Fortunately in modern times most states and towns in the United States have wised up and have informative web sites. But unfortunately these web sites can still be difficult to locate – even with a Google search.

Not to worry, there’s a really good web site to help you out with this:

StateLocalGov.net

I really like this site because it’s more than just a one trick pony, so to speak. When you look up information on your state, you are not only given the state’s web site, but town sites, governor sites, attorney general sites, city guides and more. This is definitely one to put in your bookmarks.

Some reasons why it’s important to know your state and/or town’s web site

• Forms – As most people are aware, local government is run by paper, paper and more paper. If you need a permit for anything, you need to fill out a form. If you need a license for anything, you need to fill out a form. That’s just the way it works. You can save yourself a lot of time if you seek out the forms you need yourself and printing them out.
• Construction time tables – Got construction on your local highways and interstates? Who doesn’t? Most state web sites will list all projects, when they will start and more importantly when they will end (as in get finished). Florida, for example, has MyTBI. All road projects are listed, including current and future. This directly impacts many people’s commute to work each day. Those in the know are better off than those who don’t. Your state’s web site most likely has a similar site of its own.
• Vehicle registration renewals – Re-registering a motor vehicle in modern times usually can be done 100% over the internet these days without any need to go to the DMV.
• State job boards – Where do you find state jobs? On the state’s web site, of course. Most state jobs are not listed on any major job web sites so you have to go direct-to-site to find them. HOT TIP: You can try CareerOneStop if you can’t find state job listings on a state-specific web site. All states are there.

How is your town doing?

Does your town have its own web site? If so, is it informative and easy, or difficult to find what you were looking for? What would you change about it, if anything?

If you hadn’t heard there are 155 Circuit City stores that will be closing. Is the one near you getting the axe? Here’s the list.

Everybody else is blogging about this so I figured I’d chime in my 2 cents on the matter.

Firstly, this is not indicative Circuit City is going out of business. It just means they’re cutting the chaff from the wheat, so to speak. For example, none of the stores in the Tampa Bay area of Florida (where PCMech is based) are being closed.

Second, I can guarantee you that the ones being closed were the equivalent of ghost towns. This is a very common scenario in the United States concerning free-standing "brick and mortar" stores that simply don’t capture the market they’re in.

I’ll put it to you this way: If you really want to see commerce failing, read Dead Malls. There have been lots of free-standers that have either gone completely out of business or got acquired and were integrated into a larger business model or scrapped.

Some examples:

• Service Merchandise (resurrected as an online-only retailer)
• Bradlees
• Caldor
• Lechmere
• Zayres

..and there are plenty others. All gone.

I also seem to remember that not-so long ago CompUSA was on death row, but it’s not gone either. It seems TigerDirect had some good influence and this chain will be sticking around for a while yet.