Laser & BrewerIf you are tired of the 'same old, same old' when looking for women's clothing you should take a drive east on Route 13 to Laser & Brewer.  The little yellow building across from NYSEG belies what is inside.  Racks of attractively styled clothes are artfully displayed with jewelry and accessories.  The stylish garments are made from interesting fabrics, and just as you begin thinking 'I can't afford something that nice' you glance at the price tag.  Then you look again, because surely it can't be right.

But it is!  At Laser & Brewer it is not only possible to get stylish clothing at affordable prices, but it is what you come to expect there on an ongoing basis.  "We try to give you a New York look at amazing prices," says owner Peggy Laser Brewer.  "And we put you together.  That is one of the reasons people like to come here.  We tell them the truth.  We have high quality at an amazing price."

As you drive along Ridge Road you can't help but notice the Statue of Liberty on top of the little storefront building between the old fire station and Gene's Machines.  It is on the roof of Liberty Liquors, Lansing's newest business.  The store is owned and operated by Wally Kusznir, who opened his doors on October 16th.

"I think the people are extremely friendly, he says.  "They are very happy I am here.  Almost every third person that walked in said, 'I'm so glad somebody decided to open a liquor store here' because it's so far to drive (to Ithaca stores) and they don't feel like driving there even if they want a drink of wine with dinner."

Life's So Sweet ChocolatesIf ever a shop was well named, Life's So Sweet Chocolates is it.  The moment you walk into the Trumansburg storefront you are immersed in the heavenly smell of chocolate.  The shop is one long room, and the candy is manufactured right there.  Much of the candy in the display cases was created only a few feet from where you view it.

Shop owner Darlynne Overbaugh manufactures the candy herself by hand.  "When folks come in their first reaction is, 'Oh it smells so great,'" she says.  "That's what the difference is -- it's made right here in the room.  There's no magic back room.  I develop a lot of new creative ideas right here."

As Iran shut down traditional news media during the current election crisis western news anchors have been touting the only source of information they have: the Internet.  Anyone can say anything on the Internet and this is how Iranians are geting the word out of an otherwise locked-down country.  That freedom of communication that the Internet offers is exactly what attracted Lightlink 's Homer Smith and Jane Staller to the Internet over a decade ago, and to provide access to the Tompkins County community.

"I love getting people into communication with each other," Smith says.  "It's very subversive.  I love allowing them to be a publisher and empowering them."

Lisa's DreamLisa Craig has been dreaming of owning her own hair salon for some time.  But the dream was more specific than that:  she wanted to open it in the corner storefront in Lansing Plaza.  And she wanted to work with friends.  "My dream was to be working with friends, people that are good at what they do, she says.  "I firmly believe that if you surround yourself with good people you will improve yourself as well.  And to be able to play good and wholesome music that gives God honor, that's my dream too.  So having a place where people feel better on the outside when they leave but also may feel a little better on the inside and can be nurtured physically, emotionally, spiritually that's that's my dream -- to help people inside and out, to make it more complete for them."

A Trumansburg native, Craig says she always knew she wanted to be a hair stylist.  She even began cutting hair for friends, their mothers, and her own family when she was only 12 years old.  After finishing high school she attended Auburn International Beauty School.  She has been styling hair for 23 years, most recently working at Salon T at the Shops at Ithaca Mall.

Kellyann O'Mara wants to find out what her customers' needs are and the best ways to meet them.  O'Mara is the Vice President and Commercial Branch Manager of the M&T Bank Triphammer branch.  Rather than fitting a square peg into a round hole she looks for ways to make a square hole for the best fit in customer services.  And she likes to offer choices for clients.

"We like to work comprehensively with our clients," she says.  "I find most banks have a box and they say 'here's our products and we want to fit you into the box.'  One of the things I like about M&T is they are able to take it out of the box.  For example, we have three different forms of overdraft protection.  One is that you could link it to your savings account.  For some people that isn't an option, but others prefer that."

You're getting a divorce and you need to split up an orange.  If you went to court the judge would typically cut the orange in half.  Instead you and your spouse have agreed to work with a collaborative lawyer.  The lawyer asks what you each want the orange for.  You say you want to make juice.  Your spouse wants to use the rind for baking.  Suddenly a new solution presents itself: you can have 100% of the part of the orange you want to use, and your spouse gets the same.  You each end up with 100% of what you want instead of 50%.

