We are working on a newsletter for and by Pennsylvania prisoners. One of the topics has to do with quality of life in Philadelphia.
We are looking for sources to find the following info:

Murder Rate (for the last few years, in comparison to other cities [per capita])
The lock up rate, per capita, compared to other cities
Chemicals in the water supply, in comparison
Median Income
Estimated homelessness population
Who owes the most taxes? How much is 'saved' due to tax abatement? Other tax info

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Where and how would I find English language material on the local gods and/or religion practiced in Tai O (a fishing village on one of Hong Kong's outlying islands) or by its people (an ethnic group most commonly known as the Tanka people)?

Takoma Park MD is a nuclear free zone, by ordinance. I'm a member of the NFTPC committee that reports on these issues to the city council. The text of the ordinance calls (in part) for city contracts to be ineligible if made with nuclear weapon manufacturers. [1]

Until ca. 2002, the city relied on an apparently-now-defunct nonprofit in Baltimore called "Nuclear Free America" for a publication called "Prime Nuclear Weapons Contractors: U.S. Departments of Defense and Energy Broad Nuclear Definition - Fiscal Year 2002 With Parent Company/Prime Contractor Cross References." [2] The document has not been released in some time, and tracking down the folks responsible has not been all that useful (although we know who they are and have been in contact). [3]

So here's the question: are there publicly-available resources for researching, on a case-by-case basis, the ties of corporations to manufacture and maintenance of nuclear weaponry? Seems like a good business library should provide the relevant information. We'd want to track known subsidiaries to parent companies, and cross-reference that list to a list of companies known to be in the business of contracting with DOD and DOE on nuclear weapons-related work. For example, a question has come up about "3M."

For just a little bit more about NFTPC you can check out our new-and-not-very-active-yet blog. [4]

[1] Section 14.04.060. See: http://takomaparkmd.gov/code/html/_DATA/TITLE14/Chapter_14_04_NUCLEAR_FREE_ZON.html
[2] For the front matter from the most recent publication, see: http://www.takomaparkmd.gov/clerk/agenda/items/2005/022805-4a.pdf
[3] Richard Torgerson is current, or perhaps immediate-past president of NFA. See his bio here: http://www.progressive-asset.com/who/team.html
[4] http://nftpc.blogspot.com/

Dear Radical Reference,
My organization, Acts of Art, is working with Split This Rock & the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) to create a petition and paper demanding that 1% of the $500 billion stimulus package go to the arts. (In a way similar to the WPA projects). We need to create this 2 page paper pronto! Can you help us find solid statistics & references: 1) how the arts have financially/socially stimulated neighborhoods 2) how art funding has been cut 3) artists in need. Any further direction would be appreciated!
Thank you!
Susan Brennan