When Louis Valentin moved into a new apartment at 31 Grand Street last year, it seemed as if the new home was the answer to his troubles. Little did he know it was just the beginning.

While at first glace, the area doesn’t seem conducive to raising a yard full of fresh vegetables, the Regional Environmental Council’s YouthGROW program has turned an empty lot into a budding oasis for both plants and youth.

They say time is money and for those participating in a small but growing time trade movement, time is also something you can trade.

Dog registrations in the city are dropping year over year, dogs are technically outlawed in parks and resident T. Jablanski would like to see the city open dog parks.

The Ben Franklin Bookstore on Salem Street was part dime novel emporium and part treasure trove of history and art. The last of its kind it went up in smoke Friday night killing two cats and ending a legacy.

In the war against the Asian Longhorned Beetle, Dodge Park has fallen. The once thickly-forested park nestled off Randolph Street is being clear cut. In large sections where dense forest once stood, little but bare dirt and sawdust remains. But was it all necessary? The USDA says yes.

With proper registration, you can own a pit bull in the city of Worcester. You cannot, however, own a chicken. That may soon change. A small group of chicken enthusiasts are working on a proposal that would allow residents to own and raise chickens within the city – with a few restrictions.

James Earl Johnson might have thought he took the secret of what he did to his grave. Last fall, authorities dug him up and identified him the man who strangled and killed a Worcester woman 19 years ago.