"We can squeeze all the juice out and give you a full orange's worth of juice," says attorney Robin Abrahamson Masson.  "And we can grate all of the rind off and give Sally a full orange's worth of orange rind.  Each of you has more of what's important to you than you would have had if you had gone to court, and you're both much happier with the outcome.  What's wrong with satisfying her at the same time as satisfying you?"

It stands to reason.  You need a body tune-up, you go to the gymnasium.  If you need a math tuneup it makes sense to go to the Mathnasium.  Ithaca's Mathnasium opened its doors on June 6th to kids who either need to tune up their math skills, or just love math.  Owner Ewan Barr says that by tailoring a program to individual kids they begin to understand concepts and techniques that make sense in the way things make sense to them individually.

"We bring the sense of relevence to the kids," Barr says.  "One of the things we ask the kids is what do you want to be when you leave school?  What's your passion?  We have kids that want to get into the fashion industry.  Well, what kind of math do you need in the fashion industry?  Look at the pattern on your shirt.  We have to have a knowledge of geometry and how that repeats to design that pattern, and knowing quantities and units of measure.  No matter what your vocation ends up being, math has a very important part in it.  Math surrounds us every single day."

Matthew P. Binkewicz"End of life frightens most of us.  We find so many ways to explain away death and the dying process."  So begins the preface of "Peaceful Journey, A Hospice Chaplain's Guide to End of Life."  The book is by Lansing counselor Matthew P. Binkewicz, a former Russian Orthodox priest who has devoted a career to helping people through the most difficult times of their lives.

"The majority of my counselling is grief and loss and bereavement counselling," says Binkewicz, "mainly dealing with individuals who have experienced a loss."  But he says loss takes many forms, and he is also an accomplished marriage counselor and deals with other areas such as anger management.  "All of us go to the dentist, or doctors.  We should also look into our hearts from time to time, and that's what I offer."

McGraw HouseJust because you get old doesn't mean you've gotten old.  Many seniors are active and independent.  They don't need to be in a nursing home, but may not want the trouble of maintaining their own home.  Mowing the lawn, shovelling snow, vacuuming every week, cleaning out the rain gutters.  That's where McGraw House comes in.  It offers apartments for active seniors who don't want or need assisted living or a nursing home.

Located within walking distance of the Ithaca Commons, McGraw House has 105 apartments for people 62 and older.  They come from all walks of life.  "We have people coming from apartment situations and people coming from houses that they've lived in for 50 years," explains Executive Director Carol Mallison.  "We have people that have worked just about every kind of job imaginable, and we have people that have not worked outside their home.  We have people that have been through Cornell.  University people.  We have a lot of women, but the men are gaining."

McNeil Music has been a mainstay of the Ithaca music scene for since 1951.  On February 27th it opened its doors under new ownership, insuring that it will continue to remain an important part of the local music scene.

"I believe there are a lot of possibilities here," says the new owner Eric Laine.  "And we're in this for the long haul.  I'm going to be here for the 60th anniversary of McNeil Music, and I hope for the 70th as well."

Meadowridge Veterinary HospitalAfter 23 years as a mainstay of North Lansing, The Boarding Barn and Meadowridge Veterinary Hospital has been under new management for the past three months.  New owner Linda Garrett, a veterinarian and Ithaca native, says that even with the new management very little will change.  "I think it's a really nice hospital," she says.  "I like the way things are done.  I'm just starting to make some gradual changes.  But as far as main things everybody does a really good job and I like the way they interact with clients and pets and all the rest of it, so we've more slid me in then changed anything else."

Garrett heard the business was for sale through Sharon Garland, a friend who had been working at Meadowridge and knew the former owners were looking for a buyer.  Garrett was working at Lakewood Animal Hospital in Horseheads, but had been thinking of owning her own animal hospital.  "I did a lot of management," she says.  "Well not so much management there as being involved with it, doing planning, that kind of deal.  So I got to really see how a lot of things are run and getting into more of the business side of it and seeing how things went and decided I wanted to do it myself."