MacArthur fellows I spent the weekend with included everyone from an urban farmer to a short story writer to a science sculptor to a deep-sea explorer to an engineer obsessed with old buildings.

The thing all seemed to have in common was this: They took the road less traveled.

Will Allens job sounds like an oxymoron. He is an urban farmer.

Recognizing the unhealthy diets of the poor in the inner city, he started a nonprofit, Growing Power, that grows fresh fruits and vegetables on city land in places such as Milwaukee.

George Saunders started off as a geophysical engineer, and his first job was a field seismologist in Indonesia.

Thankfully, he proved inept and pursued a different career. Today he writes short stories for the New Yorker .

Ned Kahn began by working at the Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco.

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Four homicides occurred in Milwaukee over Memorial Day weekend, including one involving a 10-month-old infant, police said Tuesday.

Police have a person in custody in the infant’s death, and charges are pending. Suspects are on the loose in the other cases.

The homicides bring the annual total to 34 – the same as the end of May 2010.

The homicides police are investigating include:

The infant, Derrick Marquez, was brought to a hospital Saturday after dying around 6:30 p.m. in the 1200 block of S. 21st St. from blunt force trauma, police said.

Ahmed Cooper, 52, died from blunt force trauma at 11 p.m.

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Before any prospective mayor can throw their hat in the ring there is the small matter of convincing Brummies that change is needed.

Even those who back the idea of a mayor admit there is no certainty that voters will say yes in next years referendum

Following the rejection of the AV voting system in this years referendum, the pro-mayor camp knows it has to put its case loudly and clearly.

A fledging yes campaign is brewing under the stewardship of Julia Higginbottom, who is claiming a wealth of support from the citys business and third sector organisations.

Julia, who runs media production company Aquila TV in the Jewellery Quarter, says she is waiting on the final detail of the Governments Localism Bill, which will confirm the referendum, before firing the campaign starting pistol.

Although a Labour Party supporter, she insists the campaign is non-partisan and simply about improving the quality of Birminghams political leadership.

Until the campaign is formalised and legally constituted she is unwilling to reveal the extent of the backing.

She said: The one thing we all agree is that an elected mayor is a good thing.

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This past weekend, I was fortunate to spend time with MacArthur Foundation fellows.

Before going there, I had joked to others, Im going to be the stupidest person there.

Well, it turns out, I was right, and I loved every minute of it.

I met some of the brightest and most talented people on the planet (and none with egos about it).

Mark Roth is a biomedical scientist whose work might save your life one day.

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RALEIGH, N.C.

The Justice Department plans to bring criminal charges against John Edwards after a two-year investigation into whether the former presidential candidate illegally used money from some of his political backers to cover up his extramarital affair, a person familiar with the case said Wednesday.

An indictment could come within days unless the 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nominee reaches an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a negotiated charge, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the case’s sensitivity.

It was not immediately clear what charges prosecutors planned to bring. <

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The owners of Wisconsin Kitchen Mart treated their longtime bookkeeper more like family than an employee, so when they discovered she had systematically stolen more than $600,000 from the business over five years, the betrayal hurt as much as the financial loss.

Now Mary Radiske will have just as long in prison to rue her broken relationships.

At her sentencing Thursday, Radiske, 47, of Thiensville apologized for the thefts and said she did it to keep her husband, using the stolen money to finance a lifestyle well beyond the couple’s means, with new cars, snowmobiles, wines, furnishings, vacations and jewelry.

“I wanted him to be happy.

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