Whenever Doug Brown tries to retire, New Mexico comes up with another job for him to do.

The past decade has brought a marked increase in partisan unpleasantness in legislative bodies almost everywhere in the country.

Visible patrols set the pace for enforcing limits

Over the past five years, Indiana has lost money on its toll road. In January, its fortunes changed: The state was offered $3.85 billion by a Spanish-Australian consortium for the right to maintain and operate the road. If the offer is approved by Indiana's legislature, the influx of cash would fund all of Indiana's road projects for the next 10 years with money to spare.

If I ever go fresh-water fishing with my nephews in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, I'll have a state license. Not that I'm much of an angler. I'm a great indoors type who knows more about electronic "phishing" scams than pond fishing for crappie. But thanks to Alabama's e- government initiative, I can sit at home in Virginia and click to an Alabama Web form to purchase a non-resident fishing license.