The Department of Energy has doubled its 2005 commitment to funding research into biofuels any non-petroleum fuel source, including corn, soybean, switchgrass, municipal waste and (ick) used cooking oil. Municipal waste, wood pulp and leftover grain and corn husks are all quite attractive; they can produce something called cellulosic ethanol, which contains more energy than corn. That's why researchers are prospecting for more alternatives, preferably ones that don't rely on food crops or...

BY HEATHER AUGUSTYN Times Correspondent LAPORTE . Members of a local group that opposed an expressway through southern Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties are supporting their neighbors, who face a struggle similar to the one that took place in their own backyards. BY HEATHER AUGUSTYN Times Correspondent LAPORTE . Members of a local group that opposed an expressway through southern Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties are supporting their neighbors, who face a struggle similar to the one that...

Government Accountability Office dropped a quiet little bombshell: a report on peak oil concluding that there is an urgent need for a swift, coordinated government strategy to assess and develop alternative energy technologies to avert severe economic damage. Government Accountability Office dropped a quiet little bombshell: a report on peak oil concluding that there is an urgent need for a swift, coordinated government strategy to assess and develop alternative energy technologies to...

In the letter, Fletcher wrote that crop yield losses are expected to be widespread in the state due to lower than normal rainfall and high temperatures. There are alternative feed sources farmers can use, such as soybean hulls, corn gluten and distillers grain. It could be a long, cold winter for Scott County farmers who rely on hay to feed their livestock. It all comes back to the drought, as Reese said farmers have already had to begin feeding hay to livestock because pastures have dried...

NEWTON, Iowa - Soon the only items coming out of Newton bearing the Maytag name will be the blue cheese made famous at the farms created by the appliance giant's founding family. Before October ends, the final few hundred washer-dryer assembly workers at the immense Plant 2 at Maytag corp.'s world headquarters will clock out and get their last paychecks, shuttering an operation that had employed as many as 2,600 workers only five years ago. Before October ends, the final few hundred...