Judson Smith adjusting well at Maine School of Science & Mathematics

Science and Health

Judson Smith, center, flanked by his mother Lisa Libby, left, and his father Zachary Smith. (contributed photo)by Mary Grow
Vassalboro resident Judson Smith, 14, has no regrets about choosing the Maine School of Science and Mathematics (MSSM), in Limestone, as his high school.
Home for Christmas break after his first semester, Smith said adjustment wasn’t easy, but now, “I’m happy with it. I really like the school.”
His parents, Zachary Smith and Lisa Libby, are also pleased with their son’s choice. They appreciate the education, and the frequent contact with the school – the one day their son was ill, they had a conversation with the school nurse who attended him in his dormitory room.
Courses are hard, advanced enough that students can arrange to get college credit at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Smith is satisfied with his A’s and B’s.
MSSM students take at least four core courses a semester; Smith’s were math, science, English and French. Next semester, maybe six, he said.
Students live on campus. Their dormitory, close to the academic building that also houses Limestone Community High School, has two wings for boys and two for girls, plus common areas: a lounge, a kitchenette, a room with pool tables, a fitness room and a gym. In the academic building is an Olympic-size swimming pool that MSSM and LCHS share, Smith said.
In some ways, Smith makes MSSM sound almost overprotective. Students need a phone app to check out of their dormitories. There are mandatory study hours from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays, with students who have shown a need for supervision expected to report to the library and the rest to study in their rooms or other appropriate places (including picnic tables in mild weather). Students’ bicycles were locked in a storage shed before the first snowfall.
Every student has a campus job, Smith said, though nothing that takes a lot of time away from education.
Students also enjoy a multitude of activities, sports and clubs. The seniors who serve as dorm residents organize activities. Every other weekend offers a shopping trip to Presque Isle, a city half an hour away that’s almost six times the size of Limestone.
The lettuce club intrigues Smith’s mother. Smith explained that the club meets annually: a head of lettuce is put before each student, and whoever eats his or hers fastest becomes club president.
When a student has a birthday, the food service staff bakes him or her a cake.
Most important, Smith said, is the constant support, from teachers, other staff and fellow students. When he found himself ill-prepared for one of his courses, he was able to get almost daily help from his teacher and from other students. By next year, he sees himself helping first-year students.
“It’s definitely a difficult school. They try their best to make it fun, but a challenge at the same time,” he summarized.
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United States Prevails in USMCA Dispute on Genetically Engineered Corn

Technology

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on December 20, 2024, that the United States prevailed in its dispute under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) challenging certain Mexican biotechnology measures concerning genetically engineered (GE) corn. Under a February 2023 presidential decree, Mexico banned immediately the use of GE corn in dough and tortillas and instructed government agencies to eliminate gradually the use of GE corn for other food uses and in animal feed. The United States brought six legal claims under the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Chapter and one legal claim under the National Treatment and Market Access for Goods Chapter of the USMCA and requested that a dispute settlement panel be established. According to USDA, the USMCA panel agreed with the United States on all seven legal claims, “finding that Mexico’s measures are not based on science and undermine the market access that Mexico agreed to provide in the USMCA.” The panel issued its final report to the parties on December 20, 2024. Under USMCA rules, Mexico has 45 days from the date of the final report to comply with the panel’s findings.

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4 reporting essentials to streamline business intelligence

Business News

Whether you are a small startup with a simple ecommerce system or a global retailer with a complex sales process, clear dashboarding and insightful reporting are key for teams to work effectively. However, reports often take significant time and effort to create, only for the data to be questioned or ignored. Maintaining these reports also uses valuable resources that would be better spent reviewing results and making informed decisions.

Centralizing and simplifying dashboards helps solve these issues by improving efficiency and delivering better results. At our agency, we work with leading brands to design and implement business intelligence (BI) solutions using a proven approach based on four key factors.

1. Use case methodology

You’ve probably seen reports filled with tables, metrics and graphs that feel overwhelming. It can be hard to figure out which parts matter most or what to focus on. While it’s tempting to include as much detail as possible, keeping it simple is usually more effective — unless there’s a clear need for extra data or visuals.

A “use case” methodology helps streamline dashboard views by ensuring each report connects with specific business decisions. Tailoring reports to their audience is also essential. For instance: 

Senior management needs clear performance indicators like percent against sales targets or YoY comparisons.

Operational teams benefit from detailed breakdowns, such as CPA by site and audience, to optimize ongoing activity.

Start by answering a few key questions, such as: 

Who is the target audience? 

