Cattle industry struggling with beef glut: "A glut in the beef market will mean good news for bargain-hungry barbecuers but bad news for the struggling cattle industry. Drought conditions in many cattle-ranching areas of the country also will increase the feed costs even as profits drop."

Colorado fires burn out of control: "The fire season in Colorado has started earlier than usual as a result of a drought that has made the forests of ponderosa and lodgepole pine tinder-dry."

'Cooler Houston' Plan Aims to Reduce Temperature and Improve Air Quality: "Researchers at the Houston Advanced Research Center have received a grant from Houston Endowment to create a "Cooler Houston Implementation Plan," a strategy aimed at reducing temperatures in Houston while, at the same time, improving air quality."

Study indicates slight ferry slowdown could save lots of fuel: "Thousands of gallons of diesel fuel can be saved by slowing Seattle ferries by a couple of knots in off-peak runs, state officials say - and they're going for it."

Drinking water quality a neglected issue: "[Pakinstan's] Federal Minister for Environment Barrister Shahida Jamil believes that the regeneration of drinking water quality and quantity should have been given top priority in 14 core programmes identified in the 10-year-old document of the National Conservation Strategy."

Most oil polluting the oceans comes from runoff, rivers, small boats, not tanker spills: "Leaking oil tankers produce dramatic photos, but a new study says the vast majority of the human-related petroleum released into U.S. coastal waters comes from consumers, not the ships that carry the oil."

XP makeover highlights antitrust tweaks: "Microsoft is finalizing a major makeover for Windows XP that's intended to make it easier for consumers to choose third-party software over Microsoft's own products."

Regarding the location of Chandra Levy's body, Jenn said:

"I recently moved from DC. I used to live a few hundred yards from the park, near the Naval Observatory. Washingtonians joke that there are two commonly known places to dump bodies. One is the Potomac River, off the southwest quadrant of the city (aka, "the hood"). The other is Rock Creek Park. The word "park" is misleading. This isn't Central Park. This is a place run by the National Parks Service -- a "national park" would be a more accurate description. The north part of the park (north of the zoo, starting about where Klingle Mansion is) is very heavily wooded. There are boulders and cliffs and ravines and of course, the Rock Creek. The area that the police searched the park early on, but they concentrated about a mile south -- near Klingle Mansion. Let me reinerate that this is a very wooded, rocky park. Chandra's body was found in a drop-off (the "cliff" where the land dips down towards the marshy creek run-off). I've always felt very safe in the park. It's not some place I would hang out in by myself at night, simply because it's the woods. But I find it hard to believe that a killer was out there on a hiking trail waiting for a victim to bludgeon. I think it's much more likely this was someone who knew her, and either killed her there, or dumped her in a place where she wouldn't likely be found. I can't speak as to whether or not this is a "professional job." There are probably dozens of more bodies in the park that still haven't been unearthed. Keep her and her family in your thoughts, but let's not put Chandra on trial. We don't know the facts yet. Hopefully they'll come to light."

I'm now scraping InstaPundit hourly with RssDistiller. The RSS file is here.

Coca-Cola reselling old soda in poorer neighborhoods: "Several employees of Coca-Cola Co. have accused the soft drink maker of repackaging nearly out-of-date soda cans and bottles and then reselling them at stores in minority neighborhoods."