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Recently I was filling my pickup truck, and the gas pump clicked off when the purchase hit $50. Now I know why, thanks to this story from the Associated Press. Gas pumps shut off when you hit preset limits, something we didn't notice when gas was less expensive because we didn't hit the limit. The story explains:

For MasterCard customers, it's $75. Visa and Discover users have a $50 pay-at-the-pump limit. Transaction limits vary for corporate card holders and American Express users.

Not all gas stations have to abide by the cap. And there are no limits if a customer goes inside and pays with their credit card at the counter.

The caps have gone unnoticed as gasoline prices remained relatively low.

"We get more calls, questions, when gas prices increase," said Visa spokeswoman Rhonda Bentz.

See the list here. Detroit has five of the top 15 zip codes in the country for home foreclosures. Cleveland and Denver also have more than one zip code in the top 15 worst zips. CNNMoney.com explains:

More than a quarter of all leading foreclosure zip codes are in California, but many of the worst-hit zip codes are in the Midwest. Ohio has 49 zip codes in the top 500, trailing only California and Florida, which has 72.

Michigan has 34, including four in the top 10. All of them are within Detroit city limits.

See a detailed story from CNN.

You almost have to see this video to understand the size of the problem. Asian carp are an ecological disaster on the move. These 20-pound fish come flying out of the water and smack boaters. I saw this video while passing through the Atlanta airport. I saw people stop conversations, look at the TV monitors and then point to the TV. That is what compelling storytelling does. The reporter does a great job foreshadowing the danger in his first standup. The story is a great example of how to write to video. Every line of copy explains the video that you see.

These carp are a big problem. They are eating the food supplies of native species in some of the most productive aquatic ecosystems in America.

Newsroom Guidelines for Search Warrants

The Virginia Association of Broadcasters [PDF] recently distributed some advice for journalists who get served with a search warrant.

I am writing today's column from beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, where I taught this weekend at Canada's Radio-Television News Directors Association and Foundation convention.

I have to say how impressed I am with the quality of CBC, CTV and Global news. There is so much news and so little nonsense compared to U.S. television. (I did get to also enjoy Seattle local TV from here. Seattle TV is certainly among the best in the country.)

On CTV, I actually not only got domestic news but world news too -- there's a concept. I especially appreciated how many stories I saw on Canadian channels that had something to do with the environment, the water and the aboriginal people.

I am interested in the coverage of what is reported to be a growing anti-war sentiment here. But the conversation here is not so much about Iraq as it is Afghanistan, the war that American media ignores most nights. Canada opposed the war in Iraq and didn't send soldiers.

Canada has 2,200 soldiers in Afghanistan.

If you remove Americans from the equation, Canadian soldiers represent one-third of all Allied deaths in Afghanistan.

I also find it interesting that in Canada, they still show video of soldier caskets coming home. The U.S. government since 1991 has made it policy to prohibit the press from photographing returning military dead and from using images of injured soldiers unless the soldier gives consent.

Let's say a network had a million dollars and decided not to give it to Paris Hilton. What could it do with the money?

The network could investigate the spread of invasive species, it could take a serious look at why Alzheimer's and autism may be growing problems, and it could actually train journalists to cover their beats with sharper and deeper insight.

Or it could blow the whole bundle on a big project. I would love to see coverage of the rise of Islam in Africa and Europe. I would like to see a network besides CNN actually produce documentary material and not just around disaster coverage but a national or international issue and really probe it. What should the future of our space program be? What would it take to improve our organ transplant program so dying patients can get the organs they need? Why do blood banks have a persistent shortage? What really works when it comes to helping the homeless or stopping school dropouts? A million dollars would cover the kind of journalism that could really spark action. Or you could interview a celebrity.

Here is a less-than-$1-million idea that I bet would stir viewers.

One of the last, great elephant herds on earth is being slaughtered in the country of Chad in numbers that are nearly incomprehensible. (Caution, links in this section will take you to stories that include some pretty graphic photos.)

Chad's Zakouma National Park includes some elephant herds that can be as large as 1,000 animals.

Poachers, using high-powered weapons, have slaughtered more than 200 elephants in the last year alone. Before now, in a typical year, only one or two elephants might have been killed. When park rangers tried to stop it, some of the rangers were killed as well.

Here is a story from the BBC.

Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.