What business decisions are expected to be made after looking at the report? 

What are the core KPIs that enable this? 

Careful consideration before reporting will help you offer an impactful and useful BI view. 

2. Data governance

While data governance may not be the most exciting topic, many have experienced debates over the accuracy of report figures. A strong data governance structure is key to building trust in the numbers shared across the business.

Two areas are especially important in data governance: data inputs as well as taxonomy and naming conventions.

Data inputs

in a media performance report, it’s crucial to validate conversion tracking tools, such as Adobe, Google Analytics (GA), or other platforms, to ensure confidence in performance metrics. It’s also important to note differences between data sources, like GA figures excluding returns while backend CRM data includes them.

Taxonomy and naming conventions

Consistent naming helps combine data from multiple sources (e.g., stitching together Meta spends with Adobe conversions). It also supports the creation of custom report dimensions, such as tactic, audience and channel groupings. This requires a clear taxonomy followed by all teams and partners and automated monitoring to catch errors — because mistakes can happen.

Dig deeper: How to put marketing data into meaningful context

3. Reporting automation

Ten years ago, manually running reports in Excel filled with endless VLOOKUP and SUMIF functions was understandable. Today, there’s no reason not to have an automated BI setup.

If one isn’t already in place, starting with a centralized repository for all marketing and analytics data is key. Whether you’re using Snowflake, Google Cloud or another platform, keeping all data in one location enables automated reporting. It also opens the door for advanced applications like propensity scoring, media mix modeling and customer churn analysis.

Whatever platform you choose, having dedicated technical experts is crucial to ensuring the setup is robust, well-maintained and properly documented. These experts also play a key role in creating automated data validation processes to catch and resolve issues early rather than reacting to user concerns about data accuracy after the fact.

4. Advanced analytics

It’s important to make your reports insightful and engaging. While regular summaries of key business metrics are essential, improving them often means providing more advanced insights.

You could try a creative analytics view to pinpoint what’s driving creative performance — like background color, logo placement or CTA design. You might also explore forecasting tools that show expected ROI based on different budget scenarios. 

Adding these deeper insights gives you and your team a clearer reason to use reports and make smarter business decisions.

Streamline your reporting to boost BI

Insightful and accurate reporting is essential for your business success, but few brands feel fully satisfied with their current setup. Reporting will always be a work in progress as your business evolves, but laying strong dashboarding foundations now can help you get better results and spend less time on maintenance.

Hopefully, these four key considerations have given you practical steps to review your current setup and create more effective, streamlined reports for smarter decision-making in 2025.

Dig deeper: 5 steps to make the most of your reporting and analytics

Should you participate in elephant tourism? Here’s what experts say.

