Al's Morning Meeting

If you click here and enter a zip code/city and state, you can get the toxic releases reported for that area.

Type in the name of a facility here, and get the toxic releases from that facility.

You can also investigate the parent company and toxic waste disposal. For toxic waste disposal, don't worry if you only have a state. You will get a listing of all reported toxic shipments from that state. The file can be a little chunky, but it is a rich source of story information.

The Society of Environmental Journalists says (Click on "Toxic Releases Increase in 2005"):

The data, which are self-reported estimates for about 650 chemicals and compounds emitted by a select group of sources, have several limitations, but provide a good starting point for determining what toxic substances are being released in your community and around the country.

However, it'll take some digging to sift through the information to get an accurate picture of trends and specifics. EPA is providing less analysis this year, and is trying to cut back TRI reporting in several ways.

Overall, EPA says total releases into the environment increased 3 percent from 2004 to 2005. That number includes an increase of 5 percent offsite (such as air and water emissions) and 2 percent onsite (such as burying).

Those averages include:

• a 5 percent increase in "persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals" of all types (including a 6 percent increase for lead, at a time when EPA is trying to reduce or eliminate reporting of lead as a major air pollutant, and research continues to show adverse health effects at lower and lower levels)
  

• a 9 percent increase in carcinogens of all types (including a 54 percent increase in arsenic)
  

• a 10 percent increase from federal facilities

Teens Buying Books in Surprising Numbers

The popular notion is that kids don't read. They watch TV, play games and instant message each other. But wait -- there's more.

Read this from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

"Kids are buying books in quantities we've never seen before," said Booklist magazine critic Michael Cart, a leading authority on young adult literature. "And publishers are courting young adults in ways we haven't seen since the 1940s."

Credit a bulging teen population, a surge of global talent and perhaps a bit of Harry Potter afterglow as the preteen Muggles of yesteryear carry an ingrained reading habit into later adolescence.

Not only are teen book sales booming -- up by a quarter between 1999 and 2005, by one industry analysis -- but the quality is soaring as well. Older teens in particular are enjoying a surge of sophisticated fare as young adult literature becomes a global phenomenon.

All of which leads Cart to declare, "We are right smack-dab in the new golden age of young adult literature."

The story points out:

There are many reasons for the turnaround, not least the sheer size of the teen population -- well over 30 million kids with ready cash in their pockets. Called Gen Y or Millennials, they trail only the baby boomers in number.

"The publishing world has recognized that teens have a lot of disposable income, and they're willing to spend it," Nelson said. "They buy books. They (especially) buy paperbacks."

They also visit the library. In the King County [Wash.] Library System, teen fiction now circulates at a higher rate than adult fiction.

"In the summertime, the shelves in my teen section are almost empty, which is great!" said librarian Rick Orsillo of King County's Shoreline branch.

The staying power of books is especially remarkable given the lure of YouTube, MySpace and other techie diversions. Shrewdly, the book world is meeting teens on their own turf, with libraries creating MySpace pages and publishers advertising on popular teen sites.

Noting that the Web has been used to "hype, announce and promote books," [Leslie] Cornaby, 16, the Shorecrest 10th-grader, said, "I don't have to go to my school's library anymore to find out what the latest books are, and I can also get a book on audio and put it on my iPod if I really want to."

23 States May Hold February Primaries in '08

"Good gracious," as my mother-in-law says. This is really something. In 2004, eight states held their presidential primary on the first Tuesday of February. Twenty-three states are considering it for '08. It is possible that 29 states will be decided on or before Feb. 5.

Stateline.org is doing a great job tracking the developments.

What will such early voting mean to campaign spending? Won't candidates have to burn tons of money in the last quarter of 2007 to even have a shot? Won't that kind of ramp up change the financial pictures of media companies that usually don't see such spending until the first (or second) quarter of the election year?

Al's Morning Multimedia

Hey now, look at this. The Boston Globe is using its Web brain and making it easy for folks to get last-minute tax help.

The Globe's site allows citizens to download just about every tax form they would need (rather than linking the user to the Internal Revenue Service site and the state revenue site).

Of course the site also includes tax-filing tips, a video from an expert on stuff to do and not to do, and online chats with two Certified Public Accountants.

I like the "New in 2007" tax page, which is loaded with useful information.

The site also includes a countdown ticker showing how much time is left before filing deadline -- cute. (You will find the ticker in the middle of the page on the right side. I think it should be at the top of the page.)

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 upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.