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Full Story At  Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) - As Detroit’s Big Three automakers flirt with collapse, punished for years of over-dependence on gas-guzzlers, the future of the motor industry would seem to belong to energy conscious rivals such as Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co Ltd.

Not necessarily, say Japanese auto executives.

Honda Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo says “the game is still open” as car-making enters a new phase in which alternative energy sources and power systems will become mainstream, re-writing the rules of a century-old business.

“So far, the majority of cars still run on internal combustion engines,” Kondo told Reuters in a recent interview.

“Sure, there’s all kinds of hype about electric vehicles and hybrids and fuel-cell cars, but no one has the breakthrough technology to bring them into the mainstream.”

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Full Story At msnbc.com

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Disgraced New York Rep. Vito Fossella has been sentenced to five days in jail for drunken driving.

Judge Becky Moore decided Fossella was so drunk he met the legal threshold for a five-day stint in jail. Fossella’s May 1 arrest led to revelations he had fathered a child through an extramarital affair.

Buffeted by questions about his personal secrets, Fossella chose not to seek re-election and will leave Congress next month.

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Full Story At AOL News

One of Utah’s most distinct natural structures has collapsed. The famous Wall Arch in Arches National Park, which had become a favorite stopping point for photographers over the years, gave way to gravity and erosion. “They all let go after a while,” one official says.

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Full Story At CBS News

AP) Police say there’s been an alarming rise in urine-filled plastic containers found along a three-mile stretch of Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon.

A litter crew for the Oregon Department of Transportation picked up an estimated 200-300 urine filled plastic bottles, along the highway, about half of which were found in a short stretch dubbed “Three Mile Hill.”

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Full Story At ABC News

One year after a bridge collapse in Minneapolis killed 13 people, bridge inspections across the country are still fundamentally flawed and inundated with error, according to industry experts and recent studies.
mn bridge
Scene of collapsed Interstate 35W bridge over Mississippi River, Minneapolis, Minnesota
(AP Photo)

Most bridge check-ups are still done visually, which means the risk of error tends to be frequent, according to safety experts. The government has issued no standard for new, updated maintenance equipment since last year’s collapse, which came a full six years after a government study showed bridge inspectors had a poor rate of assessing damage.

Back in 2001 the Federal Highway Administration tested 49 bridge inspectors in 49 states by accompanying them on tests to bridges FHWA officials knew had flaws.

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