Travel

The UN Tourism agency, however, does not recommend against tourism that involves interacting with captive wild animals in its Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, despite calls from animals rights groups for it to do so. It advocates, generally, for tourism activities that are “conducted in harmony with the attributes and traditions of the host regions and countries and [with] respect for their laws, practices and customs.”The appropriateness of engaging with wild animals is a social and cultural conversation that is constantly in flux, Mumby said. The mental and emotional state of an animal is a complex phenomenon that is difficult for scientists to conclusively measure, she added.Research on the question is mixed. A 2020 review of animal welfare in elephant tourism in Thailand by researchers with Chiang Mai University and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute found that “conclusions that the vast majority of captive elephants are abused often are based on anecdotal evidence and not solid science.”The authors recommended a variety of best practices for the management of captive elephants, such as limiting high-calorie treats like bananas and sugarcane and providing for sufficient exercise; ensuring the elephants had ample opportunity to be social, including overnight; providing naturalistic housing with limited concrete flooring and walkways; and prioritising adequate pay, training and retention of mahouts – workers responsible for elephants – throughout the industry.Lead author Pakkanut Bansiddhi, an associate professor of veterinary medicine at Chiang Mai University, said in a video interview that how a particular elephant tourist activity is managed is often more important than the type of activity, even among riding or bathing experiences. But she acknowledged there was a huge variety of welfare standards in the industry and that it is often difficult for tourists to discern which options are better than others.AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.An official programme to accredit Thai elephant tourism operators based on animal wellbeing is in its infancy, she said.“Especially in Thailand, we have a very deep tradition and culture between Thai people and the elephant,” she said.“I think the better way is to promote welfare, educate people and do the science to find out which is the best management and the best activity for the elephant in tourism,” she said, adding that she had seen significant improvements over the past decade in how elephants are treated within tourism.Other researchers do take a categorically unfavourable view of the industry. A 2023 analysis of elephant tourism led by researchers at the Emergent Disease Foundation, a UK charity, found that “elephant welfare within some sectors of the close contact interactive tourism industry continues to involve significant mistreatment and abuse”. It called for bans of close-contact experiences.Discover moreLead author Clifford Warwick, a biologist, said in an email that while some forms of tourism that involved observing elephants, from vehicles for example, could be acceptable, “bans are required” when it comes to interacting with the animals.“In my view, any directly interactive tourism is unresolvably problematic,” he said. “The highly concerning animal welfare and public health and safety issues associated with directly interactive [riding, bathing, touching, feeding, close-up photographs] in elephant tourism are unresolvable.”How to navigate elephant tourism optionsPlenty of elephant experiences advertise themselves as ethical but would be unlikely to get the animal-rights-group stamp of approval. Sanctuaries that are considered humane provide homes for rescued animals that can not be released into the wild, in which carefully managed tourism can play a role.World Animal Protection calls for tourists to “only visit venues where you can look, not touch”. That means no riding, bathing or patting elephants, it says, or visiting any venue where the elephants are behaving in a way they would not behave in the wild. It recommends a list of elephant sanctuaries, including 10 in Thailand.The Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, a nonprofit dedicated to sanctuaries, rescue centres and rehabilitation facilities that administers accreditation, is another place to check out when deciding whether or where you want to see animals while travelling, though it does not list any sanctuaries in Thailand.The travel site Tripadvisor does not allow most experiences in which tourists come into contact with captive wild animals to be booked through its platform, though they can still be listed and reviewed. Airbnb does not allow bookings of experiences in which guests ride, bathe or feed elephants, and Booking.com has disallowed tours that involve directly interacting with elephants, among other banned animal activities on those sites.AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.Are elephant experiences safe?The chances are low that you will be hurt by an elephant as a tourist. But it does happen.In the January 3 incident in Phang Nga province, a woman accidentally slipped and grabbed on to an elephant’s trunk, startling it, a local tourism official said. The elephant shook out its trunk, which pushed the woman against the edge of the pool, the official said. She died in a hospital. The woman and her boyfriend had been participating in an elephant bathing activity and had been instructed by a tour guide to stand in front of the elephant for a photo, the official said, citing police and tour company reports.Reports of tourists injured or killed by captive elephants in Asia have made headlines nearly annually in recent years. Viewing elephants in the wild can also be risky: At least two tourists were killed by the animals while on safari in Zambia last year.There is also a risk of disease transmission between elephants and humans when in close contact, experts warn. The Emergent Disease Foundation-led analysis concluded that “infection and injury risks between humans and captive elephants cannot be safely controlled where close contact experiences are involved”.

2025 Tech Trends in Small Business: What to Watch

Business News

The latest report on the impact of technology on small businesses from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reveals that 85% of small businesses are confident technology will help their organization grow. So, it’s not surprising that SMBs are deciding how to best modernize their technological frameworks in the new year.
From outsourcing IT staff to graduating from Windows 10, here are three SMB tech trends to watch in 2025.
1. IT Staff Augmentation Will Help Manage IT Environments
IT staff augmentation is an ideal solution for SMBs struggling to build and maintain robust IT teams and technology environments in-house. And right now, that’s a lot of SMBs.
According to McKinsey, about half of small business owners report difficulty filling open positions, and 9 in 10 have few or no qualified candidates. This could become an even larger challenge for growing businesses, as IT budget cuts could rise as high as 30% for SMBs with over 25 full-time employees.
Fortunately, staff augmentation can be a more cost- and time-efficient way for SMBs to acquire talent to cover key gaps as the business scales, be it for a couple weeks or many months.
DIVE DEEPER: Explore a world of technology solutions specially crafted for small businesses.
There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy for IT staff augmentation, nor are SMBs limited to one or two types. Between outsourcing, IT consulting and more, SMBs can choose the kinds of IT staff augmentation that work best for them and experience benefits including reduced IT costs, which can be particularly advantageous for resource-strapped startups.
“In the end, when considering the resource-constrained environment in which most startups exist, a staff augmentation strategy can offer significant advantages for some companies,” Andrew Amann, CEO of NineTwoThree Studio, writes in Forbes. “With a proper staff augmentation strategy, startups will have the flexibility and runway they need to stay agile throughout their early operations.”
Click the banner below to explore the solutions you need to give everyone a seat at the table.

