NEWS ROUNDUP

Interior Dept. IG Reports Security Lapses in Parks . In report to be publicly released today, Inspector General Earl E. Devaney criticizes the National Park Service for "lackadaisical" security procedures, ineffective patrols and staffing, and a "nonchalance" among some officials who do not accept the potential threat... Wildfires Grow, Force Evacuations. CAMP SHERMAN, Ore. - Two big wildfires jumped containment lines Thursday in central Oregon, again forcing the evacuation of about 300 residents of this mountain community, officials said...Judge Throws Out Obesity Suit Against McDonalds . A federal judge on Thursday threw out a revised lawsuit against McDonald's Corp . that accused the fast food restaurant of using misleading advertising to lure children into eating unhealthy foods that make them fat...2003 U.S. Apple Harvest Officially Gets Underway. The 2003 U.S. apple harvest is now officially underway, the industry's national trade group announced today. And there is plenty of new skinny about this old food favorite this year: more flavors, new pre-cut products and health research news suggesting apples may help us get skinny, among other health benefits...Soaring Cattle Prices . The U.S. cattle industry is enjoying one of its best years ever -- even if it's largely at the expense of its huge trading partner and neighbor, Canada. U.S. cash cattle prices traded this week near the record highs last seen a decade ago, and feedlots are now raking in unheard-of profits of $150 to $200 for each fattened steer and heifer they sell to beef plants...And read about the Fainting Goats. The stranger arrived in Caney Spring, Tenn., in the early months of 1880, gave his name as John Tinsley. His accent marked him as foreign; from Nova Scotia, some said. Hard to say. He seems not to have been a very outgoing man. He didn't stay long and might, after a time, have faded from the local lore. Except he brought four goats with him, three does and a buck that would have grabbed the attention of anybody who saw them. A local doctor wrote in the early 1930s: "On being suddenly startled in any manner they fall to the ground with their entire bodies becoming perfectly rigid and stiff, giving the appearance of an epileptic fit this condition lasts for about 10 or 15 seconds after which the animal arises and walks off."