"The toll from a major tornado on Sunday in Joplin, Missouri has risen to 89 confirmed deaths, local officials said."

"A dire drought that has plagued Texas and parts of Oklahoma expanded across the key farming state of Kansas over the last week, adding to struggles of wheat farmers already dealing with weather-ravaged fields."

"Members of Congress are asking the Food and Drug Administration to issue a voluntary recall of two hair-straightening treatments sold in salons under the brand name Brazilian Blowout, citing concerns about unacceptably high levels of formaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen."

The oil industry's hold on Congress was illustrated by the Senate's rejection of a Democratic effort to repeal some taxpayer subsidies of the oil giants. A new chart makes clear the connection between oil-industry campaign donations and Senators' support of subsidies.

"In response to opposition by the Center for Biological Diversity, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has stayed approval of a settlement agreement between WildEarth Guardians and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service until June 20 and ordered all parties, including the Center, back into mediation."

"U.S. government forecasters announced Thursday they expect three to six major hurricanes from an above-average Atlantic storm season."

"Members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have trumped the agency chairman and forced the release of unredacted safety reports on the proposed nuclear waste repository in Yucca Mountain, Nev."

"A team of independent investigators has concluded that a corporate culture at Massey Energy put coal production before safety, prompting a collection of major safety infractions that caused the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster." Their report also faulted state and federal mine safety regulators for lax enforcement.

"A dead zone -- already the size of the state of New Jersey -- is growing in the Gulf of Mexico, fueled by nutrient runoff from the swollen Mississippi River."

"The California Chamber of Commerce routinely denounces bills that protect workers, consumers and the environment as job killers. But when the bills become law, there's no economic catastrophe."