379 Number of homicides committed in Houston in 2006, a 12-year high and a 13.5% increase over 2005
148,000 Jump in Houston's 2006 population, due largely to Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Houston's mayor cited the influx as a major reason for the crime surge
13,012 Number of earmarks--provisions in congressional bills to fund items not requested in the bill--in 2006, more than four times the amount in 1996
$67.1 billion Value of the 2006 earmarks, more than triple that of 1996
47 Number of coal-miner deaths in 2006, a 10-year high, reversing an 80-year trend of steady decreases
2,295 Average number of...