September 19, 2016 EditionEdition

Through the first six months of this year, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner recorded 189 deaths in Maine due to drug overdose — a 50% increase over the same six-month period in 2015 and on track to reach 378 deaths by the end of 2016.

I've long been a fan of R2-D2 and other movie robots. As a reporter, I've always jumped at the chance to cover researchers making prototype robots. The idea of what robots could potentially do to improve the world piques the imagination.

Thank you for your comments in the September 5 Editor's Viewpoint in Mainebiz. You very politely tiptoed around some issues that many people in Maine need to better understand and appreciate. Maine has a great deal to offer to its residents... to its visitors... to its neighbors... to the rest of the country... and to the world.

This issue's focus on health care and wellness touches on an issue that's at the heart of every business's expenses. What seems like a soft cost for preventative care can take an unexpected turn, affecting an entire company.

Wendy Tardif has been executive director of the Dempsey Center in Lewiston for nearly six years and has been involved since its founding in 2008. The organization offers people with cancer a range of services including cancer education, oncology counseling and yoga. All at no cost.

Dr. Dan Mingle knew he was onto something when he founded the South Paris-based Mingle Analytics in 2011. Health care costs were spiraling up, and national reimbursers like Medicare were starting to look at the quality of care they were getting for their money.

Portland and South Portland were the fifth- highest markets for home values in August, according to a recent survey by Pro Teck Valuation Services. And real estate tracking website Zillow said July marked the 48th straight month of rising home values, meaning we now are entering the fourth year of consistent appreciation of home values in the United States.

New hiresFontaine Family – The Real Estate Leader in Auburn hired Sally Christner as a real estate...

Keeping your workforce healthy and on the job is a simple tenant of productivity. However, studies clearly indicate that work-loss days increase with the age of the worker. Adhering to that simple tenet is therefore not so simple for businesses in Maine, the oldest state in the nation. Nearly half the state's workforce is over the age of 45.

Oscar Wilde once said, “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” In business, as in life, it pays to be memorable. Of course, you want to be remembered for the right things. Have you thought about what you'd like to be remembered for?

Stand-up desks, lunch 'n learn sessions, groomed hiking trails, yoga classes and employee cruiser bikes: Workplace wellness programs are prospering in Maine and growing in popularity.