A new interpretive sign near Blanchard Beach in Burlington's Oakledge Park tells a cautionary cartoon tale about E. coli infection. A father and his daughter stand near the lakeshore, oblivious to their dog pooping behind them. The father is also clearly stupid. Time passes; it rains; and a park ranger samples water near the path where the dog did its thing. The ranger posts a "Beach Closed" sign and yet the father returns and he and his daughter venture into the lake anyhow. They both end up in bed, green and with a fever.... Read more

Jenner Richard skateboards on company time. Greg Waters buys Playboy magazine with the company card. Julie Jatlow talks to some of the world's most famous action-sports athletes and gets paid for it.... Read more

Next time you're strolling through Burlington, look down at the sidewalk under your feet. Pam Tuttle might have built it. As a foreman in Burlington's street department, she works with her crew to build and maintain pedestrian walkways in the city. Though the vast majority of construction workers in Vermont and around the country are men, Tuttle is proof this isn't just a guy's job.

"I can stand side by side with anyone here and do the same work," Tuttle says.... Read more

Workplace dysfunction has "Dilbert." Now city planning has "You Can Plan On It!" City planning? you're thinking. Where's the humor in that?

Whether you know it or not, city planning is integral to our everyday life, shaping the look of our communities and our nation, and the comic "You Can Plan On It!" offers up commentary on the direction we're headed. The first installments poke fun at America's super-size-it mentality -- which starts with fast food and ends with oil tankers -- and the myth that there's no parking downtown.... Read more

My friend Jonah Jackson wrote a novel last November. He told me this in April while my husband and I were visiting him in San Francisco. He said it without an ounce of pretension, with no hint that he had achieved the impossible: "I wrote a novel." I was stunned. And intrigued. I mean, who writes an entire novel in one short month?

Lots of people, as it turns out.... Read more