National (U.S.)

"Dave Mauser walked the edge of a mudflat, peering underneath the dried brown rushes where one coot after another had gone to hide and then die."

"'The failure of the U.S. nuclear power program ranks as the largest managerial disaster in business history, a disaster on a monumental scale.' The rant of an antinuclear activist? Hardly. It was the first sentence of an in-depth story in a conservative business magazine, Forbes.  In 1985."

"To the delight of flower lovers, fruit trees have exploded with early vibrant blossoms across the Midwest. But to fruit farmers these early blooms inspire more distress than delight. If the flowers are hit by a frost and die, the trees' fruit crops will die with them."

"ALBUQUERQUE -- New Mexico, Arizona and more than two dozen other states could face increased threats to water supplies if they don't do more to plan for rising temperatures and changes in rain and snowfall patterns, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Natural Resources Defense Council."

"Eleven environmental organizations are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to force it to better regulate toxic coal ash and citing recent groundwater contamination at 29 coal ash dump sites in 16 states, including two in Western Pennsylvania."

"WASHINGTON — Federal food safety inspectors said a proposal by the Agriculture Department to expand a pilot program that allows private companies to take over the inspections at poultry plants could pose a health risk by allowing contaminated meat to reach customers.""Currently, the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service inspectors are stationed along the assembly lines in poultry plants and examine the birds for blemishes, feces or visible defects before they are processed."

"Federal agents interviewed new witnesses this week in an ongoing investigation of government scientists that's been called 'polar bear-gate,' according to the scientists' lawyer."

"The controversial probe, now entering its third year, is looking into allegations of scientific misconduct related to a 2006 report by wildlife researchers Charles Monnett and Jeffrey Gleason, who described seeing dead polar bears floating in Arctic waters.

"Texas tornadoes that hit the Dallas area Tuesday resulted in no fatalities, in part due to timely warnings. But a new model could improve tornado warning times dramatically."

Cattle grazed on land containing abandoned uranium mines in the West are being sold for food. What hazards, if any, this may present to people consuming the beef are unknown.

"Darren Collins doesn't know life without Lyme disease. He was just 11 months old when he came home from Wisconsin's Mauthe Lake Campground pasty white, lethargic and running a fever of 105. Darren's flu-like illness eventually subsided, but a host of other troubling Lyme-related symptoms -- stomachaches, irritability and concentration problems -- have since plagued the boy, now 10."