Morning Edition

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Many Americans will spend extra time at the polls today, not just choosing candidates but also making law. They will vote on a variety of state ballot initiatives, which Josh Goodman of the Pew Center on the States is tracking.

I've printed out here a list of ballot initiatives in various states. And it's more than a page long. It's a ridiculous number. The Oregon Gillnet Fishing Initiative, the Utah Military Property Tax Exemption Amendment, Constitutional Amendment B 2012. We could go on for quite some time. This is quite a list.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And today's last word in business is: Pinching Pennies.

In Garfield, Pennsylvania, the owner of a tattoo shop wanted to spruce up her floors. She could have gone with a nice tile or parquet.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Instead, Mel Angst of the Artisan Tattoo and Coffee Gallery went with pennies - 250,000. She recruited some volunteers, and spent three weeks painstakingly gluing pennies to the floor.

Superstorm Sandy got officials in New York and New Jersey talking about how to prevent flooding in a time of global warming and sea level rise.

But the place on the East Coast that's most vulnerable to flooding is several hundred miles south, around Norfolk, Va. — and Norfolk has already spent many years studying how to survive the rising waters.

Scientists say what Norfolk has learned is especially important in light of new research showing that the coastline from North Carolina to Boston will experience even more sea level rise than other areas.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: