Here is a story you could easily localize.
The Ocala (Fla.) Star Banner wanted to know whatever happens to code violation fines that the county levies but the property owner does not pay. Even if the violations are fixed, sometimes the property owner does not pay a dime. And, the paper found, the unpaid code violations amount to a ton of money, even in a rural county.
Roughly 600 such delinquents face individual penalties ranging from as much as $401,400 to as little as $25, according to county records. Collectively, they owe Marion County almost $5 million through liens levied for code violations. More than half of that — $2.9 million — stems from board-sanctioned fines handed down in 1995 or earlier.
In many cases, the violation was corrected to the county's satisfaction but the fine was never paid. In the rest, records show that neither action was taken.
That money would have been funneled into county coffers to funds things that could benefit all county residents.
Instead, it's doubtful the county will recoup that chunk of cash anytime soon — if ever.
The paper found that other nearby rural Florida counties guess they are owed millions of dollars in unpaid code violations.
Sand Fly Bites Cause "Baghdad Boils" — Hundreds of Cases
There is yet another hazardard for servicemen/servicewomen in Iraq to guard against. Hundreds of soldiers are suffering from sand fly bites that can leave pretty horrible rashes and scars. AP reported:
Scientists and doctors refer to the disease caused by the parasite as cutaneous leishmaniasis. But soldiers serving in sand-fly rich Iraq call it, with little affection, the "Baghdad boil."
The sores are not painful or contagious, but left untreated they can last up to 18 months and leave permanent, burn-like scars. Since the flies bite exposed areas, many soldiers have sores on their necks, faces and arms.
Doctors at Walter Reed have seen 653 cases of leishmaniasis, and the hospital's infectious disease wards until recently overflowed with soldiers undergoing a 20-day treatment regimen.
"We see a few cases every year, but not the numbers we saw come out of Iraq," said Col. Dallas Hack, chief of preventive medicine at Walter Reed.
The military has made a big effort to treat leishmaniasis, even pulling soldiers out of the field who have confirmed cases and flying them back to Washington for medical care.
But Walter Reed doctors say it was almost inevitable that they would see a high number of cases this year.
Leishmaniasis occurs in hot and tropical countries where sand flies dwell, Hack said. Still, only about 20 soldiers got leishmaniasis during the first Gulf War, and a handful more contracted it in Afghanistan.
This time, though, American forces arrived in Iraq during the peak season for sand flies and were in the field much longer. Many slept outside at night, exposing themselves at the sand fly's favorite feeding time.
A story in Stars and Stripes says:
Experts from the 520th Theater Army Medical Laboratory began testing sand flies for leishmaniasis in Iraq in June.
"We found an enormous amount were infected," Magill said. "We knew right then and there we were going to see lots of cases."
But it wasn't until late August that the first case was confirmed, Magill said — in part because cutaneous leishmaniasis has a two- to eight-week incubation period; and also because samples from all suspect lesions have to be sent back to Walter Reed for evaluation.
By October, "we knew there were scores of cases" among Iraq-deployed troops, Magill said. "And late November was about the time everything really ramped up."
Military experts believe the numbers will drop in the second Iraq rotation, Magill said.
"I'm pretty sure we'll see fewer cases this time around," he said. "Troops are moving around less," with less makeshift billeting, and commanders have had time to implement rodent-control programs that in turn help control the sand flies.
Magill and his colleagues have also worked hard to educate both medical personnel and troops, traveling both in Iraq and to bases in the United States to spread the word.
"There certainly has been an attempt to get the message out," Magill said. "Ninety percent of the battle is just getting people thinking about it."
Meanwhile, to handle the current influx of patients, DOD officials are opening a second treatment center at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio that will be authorized by the Food and Drug Administration to administer Pentostam, the only drug used to treat the cutaneous version.
Notes From FCC Chairman Speech
I have been filing Al's Morning Meeting this week from Las Vegas where I am attending the Radio and Television News Directors/National Association of Broadcasters Convention. Tuesday morning, I listened to FCC Chairman Michael Powell's annual comments to the RTNDA/NAB. Among the most interesting things he said that might generate stories:
• Young boys are disappearing from the media ratings landscape. "They have vanished into the video game world," Powell said. You can't find them in usual media ratings data. Powell says it is an absolute trend that especially boys are reliant on personal devices, especially gaming devices that customize their entertainment experiences. The music, games, and even internet devices the kids, especially boys are using are all about personal and portable experiences that mainstream media have not found a way to deliver.
Powell's comments certainly spoke to the need for mainstream media companies to begin delivering more content that could be personally customized by the user. Media users of the future, Powell said, will want their devices to go with them and allow the user to participate and interact with the media content. This part of the speech really struck me as interesting. Is there a difference in how boys and girls use personal gaming and music devices? I started wondering if in the future those preferences will determine what kind of content we send to what medium. I do suspect that the media consumption habits that kids develop early on will heavily influence how they want information later in life.
• Powell said the FCC's interest in fining foul mouthed television and radio stations is directly linked to public complaints. He said since 1992, complaints have risen dramatically, although he could not say, when pressed, how many of those complaints came from organized efforts versus individuals just acting on their own. He gave these numbers about the rise in complaints the FCC has recorded:
- 2002: 14,000 complaints
- 2003: 250,000 complaints
- 2004: 540,000 complaints
When asked "Are you just bowing to public pressure?" Powell responded, "No we are just responding to public concerns."
It is a nice answer; I am not sure what it means.
Powell said the Commission has not and should not write a set of rules about what is and is not indecent. He said the Commission should consider complaints individually, constantly interpreting the standard.
• Powell also sounded a warning to broadcasters to get moving on providing more digital programming or, he said, it would become increasingly difficult to continue to hold large unused frequency spectrums when so many other potential users, especially WiFi companies, want and could quickly use those spectrums.
Powell warn broadcasters to "Adapt, evolve, or die."
Senior Donors
Here is a reason to encourage folks who might think they are too old to be organ donors to sign those donor cards. Reuters says:
Transplanted kidneys from older donors often work just as well as organs from younger donors, according to a study released this week.
In the study of 324 kidney transplant patients, 13 percent of organs from donors aged 55 or older failed, compared to a 15 percent failure rate for kidneys obtained from younger ones.
Kidneys from younger donors generally functioned better than older kidneys, but all the successfully transplanted kidneys functioned acceptably, the study said. Transplant patients' survival rates after one, two and three years were also comparable.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, story excerpts, and other materials from a variety of websites, 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.
