The Daily Times from Salisbury, Maryland • Page A6

BUSINESS Judgeapproves $22MGooglefine Afeder- millionfinetopenalizeGoo- gleforanallegedprivacy erpunishment. TheblessingfromU.S.District JudgeSusanIllstoncamelate Friday.Shemadeherrulinga fewhoursafterahearingin SanFranciscoforfinalargu- cornerstoneasettlement reachedthreemonthsago betweentheFederalTrade CommissionandGoogleInc. Therebukeresolvesaround allegationsthatGoogle dupedmillionsofWebsurf- ersusingtheSafaribrowser intobelievingtheironline bythecompanyaslongas Thatassurancewaspostedon searchleaderwasinserting computercodingthatby- settingsandenabledthe companytopeerintothe users. TheFTCconcludedthatthe contradictionbetweenGoo- privacyassurancestoSafari usersviolatedavowthe companymadeinanother settlementwiththeagency lastyear.Googlehadprom- isednottomisleadpeople aboutitsprivacypractices. Giantreedisa growinganddrought-toler- massperacre.Itthriveseven inpoorsoilandisaself- requireslittleinvestment onceestablished.

Topeopleintherenewable isnothingshortofa miracleplant.AnOregon powerplantislookingatitas apotentialsubstitutefor boostersaresalivatingover theprospectofanethanol bio-refinerythatwouldbring millionsofdollarsininvest- mentanddozensofhigh- payingjobstohogcountry. Buttomanyscientistsand lookslesslikeamiraclethan anightmarewaitingtohap- pen.Officialsinatleastthree stateshavebannedthebam- toeradicateit.Thefederal governmenthaslabeledita ManyarecomparingArundo, whichcanreachheightsof30 anotheraggressiveAsian transplant thevoracious kudzuvine. Eurozonedebt loadsgrowing crisisisnolongerpanicking financialmarkets.Butit economystartsgrowing stronglyagain. Andthatwillbeawhile. Theeconomyofthe17coun- triesthatusetheeurohas shrunkfortwostraightquar- ters acommondefinition ofarecession andanalysts forecastlittleornogrowth until2014.

beenoughtaxrevenueto helpcountrieslikeGreece, narrowtheirdeficitsandslow theexpansionoftheirdebts. Theirdebtburdensasaper- centageofeconomicoutput, akeymeasureoffiscal day. debtsareequaltoabout93 domesticproductthisyear andthatfigureisforecastto risetopeakat94.5percent nextyear.In2009,theeuro- 80percent.Aratioabove90 percentisgenerallyconsid- eredhighandcanputpres- rowingcosts. BRIEFCASE BruceBlessing erthebestsoilforanewcom- postingbusiness. Helandedlocalsuppliers anxioustodiscardyardwaste andwoodneededtostrengthen edchickenwastefromlocal Salisbury-basedPerdueFarms tended.BruceBlessing’scom- postconcoctioncreatedanew marketforcontroversialchick- andvaluetoaspecialblendthat Blessingfeedstoflowersand plantsathisgreenhousebusi- ness.

Hiseffortsalsohassprouted onlyknowncompostmanufac- turerrecognizedbytheOrganic leadingindependentreviewer oforganicproduction. ingsBlendsbeginstorollout OMRI-listedpotting-andflow- er-seedstartingsoilsacrossDel- marvaforthehomegardener. Thewholepurposeistore- cycleawastestreamandpro- ducesustainableproductsthat willhaveapositiveimpacton ingsaid. OMRI-listedproducts areapedigreethatis(aconsis- stringentguidelinesusedtime andtimeagain.Someproducts (onthemarket)are100percent whattheyhavecomeincontact decidedonacareeringreen- housesandcompostingafter growinguponthefamilyfarm thatdatesbackatleastacentu- ry. andbeefcattle.BillBlessing diedwhenBrucewasinhigh ingtookonmorefarmduties.

