21.   Baltimore is among the also-rans, trailing only Gary, Ind., New Orleans, and Detroit for the highest rates.

22.   Bankruptcies, he said, were at the highest rate in history.

23.   Because it charges the highest rates in the continental U.S., Lilco will find it hard to compete when deregulation comes.

24.   Black men, the study found, have the highest rate of pharyngeal cancers in the United States, and are less likely to survive than whites.

25.   Boston used to have the highest rate of car theft in the nation, but that year thieves were giving cars back.

26.   Both have large nuclear plant debt and charge the highest rates in the state.

27.   Black women have the highest rate, followed by Hispanics.

28.   -- Blacks and people with low socioeconomic status have the highest overall rates for both new cancers and deaths.

29.   A new study conducted by Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco revealed that people living in that area had the highest rate of asthma hospitalizations.

30.   A surprising side effect of the merger mania among Boston banks surfaced Wednesday when area banks began paying the highest rates in the nation for short-term deposits.