Al's Morning Meeting, some time back, told you about a fight over roadside shrines honoring people who died in traffic crashes. The problem is these things keep growing and growing and cause distractions.
Wisconsin is taking on this issue. And as an alternative to the memorials, the Wisconsin DOT announced last week that it would allow friends and family members of crash victims to adopt two-mile segments of highways, much like the Adopt-a-Highway roadside cleanup program.
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The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, "Caught between trying to enforce a ban on makeshift roadside memorials and meeting the wishes of grieving families, the state Department of Transportation unveiled a new policy Tuesday that allows the shrines along most highways for up to a year.
"Formulated in the aftermath of the 50-vehicle pileup in October on I-43 that killed 10, the new guidelines still would prohibit memorials on interstate highways and freeways, although exceptions could be made on a case-by-case basis, said David Vieth, director of highway operations for the DOT. In April, DOT officials infuriated family members of those killed in the deadliest crash in state history when the agency removed impromptu shrines erected along the highway crash site in Sheboygan County. The memorials were dangerously distracting to motorists, DOT officials said."
The GazetteExtra carries an AP story which says, "Wisconsin, Colorado, and Massachusetts are the only states with an explicit ban on roadside memorials, according to the National Conference of State Governments. Other states have a hodgepodge of regulations, ranging from standard, state-issued signs to leaving the regulations to local governments.
"Virginia lawmakers approved legislation to create standardized road signs, but they voted this year to kill funding for the program, which was estimated to cost $31,500 annually, said Virginia DOT spokeswoman Lynda South. The markers would have been simple signs with a safety message such as 'Drive safely in memory of' and the victim's name. The signs would have been removed after two years."
Stateline.org has this list of state laws on roadside memorials. "Here's a sampling of roadside memorial rules across the states:
· Colorado, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin (new law) regulate/prohibit roadside memorials.
· West Virginia allows roadside memorials, but permits transportation officials to remove them without notice if the markers are deemed a safety hazard or interfere with regular highway maintenance. The state of West Virginia posts its guidelines online.
· New York leaves it up to municipalities to implement rules.
· In California, roadside memorials are allowed for victims killed in a crash involving alcohol or drugs, and victims' families must pay the state a fee of $1,000.
· Missouri does not allow roadside memorials but encourages victims' families to participate in the state's adopt-a-highway program, which recognizes victims with a sign. The families sign a three-year agreement to clean litter from and maintain the landscape at their adopted site.
· Texas and Florida allow only state-funded uniform memorials that can be applied for by contacting the departments of Transportation. Florida memorials are plain white, bear the victim's name and read 'Drive Safely.'
· And New Mexico residents can purchase a sign from the state for $200 that will remain in place for one year. But officials also said crosses and personal markers that inevitably dot the roads are permitted 'as long as they don't pose a nuisance' to highway workers.
"Legislatures in several states have considered bills recently to address concerns about the memorials. An Indiana lawmaker withdrew a bill earlier this year that would have created uniform signs to commemorate crash victims after other lawmakers objected. State highway workers would have removed any memorials, such as crosses or wreaths, that were not placed by the department. Indiana Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kathy Noland said the bill was in response to elaborate shrines, which have included a cross lit by solar lights and crosses made of galvanized pipe in the median of Interstate 65 in Indianapolis."
Resource: Here's a story from the San Jose Mercury News.
The Problem with Bat Boxes (a follow-up)
Last Wednesday on Al's Morning Meeting I mentioned that some folks were building "bat boxes" because bats eat mosquitoes. That seemed like a good idea to people fighting West Nile, since some experts say bats can eat up to 60-0 mosquitoes per hour. Well, there is more to the story.
Morning Meeting reader Stacey Duck, staff writer at The (Maryland) Gazette writes, "Thousands of people in Montgomery Village, Md., the community I cover, recently rejected the boxes after the county health department warned that bats are dangerous because of the threat of rabies. Also, several bat experts called into the community for a forum on bats said that bats eat very few mosquitoes as compared to moths or other larger insects. In any case, it might be another interesting angle to see what health departments are saying about bats, rabies and mosquitoes." Here is a link to the story.
Stacey's story says that bats may be overrated as mosquito eaters. The story says, "Members of the Committee on the Environment proposed installing bat boxes to reduce the number of mosquitoes around village lakes. But a panel of three bat experts, a rabies and West Nile Virus specialist with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and a representative from the Humane Society of the United States said Monday that bats are not a primary predator of mosquitoes, which carry West Nile Virus.
