Postcards

Girl power

With the seemingly never-ending construction occurring around Atlanta, Cynthia Good, a locally based women’s magazine editor, grew tired of the numerous orange signs that warn drivers of “Men at Work.” Because women commonly are part of construction teams, Good contacted city officials urging them to remove the signs, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The city’s public works department plans to replace the gender-specific signs with the neutral warning “Workers Ahead.” Some signs will be covered at a cost of $22 each, however purchasing new signs will cost the city $144 each.

Running wild

Aside from an occasional suburban deer, wildlife typically do not venture into cities. However, in San Jose, Calif., goats, sheep, bats and barn owls are commonly seen as part of a pest and land management pilot program. While the goats and sheep, under the watchful eye of a goat herder, remove flammable vegetation, bats and owls rid parks and community gardens of mosquitoes, gnats, gophers and mice, according to local television news station KTVU. The program is intended to educate residents about non-toxic land management.

“Mostly people are just curious. It’s not normal to see grazing animals in the city,” San Jose Environmental Services Specialist Matt Weber told KTVU.