Al's Morning Meeting

I called the local cemeteries to find out what they do with all the flowers people leave on their loved ones' graves. Most said they cart them away, but one local cemetery will pile them on one side of the cemetery and let people pick through them and take what they want. Apparently, it gets a pretty big response from people who really want free flowers. Even though cemeteries said they are overwhelmed with all the plants, the owner of a local florist chain said Memorial Day weekend isn't even close to their busiest time. Valentine's Day is ten times as busy... You can find the article [here].

"On Monday, a week after Memorial Day, at 6 a.m., we start clearing them off the graves," said Cathy Jackson, who works in the Provo Cemetery office. "And we put them on the west side of the cemetery."

Once they're there, it's a free-for-all. Anyone can come and take whatever they like from the pile of flowers. Jackson said it gets a little crazy.

"Oh, gosh!" she said. "We have a bullhorn and police barricades keeping people out."

Police barricades? That sounds a little extreme.

"They're good flowers," Jackson said. "There's all sorts of gleaning that goes on. People use them in their yards. People even take the artificial flowers. On some years, when it's really hot, the flowers are mostly dead, but on other years they're pretty good."

And don't even think about coming early and sneaking off with the flowers. Jackson said cemetery personnel patrol the grounds after Memorial Day to keep an eye out for people trying to get the jump on the flower-day crowds.

"We have to watch out for people helping themselves to the flowers before it's time," Jackson said. "We have to be watchful and remind them that they can't take other people's flowers."

Motorcycle Deaths Rise; More States Pass No-Helmet Laws

The Scripps Howard News Service has analyzed highway-death data and found that deaths in motorcycle crashes have nearly doubled in a decade, mounting to 4,000 annually, as more states have repealed laws that mandate the use of helmets:

Yet motorcyclists have become so passionately opposed to wearing helmets that they've formed powerful state and national lobbies, persuaded Congress to muzzle federal highway safety experts and convinced lawmakers in 30 states to roll back their statutes.

I suppose there is an argument that there are motorcycles on the road now, and it contributes some to the higher death figures -- but it can't explain twice as many fatalities in 10 years.

The story points out:

Nine of the 10 states with the worst motorcycle death rates don't require adults to wear helmets, according to the Scripps Howard study of records provided by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

Six states, including Florida and Texas, have relaxed their laws since 1997. Motorcycle fatalities quickly went up in all of them. Lawmakers in eight other states are considering rolling back their laws this year.

Helmets spoil the ride for many motorcycle enthusiasts. They say they love the feeling of freedom as the wind whips in their hair. Those killed in wrecks are overwhelmingly white and disproportionately middle-aged and divorced men, according to federal death records.

Housing Glut

There are now 3.38 million homes for sale in the United States. That is a full six-month supply of homes on the market now.

How would you like to be one of the folks who bought a home, counting on selling it in the once-hot sales market -- and now you have two houses. Click here to get specific data by region.

City-by-City Foreclosures

The national foreclosure rate went down last month, but compared to a year ago, it is up 33 percent. And, as you will see below, in some cities, foreclosures rose pretty sharply last month.

RealtyTrac.com, which tracks foreclosures nationwide, has just published its list of the cities with the highest foreclosure rates.

Click here, then scroll to the bottom of the page to see the foreclosure rates for all 100 MSAs in the country.

Click here to see the rates state by state. Texas recorded the most foreclosure filings of any state for the fifth month in a row -- and accounted for 15 percent of foreclosure filings nationwide. Colorado registered the highest foreclosure rate in the country for two months in a row.

RealtyTrac.com says:

This year's report, based on data captured over the first quarter of 2006, shows Indianapolis, Atlanta and Dallas having the highest foreclosure rates among the nation's largest 100 metropolitan areas. Cities in the Sun Belt and Rust Belt generally had the highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter of 2006, while cities in the Northeast and Gulf Coast documented some of the lowest. [...]

"Indianapolis narrowly edged out Atlanta as the city with the highest foreclosure rate in Q1," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "Most of the cities with the highest foreclosure rates have above-average unemployment rates and below-average home price appreciation. Unemployment is a major reason why homeowners stop making mortgage payments, and slow home price appreciation can make it harder for homeowners in default to refinance or sell to stop foreclosure."

Saccacio added that other economic factors such as decreasing affordability, rising interest rates and speculative buying can also fuel foreclosures. He cited Jacksonville, Fla. and Las Vegas Nevada, both of which documented foreclosure rates in the top 10 despite below-average unemployment and above-average home price appreciation.

"Because of the high home prices in many areas, more home buyers have stretched themselves financially with creative and often risky financing that involves adjustable interest rates, interest-only and negative amortization loans," he said. "Home buyers with these types of loans are more susceptible to default and foreclosure when interest rates move higher."

Top 10 Metro Foreclosure Rates: (from RealtyTrac.com)

Wasting Away the School Day

Skip Foster, editor of The (Shelby, N.C.) Star,sent me a note about how kids at his local schools spent every afternoon last week playing around at bowling alleys, parks and watching movies during class time to celebrate their having successfully completed end-of-year tests. One teacher tried to point out that she supposed students could learn math by calculating their bowling scores.

(Note from Al: I called the bowling alley, and a nice man named Richard told me they have "automatic computer scorers" there.)

The paper said:

Here's this week's afternoon schedule for Shelby Middle seventh-graders who passed their state End-of-Grade tests in reading.

Monday: Half got to bowl at AMF Shelby Lanes

Tuesday: The other half went bowling

Wednesday: Play at the Dover Foundation Family YMCA

Thursday: Watch "Over the Hedge" at the Carmike movie theater at Cleveland Mall

Friday: Play at Shelby City Park

It is one thing for schools to have a fun field day. It is worth a critical look, my friends, to see how schools spend their final weeks of class.

Why is there a Nursing Shortage?

Both The New York Times and CBS News reported last week on what the real underlying cause of the national shortage of nurses seems to be. The problem is there are not enough nursing-school teachers. Universities only pay professors (with at least a master's degree) about what a beginning nurse can earn with overtime on the job. Schools do not graduate enough nurses to replace those who are leaving the profession.

The result? Nurses say they are managing patient loads that are not only a strain, but are flat-out unsafe -- or worse.

The Times story says that the Senate-approved immigration bill includes controversial provisions that would allow foreign nurses to immigrate to the United States and potentially drain needy countries of their health care workers.