Nearly a year after opening in downtown Macon, The Vault expanded last week into the second floor of the former bank building at 348 Cotton Ave.

I find myself connecting dots every February, this vertically challenged month that is shorter than all the others, even during leap years like this one.

The data found in the 2011 crime statistics released by the Macon Police Department and the Bibb County Sheriffs Office are a mix of good and not-so-good. Overall, crime n Macon is up 5 percent and down in the county by 135 reports. None of the statistics are surprising. While it’s safer to walk the streets with robberies and aggravated assaults down in the city and county, residential burglaries were up in the city by 6 percent over 2010 data and down in the county. Police Chief Mike Burns has vowed to reduce the residential burglary number and the best way to do that is to put the perpetrators of those crimes in jail -- quickly.

As the season of winter slush arrives in much of the country, entryway floors will take a beating.

The Mexican army says it has found 73 Central American migrants in three houses near the U.S. border and troops arrested four men suspected of planning to smuggle the people into Texas.

Remember the pig hidden within the decal on the doors of some Vermont State Police cruisers?