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Those rolling reading rooms are becoming scarce — too costly and outmoded, some say. The bookmobile in one New England town just broke down, and residents are wondering if it's time to shelve it in the history section.

As gas prices rise, more people who need to get around rural areas are boarding local transit buses and vans. Many of the low-income riders can't afford to drive. But the cost of transporting the riders is bursting town budgets.

With U.S. banks making fewer loans, some American businesses are turning to overseas investors. Jay Peak, a popular ski resort in northern Vermont, raised $200 million by relying on a program that promises a green card in exchange for a large cash investment to create jobs.

What happens to a farm animal whose owner can no longer care for it, or worse, abuses or neglects it? If the animal is lucky, it gets nursed back to health and lives out its days at the Mountain View Farm Animal Sanctuary.

Just after the snow melts but long before the last frost, hardy New Englanders take to moist meadows and muddy riverbanks in search of the fiddlehead fern. It looks like the scrolled top of a violin and tastes a little like asparagus.