Alex Pearlstein

<p>As new investment leapfrogs them to outer suburbs and exurbs, first-ring communities are becoming more aggressive in their pursuit of new development.</p>

<p>As Rome tries to provide transit options for its millions of residents and visitors, city planners and preservationists have struck a delicate balance between providing modern transportation and acknowledging the city's rich buried history.</p>

<p>Though they serve over half of all U.S. college undergrads, two-year institutions have typically focused more on getting students to enroll rather than helping them reach their career goals. But that attitude is changing.</p>

<p>Supporters of the proposed $300 million Panama City-Bay County International Airport -- including the well-heeled St. Joe company -- talk of economic development. Opponents call the facility the "Airport to Nowhere."</p>

<p>After a federal raid cost a chicken processing plant in Stillmore, Georgia, 75 percent of its mostly Hispanic 900-member work force, company officials hired locals -- mostly African-American -- to take their place. Then things got interesting.</p>