Economy

Shiru Cafe looks like a regular coffee shop. Inside, machines whir, baristas dispense caffeine and customers hammer away on laptops. All of the customers are students, and there’s a reason for that. At Shiru Cafe, no college ID means no caffeine.

Lake Champlain has a long history as a commercial waterway. In the 1800s, it was a crowded passage for boats hauling lumber and other goods between New York City and Montreal and points in between.

Dairy farmers in the Northeast say they’re ready to talk about something that’s been almost off limits for decades: how to manage the milk supply to stop overproduction.

Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac are no strangers to the Maine lobster bake. They grew up in Maine, and, although they have since moved away, their childhood memories of simple, homemade lobster rolls inspired them to start a business: Cousins Maine Lobster. It all started as a food truck, that served, you guessed it, Maine lobster. Since they opened their first truck out in L.A., they have expanded to over a dozen cities, including Portland, Maine, and a truck that will open in Southern Connecticut in the early fall, as well as opening restaurants around the world, and writing a new book, Cousins Maine Lobster: How One Food Truck Became a Multi-Million-Dollar Business.

Some Maine lobster dealers who have seen sales to China shoot up over the last decade are now suddenly shut out. Late last week, China more than doubled tariffs on lobster from U.S. sources as part of the emerging trade war between the two countries. But the lobster industry as a whole, and lobstermen in particular, are trying to take it all in stride.

With more empty storefronts than full ones, the 30-year-old Berkshire Mall in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, has seen better days. But near Spencer Gifts and a now-shuttered Hollister, something rather unexpected is alive and well: baseball.