To prove that art has a place in modern society--or at least on its roads--artist Richard Ankrom recently added a sign to a Los Angeles highway, warning motorists on the northbound Harbor Freeway that they must be in the left lane to travel north on Interstate 5.

While the federal government remains stymied over corporate misdeeds, state officials have come out with guns blazing.

Increasingly, cities and development authorities are building and owning the hotels that support their convention centers.