2. The Age of AI Will Force Bolstered Security
Artificial intelligence can be a double-edged sword where security is concerned, capable of bolstering cybersecurity even as its use across operations can require additional security. This poses a unique challenge that most SMBs aren’t ready to handle, as over halfdon’t currently have cybersecurity measures in place, according to Verizon. So, with 94% of SMBs now considering cybersecurity to be critical to their business, organizations are looking to revamp their security approaches in this age of AI.
Recent Microsoft Security SMB research finds that 81% of SMBs are focused on increasing security for AI applications. What’s more, more than half of SMBs that aren’t already using AI security tools plan to deploy them in the next six months.
SMBs may also consider implementing advanced automation software, such as security orchestration, automation, and response solutions.This can help them react to threats in a more timely, robust manner.
WATCH: BizTech Editor Bob Keaveney discusses the top tech trends for small businesses in 2025.

According to Fortinet, “With SOAR, an organization can manage, plan and coordinate how they react to a security threat. The automation feature of SOAR eliminates the risk of human error. This makes response more accurate and cuts down on the amount of time it takes for security issues to be remedied.” 
There are also three important security assessments every SMB should explore in 2025: penetration testing, incident response testing and a rapid maturity assessment. These tests can help SMBs take a more proactive approach to bolstering their cyber resilience — a must, as over 60% of SMBs are temporarily unable to operate after experiencing a cyberattack.
3. Windows 11 Upgrades Will Be a Top Priority
Today, more than twice as many people use Windows 10 as Windows 11, the newer Microsoft operating system first launched in 2021. But with support for Windows 10 ending on Oct.14, 2025, SMBs will need to focus on upgrading.
And they must begin their transitions soon. Because not every end-user device is equipped to run Windows 11, some SMBs will have to first upgrade their devices, which can take some time.
Whatever the path entails, the journey to Windows 11 will be well worth it. Among other benefits, it integrates zero-trust security models along with other security features to better defend against sophisticated security threats. Windows 11 also boasts integrated AI tools such as Copilot, a personal AI assistant that can help streamline workflows and enhance employee productivity.
Ultimately, SMBs that delay or refuse to upgrade will be doing themselves a major disservice. As CDW experts John Coleman and Sean Woodmansee recently wrote for BizTech, “Those that haven’t upgraded to the Windows 11 OS will be taking a big chance with their security, their worker experience and their most basic operations. We strongly recommend against that.”
UP NEXT: Learn why small businesses are turning to productivity suites to accelerate operations.

General Assembly Postpones Opening of 2025 Session Business Until 9am Monday, January 13

Business News

RICHMOND, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The opening of business for the 2025 General Assembly session has been formally postponed until Monday, January 13. Both the House and Senate did gavel into session at the scheduled noon time January 8, but the only business conducted was organizational. The two chambers first formed a committee of ten legislators from both the House and Senate informing Governor Youngkin the General Assembly is convening and ready to receive communications from the Governor’s Office. Afterwards, they passed resolutions postponing the bill pre-filing deadline to Monday, January 13. The original date had been January 8. Then announcements were made committee meetings and other meetings that were scheduled over the next couple of days be postponed until January 13 and after. Finally, resolutions for both chambers to adjourn until 9am Monday.
Several aversions were cast to the reasons why as Lt. Governor Winsome Sears in her greeting to the Senate acknowledged thankfulness “for the little things… running water, heat, we are indeed thankful”.In communicating to the House a resolution passed by the Senate, Senate Majority Leaders Scott Surovell quipped on the House floor, “I have been directed by the President of the Senate to inform the House of Delegates that the Senate is hydrated, showered, and duly organized to proceed to business”.
Charlottesville Democratic Delegate Katrina Callsen told CharlottesvilleRightNow this was unexpected “and I’m just trying to roll with it”.She noted she was on the Albemarle County School Board during the pandemic and “this is small beans and I know we’re going to figure it out, but it has been a little bit of a wild ride”.She said she was in Richmond preparing for the session until Tuesday, and came home Tuesday night and drove back Wednesday morning. “There was no water, and people are saying there was a boil water advisory, but there was no water to boil where I was staying. You turned on the faucet and there was no water coming out.”She said, “that works for a little while, but after a bit you need water for various functions”.She expected most legislators would go home after the Wednesday floor sessions.

The most anticipated Netflix movies of 2025

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

The year 2025 looks set to be a great year for movie lovers. While the film industry is filled with exciting prospects on the horizon, streaming platforms are also gearing up with good content for this year.PUBLICIDADThe Netflix platform undoubtedly wants to stay ahead of its competition, and for that, it also has big titles prepared to update its catalog in 2025.PUBLICIDADElectric stateIt is about Netflix’s most expensive movie to date (320 million). In this science fiction adventure, Millie Bobby Brown plays an orphan who embarks on a journey through the American Plague to locate her younger brother. Directed by the Russo Brothers, the cast also includes well-known actors such as Chris Pratt, Woody Harrelson, Ke Huy Quan, Anthony Mackie, and Giancarlo Esposito, and its release is scheduled for March 14, 2025.FrankensteinThe new movie by Guillermo del Toro is an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s influential novel that has already been brought to the big screen multiple times. However, this adaptation, under the direction of the Mexican filmmaker, generates much higher expectations than any of the other film adaptations. Del Toro has taken almost 20 years to bring it to fruition, making it his magnum opus. Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, and Christoph Waltz lead the cast.The Old Guard 2On paper, a sequel to ‘The Old Guard’ seemed like a simple task. The first part was a resounding success and gathered many fans who were eager for more. However, this sequel faced a series of delays and it is only now that it will be released.Peaky Blinders: The MovieThe famous series starring the Oscar-winning Cillian Murphy came to an end in 2022 after six seasons. However, Tommy Shelby’s story continues with a highly anticipated movie whose filming ended in December 2024, so it should be released by the end of this year. Among the new additions are Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth, and Barry Keoghan, although it is likely that its creator Steven Knight has some surprises in store for us.

Breach Readiness and Business Continuity Planning

Business News

I recently caught up with Karissa Breen, the founder of KBI.Media, and we got straight into our topic: What is breach readiness and business continuity planning in complex environments? Everyone talks about having a plan, but actually putting it into action, especially when you’re under attack, is a completely different story.
Realities of Breach Readiness
When people say, “just have a plan,” it sounds easy. But in practice, it’s not just writing down a set of procedures. The real challenge is detailing who’s responsible for what and everyone keeps their cool when the worst actually happens. Most companies have business continuity plans and run exercises for things like server outages or natural disasters. But for cyber breaches, we’re talking about doing simulations that mimic what an actual attack might look like and seeing if your policies and controls stand up under pressure. And today, we’re talking about how the business can maintain minimum viability while under attack and how quickly they can return to pre-attack organizational productivity.
I’m not talking about a resource heavy breach scenario exercise that burns up cycles. We can deploy our technology in days across a select number of non-prod devices facing the internet, start in observation mode, and simulate an attack to see what happens. How well does your business function under attack conditions? How well do the teams handle their responsibilities? It’s like running a penetration test, but instead of only testing your firewall or password policy, you’re testing your company’s before, during and after breach response readiness. This doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be built right on top of the continuity drills you’re already doing.

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Addressing the Overwhelm
I get it, people in IT security are often rolling their eyes at “another tool” or “another process.” It’s another step when you’re already drowning in tasks. But attackers aren’t slowing down, and they’re getting sharper and better funded.
Here’s the trade-off: putting microsegmentation and breach readiness measures in place is not just “another thing.” It’s something that can stop a breach in its path rather than shutting down whole network segments and critical systems. If you can quarantine the attack and let the rest of the business keep operating, that’s huge. It’s not just preventing some theoretical damage; it’s preserving real revenue, reputation, and operational uptime.

Rochester schools remove LGBTQ-themed book over public nudity concerns

Arts & Culture, Books

“I strongly believe that it is important to rely on the expertise of people who are knowledgeable in their areas of expertise,” said Board Member Karen MacLaughlin, noting the committee’s recommendation was 9-1. “I equate it to ‘following the science.’ I think we also need to follow the expertise that we have here in our district.”Board Member Jean Marvin said she was torn over the decision, saying that in general she believes it is dangerous to start removing books or banning them. But, she added, the superintendent’s decision was not about the content of the book but about its depictions of nudity.“This was a cute book, but with the plethora of other books about gay rights and celebrating LGBTQ, I am not sure that this one in particular is meaningful enough that we really have to fight for it,” Marvin said.The comments from Marvin prompted an outburst from an audience member, who warned that the decision would set a “dangerous precedent.” Pekel later pushed back against those concerns.“There will be no slippery slope on backtracking on books that celebrate the lived experiences of LGBTQ students and families,” Pekel said.The debate within the district over the book comes amid heightened concerns over book bans in the United States. In 2023, the American Library Association (ALA) recorded 4,240 books that have been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries in schools, a 65% increase from the previous year. The majority of the most-targeted books focus on LGBTQ content, according to the ALA.