Just when you think you are about to hear something new and important, you suddenly realize you’ve heard all this before. Jeers to the opponents of two ballot questions that would allow the construction of new casinos in Maine.

In a near-breathless news release, they announced they had very big news to announce and would do so at a press conference in Biddeford. The news they had, however, was just that they groups were still opposed to casino gambling in Maine.

No shocker — and not really big news.

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Cheers to dentist Rose Sheline of Center Street Dental. Dr. Rose has offered to put a dent in tooth decay by paying kids to turn in their Halloween candy. On Nov. 1, she will pay $1 per pound for the loot kids collect trick-or-treating.

She also will donate 50 cents per pound to each child’s school, and she’ll give each child who turns in candy a new toothbrush, dental floss, toothpaste and a tongue cleaner.

She’ll send the candy to U.S. troops overseas.

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Cheers to city and town clerks everywhere in Maine as they prepare for another Election Day.

Clerks and poll workers who help register voters, hand out ballots and then count them are the unsung heroes of our democracy. Theirs is the necessary, sometimes tedious, but oh so important work of making sure our votes get counted. Far from the spotlight on the winners and losers in elections are the clerks and poll workers making sure our elections run smoothly.

Many, like Lewiston City Clerk Kathy Montejo, have already helped thousands cast their ballots through early voting and absentee programs. Maine has some of the highest voter turnout rates in the nation. Some of the credit for that rests squarely on the shoulders of our clerks and other election officials who work so tirelessly to keep our democracy working.

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The return of professional-caliber hockey on the ice at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee is plenty of reason for cheers.

On Thursday, 1,284 hockey fans were treated to a 3-2 match-up between Federal Hockey League teams the Brooklyn Aviators and the Akwesasne Warriors. On the ice for the Aviators was a hometown favorite, Minot native and St. Dom’s graduate Mike Carpenter, highlighting the community’s deep connection to this thrilling sport.

The best part is that we have four more FHL games coming in what will be a five-game trial for the league at the Colisee. If fans turn out in force for these games — and at $10 per ticket, why wouldn’t they? — the next cheer could be us cheering the team coming to claim the Colisee as its home ice.

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A new science program at Mt. Blue High School in Farmington has students reaching for the sky and beyond.

In partnership with NASA and the University of Southern Maine, and funded by a $400,000 grant, students and teacher Doug Hodum have quite literally launched the Astrobiology-Scientific Ballooning Pilot Project.

Using weather balloons and other high-tech, weather-information-gathering tools, the students are gaining insights into how scientists at NASA approach research, design experiments and engineer the devices needed to obtain mission goals.

Cheers to this program that’s bound to not only bolster key math and science skills, but will challenge imaginations and inspire our students to truly reach for the stars. Not to mention, it looked like a lot of fun.

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