OLYMPIA — Everyone would like to have more time and money; Dee Williams of Olympia achieves that by living in a home the size of a child’s treehouse.

In her effort to help the environment, Williams built and moved into an 84-square-foot house.

:I love my little home," said Williams, 44. » read more

"No" votes took a big lead over "Yes" votes in the epic battle over Ballot Measure 4.

With more than half of the votes counted, Measure 4 was losing by a large margin. But still out was much of the Bush vote -- including the Bristol Bay region, where many residents are concerned about the massive, controversial Pebble copper and gold prospect.

The fight over the proposed law pitted salmon against mining in a multimillion-dollar ad war that inundated Alaskans for months, and confused many of them. » read more

ARLINGTON, Texas _ The water and sediment of the Trinity River near Fort Worth and Dallas continue to show elevated levels of the pollutant that prompted a 2002 ban on consumption of fish from the stream, according to samples collected this spring and summer.

Although modest improvements have been made downriver, concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, continue to be found in fish tissue, in-stream water, sediment and wastewater discharges, said Kirk Dean, a water-quality expert with Austin-based Parsons, which is studying the Trinity River for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

PCB levels exceeded the water-quality criteria in 13 of 15 samples taken from the Trinity River. Levels were higher in older, dense urban areas and lower near suburbs and rural areas. » read more