Zach Patton

Recent Articles

• NYC's Swanky New Marriage Bureau
• Jan 8, 2009
• We wrote last year about New York City's plan to spruce up its marriage bureau in an effort to attract more matrimony-minded couples (and ...

• Will You Be Living in a 'No-Newspaper' City in Less Than Two Years?
• Dec 29, 2008
• We've all been hearing an awful lot lately about newspapers facing bankruptcy and cutting the size of their staffs. (As Jon Stewart put it ...
• 2 Comments

• A Revolutionary Idea from Revolving Doors
• Dec 22, 2008
•   From the Of-Course!-Why-Haven't-We-Thought-About-This-Before? Department: A company in the Netherlands has installed what it calls the world's first device that uses the motion ...

• Stocking the Melting Pot
• Dec 18, 2008
• Here's an interesting -- and beautiful -- way to look at immigration patterns. Using data from the Department of Homeland Security, a grad student ...

• Can Gay Marriage Save the Economy?
• Dec 4, 2008
• Moral issues aside (which of course is a pretty tall order), people seem to agree on one thing about legalizing gay marriages: it's good for the economy.
• 1 Comments

• "Stealing" the Empire State Building Easier Than You'd Think
• Dec 3, 2008
• In an effort to expose problems in the New York City register's office -- namely the fact that city clerks aren't required to ...

• Texas to Dentists: Stop Horsing Around
• Dec 3, 2008
• You may not give much thought to traveling horse dentists, but in Texas, they're causing quit a stir: Here's the deal: These equine ...
• 1 Comments

• Free on Friday
• Nov 30, 2008
• Here's a typical Friday schedule for Jeff Herring, the director of human resources for the state of Utah: First, a leisurely breakfast with his wife...

• Scientific Proof for the "Broken Windows" Theory
• Nov 25, 2008
• Since the late 1980s, cities have bought heavily into the "broken windows" theory: the notion that an unkempt, disorderly environment breeds crime. Leaders ...
• 2 Comments

• The Unhealthiest Town in America
• Nov 18, 2008
• According to the CDC, Huntington, W.Va., is the unhealthiest town in the nation: Nearly half the adults in Huntington's five-county metropolitan area are ...
• 1 Comments

• Georgia's Looking for Some Frog-Speakers. (That's not a French joke.)
• Nov 14, 2008
• If your frog-calling skills are a little rusty, better brush up!  The state of Georgia is looking for some help: Wildlife biologists need volunteers for ...

• City Skylines and the 'End of Night'
• Nov 13, 2008
• New York City's gilttering night skyline is an iconic symbol of the city. But it's also becoming a thing of the past, as ...

• Getting to Know America's First Transgender Mayor
• Nov 11, 2008
• posted by Zach Patton Last week, the people of Silverton, Oregon (pop. 9,588) elected Stu Rasmussen as mayor -- the first openly transgender person to serve as mayor in U.S. history.
• 1 Comments

• The End of the Bake Sale
• Nov 11, 2008
• posted by Zach Patton When I was growing up, bake sales were a fact of life for school, sports teams, academic clubs, whatever.   There was ...
• 1 Comments

• TMI From the TSA in Birmingham
• Nov 5, 2008
• Think the annual financial report from an airport sounds like a boring read? Then you should check out Birmingham International Airport's "Report & Accounts 2007-2008."
• 1 Comments