Iworkedatachickenplant Blessingrecalled. ThenI workedthefarmwithmycous- Hewasintroducedtohorti- fulltimeandbuiltagreenhouse. Iwantedtofindawaytobring hesaid. ingexpandedthegreenhouse businessona30-acreparceloff thefamilyfarm. Thatpieceof Iendedupturningtherestofit intoacommercialcompostfa- cility.IneverthoughtI’dbe withsevenemployeesandis helpedinthegreenhousesby twoofthreechildrenheraised shore.

Westillhavethefamily Mycousinsrun BlessingsBlendsexpandedbulk compostdistributiontoinclude agedproductsforareagarden centers.Theroll-outintroduced thebrandtotheretailsegment. Salesareup nationalandinternationaldistri- bution. ThatincludesOMRI-listed fertilizerandapottingsoilex- pectedtoarriveatgardencen- tersasearlyasFebruary. MoreOMRI-listedproducts fortheretailmarketgivesthe companyacompetitivelegup, salesassociate. Alotofpeoplegrowthings withoutherbicidesorpesticides Gibsonsaid.

Thisisoneofthe firstcompaniestohandledi- versewastestreamsandturn themintoaproduct.Peoplelove Averagegardener Blessingoperatesaroadside ersshopforplantsandflowers dedicatedtorestoringthebay, improvingagricultureandhor- ticultureandpromotingwater opportunitytodressmoreresi- dentialandcorporatelawns withanenvironmentallyfriend- Whentherearechemicals intothegroundwaterandruns saysthis: Brucerealizedthreethings: bodyhastofigureoutwhattodo themnaturallyoccurringfertil- 410-845-4641 Compostingbusinesssproutssuccess ByDeborahGates StaffWriter ReviewInstitute. DEBORAHGATESSTAFFPHOTO WANTMORE INFORMATION? VisitBlessingsBlendsat9372 www.blessingsblends.com. Productsaresoldattheseretail SalisburyandMillsboro. Productsarealsoshippedto outletsthroughoutthemid- Atlantic. Anational websiterankedOceanPinesone TownswithPo- Accordingto www.monkeydish.com,Ocean PinesranksfifthinMarylandon alistoftownswiththemostpo- tentialforrestaurantgrowth.Its promiseisexceededonlyby andLexingtonPark.

theareajustwestofOceanCity wasconsideredanemerging market. Wehaveeightmillionpeople thatcomethroughourmarket Accordingtomonkeydish- rantGrowthIndexscoreof tokeepitspriceslowtokeep larlyduringtheoffseason. said. Hesaidhisrestaurantdid mostofitsbusinessinthesum- merandwouldprobablyhave thesamebottomlineifitwas closedduringthewinter. Wefindthattokeepyear- Althoughtherestaurantbusi- nessdoestendtobeseasonalat thereissomethingtobesaidfor thePineslocale.

OceanPinesandtheEastern said. thehugeseasonaldrop-offin businessthatOceanCitydid. shesaid. surprisedtohearthatOcean Pineshadbeenrankedatopspot forrestaurantgrowthinlightof therecentclosuresofrestau- rantssuchasMarinaDeckand taurantandeveryonecomes WedoOK Kain-Bolensaidthatwhile somerestaurantshadclosed, thoseknownfortheirfairprices andcommitmenttocustomers addedthatthespaceformerly occupiedbyMarinaDeckwas beingtakenoverbyPlazaTapa- tia. Theyhavea 316.5.Thehigherthescoreis BadgersaidOceanPineswas oneofthemostaffluentareasof WorcesterCounty.

Itisalsooneofthemostpop- Babyboomersareretiring hesaid. theOceanPinesChamberof itagreatspotforrestaurantde- velopment. growthforrestaurantsbecause oftheamountofpeoplethatlive essarilywanttogoacrossthe Sheaddedthatthemajority oftheOceanPinespopulation wasyear-roundsorestaurantsin OceanPinesatoppotentialrestaurantspot ByCharleneSharpe StaffWriter.