"HARRISBURG, Ill. — A pre-dawn twister flattened entire blocks of homes in a small Illinois town Wednesday as violent storms ravaged the Midwest and South, killing at least 12 people in three states."

"When US President Barack Obama proposed a US$664-million cut in congressional funding for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in his 2013 budget request, he tried to ease the pain by replacing much of it with money from other sources. But only days after the 13 February request, a vote on Capitol Hill made clear just how vulnerable those substitutions are, suggesting that the US public-health agency is on increasingly shaky financial ground."

"Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) will introduce legislation Thursday mandating that power companies generate a major portion of the country’s electricity from low-carbon energy sources."

"Plugging the leaks in water pipes and building new ones to keep up with a growing population could cost the United States $1 trillion over the next 25 years, according to an industry study released Monday."

"Exposure to certain pollutants early in a rat’s pregnancy can foster disease in her offspring during their adulthood as well as in subsequent generations, a new study shows. A wide range of pollutants elicited such lasting effects, despite future generations never encountering the triggering pollutant."

The Texas utility formerly known as TXU seems to be turning out a big bust for investors. It's a story that goes back to the political and economic failure of the Bush-era plan to build hundreds of coal-fired electric plants -- and the fact that the go-go pace of natural gas drilling has pushed the price of that commodity down for the long term.

"Struck at the peak of the buyout boom five years ago, the $45 billion acquisition of the Texas energy giant TXU — the biggest leveraged buyout in history — has been a painful investment for its private equity owners.

"The Union of Concerned Scientists has documented 15 'near-misses' at 13 U.S. nuclear plants during 2011 and evaluates the response of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to each event in a report released today."

"From sea to shining sea, Americans love the beach."

"The Bureau of Land Management announced Friday that it has selected a location for the nation's first wild horse ecosanctuary - a privately owned ranch in southeastern Wyoming 30 miles west of Laramie."

"Federal agencies [Monday] released environmental justice strategies, implementation plans and progress reports, outlining steps they will take to protect communities facing serious health and environmental risks, particularly low-income, minority and tribal populations."