Rochester, NY, USA. Online dating has surpassed all forms of matchmaking in the United States other than meeting through friends, according to a new analysis of research on the burgeoning relationship industry.

Through the 1980s and into the 1990s, a stigma was associated with personal advertisements that initially extended to online dating. But today, "online dating has entered the mainstream, and it is fast shedding any lingering social stigma," the authors write.

Augusta, ME, USA. Medicaid spending is a matter of urgency almost everywhere in the country right now, but in few places is the urgency as palpable as it is here. The Medicaid program in Maine is short of money, and conservative Governor Paul LePage has a blunt proposal for solving the problem — drop people from the rolls.

The Maine governor refers to the federal-state health insurance program for the poor as “welfare,” says it’s necessary to eliminate coverage for 65,000 adults, and wants to stop paying room and board for some 2,000 elders who live in group homes.