[imgbelt img=Langdoninsnow.jpg]There is a “swelling group of rural and suburban homeowners who are tipping the scales in Massachusetts,” reports Jenifer McKim in the Boston Globe.”There are now more foreclosures outside the state’s urban areas than in them, according to a recent study by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, a public nonprofit working to expand affordable housing,” the reporter continues. The study finds that a sluggish economy and high unemployment is pushing foreclosures, not subprime loans and predatory lending. • West Virginians stand the best odds of being in a deer/automobile collision. Iowa drivers have the honor of coming in second in this nightmare for State Farm agents.State Farm, in fact, has compiled accident data from all the states to come up with this list. Go to this spot on the Des Moines Register to see a map of the U.S. We would note that this is state data, which is misleading. Everyone we know in West Texas has had a close encounter with a deer, but the state as a whole ranks among the lowest. See for yourself. • One of the largest contributors to Texas Gov. Rick Perry won the right to dispose of radioactive waste from 36 states in a West Texas landfill last week. The Dallas Morning News thinks the decision reeks. • The foot-and-mouth disease outbreak continues to devastate Korea. Slaughterhouses are working overtime to process healthy pigs and cattle. Since the beginning of the outbreak, 1.4 million cows have been culled.• The U.S. population grew at a 9.7% rate from 1999 to 2009, but the population living in areas served by rural electric cooperatives grew by 24%, according to figures compiled by the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation.Rural coops now cover a good portion of exurban America, where growth has been strong over the last decade. For instance, the growth in Nevada coop territories topped 35%.• Finally, yes, a good portion of the country got snow yesterday. Richard Oswald got 8 inches on his farm in northwest Missouri, above.