"'Using bats as a mosquito preventative or eradicator isn't the best way to go,' said Leslie Sturges, a park naturalist with Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and director of Bat World NOVA. 'I do think we do a disservice by claiming that by installing bat boxes in an area we will eradicate West Nile. Mosquitoes are Cheetos, and a nice moth is a cheeseburger [to a bat.]'"
Resource: Here is a site dedicated to bat conservation. It is a pro-bat site. Here are some government studies about bats, more than you will ever want to know, but your editor will be impressed that you know all of this stuff.
West Nile and Blood Donations
The number of human West Nile cases continues to rise. The CDC, on Thursday, held a briefing on the blood supply. This year they are screening for West Nile in the blood.
The CDC said in the briefing, "Last year, 23 persons who received transfusions who became ill were identified during the subsequent investigations. Since that time, because many have anticipated a repeat of the 2002 epidemic, the blood banking industry, the FDA, and several biotech industries have worked to develop and implement assays that can detect West Nile Virus in donated blood.
"As of July 14, 2003, all civilian blood donations collected in the United States, including Puerto Rico, have been screened using assays based on finding West Nile Virus' genetic material.
"Of the nearly 1,100,000 screened donations from mid-July to early August of this year, approximately 160 donations were found to be repeatedly reactive using these assays. Almost all of these donors have had no symptoms at all. All of the blood and other components from these donations have been removed from circulation.
"Many of these infected donors have been reported to state health departments, to Arbonet, which, as you know, is CDC's surveillance system for all mosquito-borne viral diseases. These donors have been reported from Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Texas."
Teen Prostitution
Newsweek has this item, "Over the last year, local and federal law-enforcement officials say they have noted a marked increase in teen prostitution in cities across the country. Solid numbers are difficult to come by — a government-sponsored study puts the figure in the hundreds of thousands, but law-enforcement agencies and advocacy groups that work with teen prostitutes say they are increasingly alarmed by the trend lines: the kids are getting younger; according to the FBI, the average age of a new recruit is just 13; some are as young as 9.
"The girls — many fewer are boys, most experts believe — are subjected to more violence from pimps. And, while the vast majority of teen prostitutes today are runaways, illegal immigrants, and children of poor urban areas, experts say a growing number now come from middle-class homes. 'Compared to three years ago, we've seen a 70 percent increase in kids from middle- to upper-middle-class backgrounds, many of whom have not suffered mental, sexual, or physical abuse,' says Frank Barnaba of the Paul & Lisa Program, which works with the Justice Department and the FBI in tracking exploited kids."
Slate.com says the Newsweek piece is overblown "bogus trendspotting." Slate asks, "And if kids are getting younger, with the FBI claiming the average age of a new recruit is 'just 13,' what was the average age last year? Or two years ago? Do any of these numbers really exist?"
The Paul and Lisa program said, "Not even the majority of juvenile prostitutes are female. Surveys indicate that 49 percent of the juvenile street prostitutes are female and 51 percent are males.
See an in-depth story (from 2000) and resources links from the Detroit Free Press.
Newsweek said, "The FBI, working with the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, recently identified 13 cities — including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, Miami, Minneapolis, and Dallas — that have juvenile-prostitution problems. In Atlanta, prosecutors used racketeering laws to bust a teen-prostitution ring and win heavy sentences for the flamboyant pimps who ran it. In Detroit, a five-state prostitution operation was uncovered when one of the teenage victims pleaded for help at a shopping mall. And in the last two months, there have been teen-prostitution busts in Stockton, Calif.; Ypsilanti, Mich., and McColl, S.C.
"Hoping to build on the success of local busts, the FBI recently launched the Innocence Lost National Initiative, a program to help states and cities go after pimps who prey on teenage girls."
State(s) Fail to Protect Children I spotted this on
IRE's Hot Story list.
The Charlotte Observer spent four months
investigating North Carolina's social welfare system, finding that "at least
119 children social workers tried to protect have died in suspected abuse and neglect cases in North Carolina during the past five years."
The paper used state case reviews of 92 deaths, many of which criticized the work of caseworkers for not keeping children safe. The five-part series also examines South Carolina's system, which
does not provide public access to case reviews.
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.
