Numbers

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 coal miners who were killed each year before the 1930s

502 Marijuana bales Texas police seized from a truck driver, Louis Mendez, 29, last month. He was arrested and held on a $1 million bond

20,000 tons Estimated weight of the seized narcotics, worth roughly $25 million

20 months Prison term a woman in Japan recently received for blasting music at her neighbor 24 hours a day

20 ft. Distance between the two houses

Sources: Houston Chronicle (2); USA Today (4); AP (4)