Source: InForum.com- Amy Dalrymple, 10/5/12

State says oil extraction not to blame, but other experts say there’s not yet enough data

WILLISTON, N.D. – A rare earthquake near here last week wasn’t strong enough for people to notice, but that doesn’t mean it was insignificant.

While the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources says it’s unlikely oil development caused it, some quake experts say it can’t be ruled out.

The Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology detected a 3.3 magnitude earthquake about 12 miles south-southeast of Williston at 5:53 a.m. Sept. 28 under the Missouri River or along the river, said Deborah Smith, a seismic analyst.

Source: VolcanoDiscovery.com, By T, 10/5/12

Huff Post - Daniel Trotta/Reuters, 10/2/12

Oct 2 (Reuters) - U.S. traffic deaths rose 9 percent in the first half of 2012 compared with the same period last year, breaking a 5-year downward trend, according to preliminary data that experts cannot yet explain.

Road accidents killed 16,290 people from January through June, the most since 2009, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a preliminary report that does not examine causes.

To read the rest of this story, visit HuffingtonPost.com.

SeattleTimes.com - AP, 10/4/12

New wildfires burning on both the east and west sides of Washington are threatening homes and prompting officials to plead with residents to obey burn bans and be cautious in tinder-dry conditions.

A new wildfire that started Thursday northeast of Shelton in Western Washington threatened 100 structures, including at least a dozen homes, and grew to 150 acres by late Thursday, fire spokeswoman Sarah Foster said.

To read the rest of this story, visit SeattleTimes.com.

RollingStone.com - Tim Dickenson, 10/4/12

The truth behind that $5 trillion tax cut, pre-existing conditions and more

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney at the first Presidential Debate. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages)

Mitt Romney turned in a polished performance in last night's presidential debate – and revealed himself to be an accomplished and unapologetic liar. In an evening where he sought to slice and dice the president with statistics, Romney baldly misrepresented his own policy prescriptions, made up numbers to fit his attacks and buried clear contrasts with the president under a heaping pile of horseshit.

Here are mendacious Mitt's five most outrageous statements: