This New England

Word that the WGBH show This Old House is starting to film its 30th season is a reminder of the great charm of New England's houses, and the range of the history behind them.

That one of houses that they're filming being fixed up is a foreclosed 1870s structure nicely links their project to the ebb and flow of history. From palatial to pathetic and back again.

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Since the Civil War Vermont has been sending free maple syrup to people in the military around the world, the Associated Press reports. And that tradition will continue as part of "Operation Vermont Maple Sweetness 2009.''

Wouldn't it be nice if this operation boosted Vermont's maple-syrup exports by introducing more foreigners to this elixir -- assuming that service personnel are willing to share it with the locals?

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Some New England daily papers are expanding, but they're doing it by creating weeklies: The Bangor Daily News, for instance, is starting a free 43,000-circulation weekly in Mid-Coast Maine, which, especially in the summer, has pretty good demographics. The weekly is one way of being "hyper-local,'' in the current buzz phrase in the industry.

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