Dead Rats & 5,000 Solar Panels | 4M #129

Welcome to the hundred-and-twenty-ninth edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, 4M #129, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!

Not for sale

A new bill headed to the Minnesota House of Representatives will make selling human remains in the state a felony. Unbelievably, Minnesota is one of only a handful of states to make the sale of human cremains, skulls, and other bones against the law. The proposed language makes exceptions for law enforcement and emergency management organizations, donation of human remains for medical and educational purposes, and “any sale that is incidental to the sale of real property.” The move may have been inspired partly by last year’s Harvard Medical School remains-selling scandal, in which a Minnesota man was one of six perpetrators.

Warning: “Scary, filthy” content 

An Illinois funeral director has “agreed never to reapply for his funeral director or embalmer license in the state” after a complaint surfaced about the “scary, filthy, freak show” condition of his embalming room. The complaint, which was filed with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation more than 10 weeks ago, reported “horrific” conditions, including pipes spraying water from overhead, piles of dirty sheets, and a rotting dead rat in a stairwell. An anonymously-recorded video of the embalming room is being shared by at least one news outlet, but the accused director has not verified its authenticity, despite agreeing to permanently revoke his license.

Solar cemetery

Residents of a French village have each paid $5.20 to buy into a project that will cover the local cemetery with 86,111 square feet of solar panels. The 5,000 panels within the structure will not only provide shade for the property, but will also produce electricity to be shared by the 4,000 villagers and collect rainwater for a nearby sports complex.

NIMBYism

Opening a new business or adding a location isn’t ever easy, but it’s a lot harder when your potential neighbors really don’t want you moving in. Two deathcare operation owners on opposite ends of the globe are facing opposition from folks who are vocal advocates of NIMBYism, a.k.a. “Not In My Backyard.” In Perth, Australia, a community is concerned that a proposed funeral home has the “potential to ‘haunt’ daily life, fearing it could affect local mental health, deter visits to nearby shops, and lead to social isolation.” Meanwhile, back in the USA, a vocal Baltimore group is campaigning that laws be enacted to block crematoriums from being constructed in certain neighborhoods. They cite concerns that the “burning of human remains along with things like implants or prosthetics create health risks.” In fact, a Maryland senator has introduced legislation that would require new crematoriums to be located 1,000 feet away from schools, homes and businesses.

What’ve they done now?

Would it even be a 4M without an update on the ongoing Return to Nature saga? Sadly, there has been plenty to report lately. This week, Return to Nature co-owner Carie Hallford — who was just released from jail late last month on a $100,000 bond — will return to court this week after missing a sobriety test. The court-ordered test was part of her bond agreement, so she now has to appear for a hearing where her bond could be either raised or revoked. (SMH …)