Urban News

(MIAMI) -- Officials in Miami say that south Florida has become the site of the latest scandal involving alleged irregularities at a crematory. The Miami Herald is reporting that investigators have shut down a facility called the Oakwood Cremation Service, following charges that the company had been operating for some time without the proper licenses.

Agents from the state of Florida spent most of Friday inside what is described as a small, two-story building in a north Miami industrial complex.

The manager of the establishment was arrested. Nineteen bodies were found. Two were transferred to a licensed funeral home, the others were kept in city care.

The arrest is a part of an ongoing investigation of unlicensed funeral and crematory facilities in the area.

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) -- If you've ever flown into the Kansas City International Airport you know the huge jetport is quite a hike from downtown. As a matter of fact you pass the old, obsolete airport just as you enter the downtown sector. It was phased out because of its proximity to many downtown buildings and, being built on a bend in the river, it was not economically feasible to expand the runways.

Now the Kansas City Star newspaper says the construction of a huge convention center on the far north side of the K.C. metropolitan area will provide meeting space much closer to the newer airport and could help increase the popularity of the underused facility.

The new KCI Expo Center is even "airport-themed" to cash in on its proximity to the field. Since its opening, just a month ago, it's been booked each weekend for trade shows. Everything from auto auctions to a convention of elk breeders has been booked into the new venue for the coming weeks.

(HOUSTON) -- The real estate market is on the upswing in the Houston area, again. A study of the local housing market, commissioned by the Houston Chronicle newspaper, shows that sizable gains were made during the past year, in spite of the devastating blow suffered by the local economy because of the Enron collapse.

Looking at the entire Houston metropolitan area, the survey shows that home sales rose at what is called a "healthy rate" in 2001, some 6.7 percent.

Some sectors of the housing market, although registering gains, did not post percentages as good. The city's most upscale neighborhood -- River Oaks -- saw home values rise at about 5.7 percent. The average price of a home there is nearly $1 million, or about $258 per square foot.

(SALT LAKE CITY) -- The head of the Mormon Church says the exposure given to Salt Lake City during the recent Winter Games helped raise the visibility of the sect and "dispel some of the church's image as being full of zealots."

Although church leaders tell the media that the religion tried stay out of the limelight during the February games, the church's current president -- Gordon B. Hinckley -- says the media coverage of the city did much to dispel many "negative images" of the LDS church.

Hinckley, who is 91, made the comments during a conference of leaders of the church at its Salt Lake City headquarters; more information is available at mormon.org on the Internet.