OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Judging by the bright sunshine, the warm temperatures, the huge crowd and the abundance of bikinis and swim trunks, it could have been July. Instead, the throngs of people filled the beach to watch the 24th annual New Year’s Day Lobster Dip to benefit Special Olympics Maine.

AUGUSTA — The old Cony Flatiron building appears destined to start 2012 the same way it has the last several years: vacant, in city hands and with an uncertain future.

READFIELD — The town has a person on staff to maintain its properties and a contract with a private company to plow its roads.

HALLOWELL — In June, a Randolph businessman called the Kennebec Journal to report the reopening of the former Boynton’s Market, a downtown staple in the city since 1936 until its closing in early 2011.

AUGUSTA — Late last month, the U.S. Justice Department reversed its interpretation of the 1961 Wire Act that banned online gambling and said state lotteries are not prohibited from offering online wagering, adding another gambling issue for the second session of the Legislature.

PORTLAND — The week of his Dec. 5 inauguration, Michael Brennan began experiencing painful stomach cramps.