price… Read More