There's nothing we need more right now than teamwork among state, local and federal government. It doesn't come naturally.

When he owned a shoe repair and Western-wear shop in Hamilton, Montana, Alan Thompson believed there was always a right way to do things. "It was necessary if you worked for me," he says, "that you worked correctly."

Oregon has long had a reputation as a health-conscious place, so you probably won't be surprised to learn that people there don't smoke quite as much as people in the rest of the country.

Massachusetts and New Mexico made news three years ago when they issued bonds for construction projects and promised to repay the loans with federal highway grants they had coming their way. Now, Chicago has come to market with a variation on the grant-anticipation theme.

Somewhere out there, as all government techies know, lurk bad guys itching to inflict mayhem on government computer systems.