"President Barack Obama will make a visit to Charlottesville, Va. on Friday to rally for Tom Perriello, the vulnerable freshman Democrat who has championed a number of White House causes in the past two years."

A small earthquake in a part of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are where quakes aren't expected raises concerns about flooding from future levee failures.

"The central U.S. was hit Tuesday with a massive storm with wind gusts up to 81 mph. The storm snapped trees and power lines, ripped off roofs, delayed flights and soaked commuters hunched under crumpled umbrellas. The storm spanned from the Dakotas to the eastern Great Lakes. The unusual system had barometric pressure similar to a Category 3 hurricane, but with much less destructive power."

"A growing number of creatures could disappear from the earth, with one-fifth of all vertebrates and as many as a third of all sharks and rays now facing the threat of extinction, according to a new survey assessing nearly 26,000 species across the globe."

"The South Pacific island nation of Palau has declared all the waters within its Exclusive Economic Zone to be a marine mammal sanctuary for the protection of whales, dolphins, and dugongs."

"Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania signed an executive order on Tuesday effectively banning further natural gas development on state forest lands."