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Katrina Damage Judgment Against Corps Tossed By Federal Appeals Court

"The Army Corps of Engineers is not liable for billions of dollars in flood damage in the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish during Hurricane Katrina that a lower court said resulted from the agency's failure to maintain the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday. The corps was immune from damages because of a provision in the law governing suits against the federal government that protects an agency when it makes a discretionary decision."

Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 09/26/2012

"Key Weather Satellite Goes Offline, May Affect Forecasts"

"In the midst of the very active North Atlantic hurricane season, the main weather satellite scientists use for keeping tabs on the weather across eastern North America and the Atlantic Ocean has gone offline. The outage began late on Sept. 23, after a period when the satellite, known as GOES-13, had been experience increasing vibrations, or “noise,” in particular instruments that was degrading its performance. According to the Capital Weather Gang blog, the satellite was put in stand-by mode while engineers work to fix the problem from the ground."

Source: Climate Central, 09/26/2012

"Rare Trout Survives in Just One Stream, DNA Reveals"

"The rare greenback cutthroat trout, Colorado’s state fish, is even more imperiled than scientists thought, a new study suggests. By analyzing DNA sampled from cutthroat trout specimens pickled in ethanol for 150 years, comparing it with the genes of today’s cutthroat populations, and cross-referencing more than 40,000 historic stocking records, researchers in Colorado and Australia have revealed that the fish survives not in five wild populations, but just one."

Source: Green/NYT, 09/26/2012

"US Panel Approves NC Uranium Enrichment Plant"

"RALEIGH, N.C. -- A nuclear power partnership of General Electric Co. and Tokyo-based Hitachi Ltd. received federal approval Tuesday to build the first plant to enrich uranium for use in commercial reactors using a classified laser technology."

Source: AP, 09/26/2012

"Activists Dispute Theory of Mexico Lawmaker Murder"

"MEXICO CITY -- Water-rights activists on Tuesday questioned the theory of Mexican state prosecutors that the killing of a state legislator-elect this month was orchestrated by his designated substitute."

Source: AP, 09/26/2012

"Taxes Threaten a Culture in Georgia"

"SAPELO ISLAND, Ga. -- Once the huge property tax bills started coming, telephones started ringing. It did not take long for the 50 or so people who live on this largely undeveloped barrier island to realize that life was about to get worse. Sapelo Island, a tangle of salt marsh and sand reachable only by boat, holds the largest community of people who identify themselves as saltwater Geechees. Sometimes called the Gullahs, they have inhabited the nation’s southeast coast for more than two centuries. Theirs is one of the most fragile cultures in America."

Source: NY Times, 09/26/2012

"BPA Damages Chromosomes in Monkeys"

"A new study in monkeys provides the strongest evidence yet that an estrogen-like chemical called BPA could alter chromosomes, increasing the risk of birth defects and miscarriages, scientists say."

Source: USA TODAY, 09/26/2012

Great Lakes: "Low Waters and High Anxiety"

25 Senators are asking the White House to spend more money on dredging harbors and channels -- a special problem in the Great Lakes, where near-record low water levels caused by drought and possibly climate change are costing shippers money.

Source: Green/NYT, 09/25/2012

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