Around the Nation

National

Attorneys Assigned To Fort Hood Shooter Want To Back Out

5:48pm August 07, 2013

There was an unexpected hold-up on day two of the court martial of Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, accused of gunning down fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. His "standby" attorneys have told the judge that don't believe it's ethical for them to keep assisting a man who they believe is trying to get the death penalty.

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Fox Ranch, outside Yuma County, Colo., is a 14,000-acre nature preserve and working commercial cattle ranch. The ranch is used by the Nature Conservancy to put into practice its panned grazing technique.

Environment

Ecologists Turn To Planned Grazing To Revive Grassland Soil

4:24pm August 07, 2013

by Luke Runyon

The world's soil is in trouble. Ecologists say without dramatic changes to how we manage land, vast swathes of grassland are at risk of turning into hard-packed desert. To make sure that doesn't happen, researchers are testing out innovative ways to keep moisture in the soil.

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People following a 5-2 diet would eat lean protein and non-starchy vegetables two days a week.

Two-Day Diets: How Mini Fasts Can Help Maximize Weight Loss

9:34am August 07, 2013

by Allison Aubrey

The idea of intermittent mini-fasting seems to be gaining traction. The appeal: Dieters have to restrict calories for only two days a week. Research suggests this approach is more effective than trying to cut back on calories 24/7.

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Want To Be A Chicken Farmer? Try It Before You Commit

5:24am August 07, 2013

by Gigi Douban

The idea of raising backyard chickens has become very popular. But people who follow through on the idea don't always know what they are getting into. So a few companies are letting would-be chicken farmers try out the experience — for a fee.

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The Washington Post is now in its seventh straight year of declining revenues, says the paper's chairman, Donald Graham. Rather than continue to watch the paper struggle, Graham and Publisher Katharine Weymouth decided to look for a buyer.

With An Industry In Turmoil, Why Buy A Newspaper Company?

8:20pm August 06, 2013

by David Folkenflik

The news that billionaire Jeff Bezos has purchased The Washington Post came shortly after Red Sox owner John Henry agreed to buy The Boston Globe. That's left many scratching their heads as to why a successful businessperson would take on a paper when revenues are plummeting.

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Nate Pike fears that wells, like this one that supplies his ranch with water, will dry up completely after years of water pumping and irrigation in Kansas.

Wells Are Running Dry In Parts Of Kansas

7:27pm August 06, 2013

by Frank Morris

New pumping and irrigation systems made it easy for farmers to extract billions of gallons of water from the High Plains Aquifer. But now, parts of the aquifer are dried out, prompting a debate over how to preserve what once seemed to be an almost inexhaustible resource.

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Newark Mayor Cory Booker speaks about his Senate campaign, outside the Grove Path Station in Jersey City, N.J., last month.

Cory Booker: Supermayor Or Self-Promoter?

7:25pm August 06, 2013

by Joel Rose

Voters in New Jersey go to the polls next week in a special primary election for a U.S. Senate seat. No one on the ballot has more name recognition than the Newark mayor, considered a Democratic rising star. But Booker's critics say he's been more focused on his ambitions than on governing.

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Trains that once deposited travelers for shopping and dining in dusty Sierra Blanca, Texas, no longer stop here. Interstates further eroded the local economy as more people chose to live and shop in El Paso, 85 miles away.

National

Border Drug Busts Putting Strain On Texas County's Budget

7:25pm August 06, 2013

The federal immigration checkpoint in Hudspeth County rounds up a lot more illegal drugs than undocumented immigrants. The feds used to help the county prosecute the low-level drug cases, but that money is drying up and the county is going to stop bringing minor cases to court, much to the sheriff's displeasure.

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Louis Marcell and Adam Jones prepare to search for old logs, known as sinker wood, on the bottom of Ashley River near Charleston, S.C. They use sonar and a book of old train lines to find the timber, some of which has been preserved in the mud since the 1

Dredging South Carolina's Rivers For Long-Forgotten Timber

12:56pm August 06, 2013

by Sam Harnett

Dense forests of old-growth pines and cypress once blanketed South Carolina. As farming spread, nearly all the state's virgin trees were logged, but some sank into rivers en route to the sawmills. Now, some entrepreneurs are raising the preserved trees from the muck — and selling them for big money.

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Maj. Nidal Hasan faces 13 charges of murder and 32 of attempted murder for the November 2009 shootings at Fort Hood, Texas.

National

Court-Martial To Begin Tuesday In Fort Hood Shooting Rampage

10:59am August 06, 2013

by Doreen McCallister

Former Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan is charged with opening fire in a troop processing center at Fort Hood, Texas, and killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others in 2009.

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