San Francisco Is Now the Priciest Housing Market

Elders of the Church of England just couldn't resist the temptation to tinker with the Lord's Prayer. Despite a warning from Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey not to pursue modernity for its own sake, they voted last week to delete the words "lead us not into temptation" from services beginning in 2000. Assuming a review committee and the church's general synod approve, that portion of the prayer will say instead: "save us from the time of trial." Local parishes will be - well -forgiven for continuing to recite the prayer in its traditional form.

The rail system in Germany's Schleswig-Holstein state is about to kiss half its receipts goodbye, at least for the next few weeks. As a new promotion, it's offering a "lovers' discount" beginning Friday that paying passengers may have on request. To qualify, couples must wear special stickers obtained at the ticket window and be willing to engage in a lip-lock when required by the conductors once the trip is under way.

The Day's List San Francisco Is Now the Priciest Housing Market

With a median single-family home resale value of $304,600, the city by the Golden Gate has pushed Honolulu out of first place as the most expensive of 134 metropolitan areas surveyed by the National Association of Realtors. Honolulu had held that distinction since 1989. The least expensive: Waterloo, Iowa., at $64,200. The priciest region is the West, where the median is $163,100. Nationally, it is $124,800, the realtors group says.

The 10 most expensive markets and their respective median prices: 1. San Francisco $304,600 2. Honolulu 300,000 3. Orange County, Calif. 237,400 4. Bergen, N.J. 202,100 5. Boston 195,900 6. Newark, N.J. 192,300 7. San Diego, Calif. 189,000 8. Los Angeles 177,800 9. New York 177,700 10. Middlesex, N.J. 177,400