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Nationwide, many cash-strapped cities have raided funds intended for retirees or have chronically underfunded their pension systems. But despite a budget crunch, Milwaukee's fund has consistently ranked among the nation's top pension programs. Even so, some changes lie ahead for city workers.

Small businesses can now buy health insurance tailored for their needs on marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act. But it's not clear how much relief the exchanges will offer from high prices that are a longstanding problem for small business. And they will almost certainly require more paperwork.

The Egyptian military operation to destroy most of the tunnels used to smuggle goods into neighboring Gaza has led to a shortage of cheap fuel and building materials. It also has led to more sewage flowing into the sea. Change is afoot, however, for the first time in six years.

Matt Haimovitz is 42 and a world-renowned cellist. His mother took him to many concerts as a kid, but nothing in his family history explains where he got his extraordinary talent. And that's typical, says Ellen Winner, a psychology professor at Boston College who has spent much of her career studying prodigies.

To understand House Speaker John Boehner's role in the government shutdown, you have to understand the 30 or so House Republican hard-liners and his relationship with them. Because Republicans have a relatively slim majority in the House, the 30 have more power than their numbers would make it seem.

On Wednesday, President Obama invited the top four congressional leaders to the White House for a chat. But after the meeting, no progress was reported on reopening the government. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been idled and services curbed across the country.

The partial shutdown continues. The two sides haven't publicly shifted their positions. So once again we turn to that sage of the baseball diamond, Yogi Berra, for the best line on the news that keeps repeating.

Also: Dave Eggers responds to allegations that he lifted another writer's work; Jim Crace on the new rules for the Man Booker prize; the problem of depicting female beauty in novels.

Former IT consultant Graeme Simsion's debut novel, The Rosie Project, is a scientific romp about a probably-Asperger's-affected genetics professor who falls in love with a free-spirited woman during a search for her biological father. Reviewer Heller McAlpin says it's an "utterly winning screwball comedy."

A Montana couple was on vacation when they stopped at a restaurant and left the dog in the car. When they came back, the dog had eaten 5 $100 bills. Pieces of the money was collected post digestion, and the couple has been reimbursed by the U.S. Treasury.