"MINERVA, N.Y. -- A 250-foot waterfall, one of the tallest in the Northeast, tumbles over giant slabs of marble. A chain of 13 crystalline lakes and ponds teems with bass and lake trout. A 10-mile stretch of the Hudson River gorge winds through dense stands of hemlock, white pine and red maple."

"Japanese authorities, now struggling to contain leaks of radioactive groundwater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, were urged two years ago by U.S. experts to take immediate steps to prevent groundwater contamination but decided not to act on the advice."

"The U.S. government rejected the sale of coal in Wyoming after an auction drew the lowest top bid in 15 years, as the outlook for the power-plant fuel weakens because of cheap natural gas and new rules coming out this week."

A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control ranks the causes of the antibiotic resistance in bacteria that kills an estimated 23,000 Americans every year. One surprise is the finding that hospitals are an even bigger source of resistant bacteria than are food animal feeding operations.