Miami-Dade OKs Indian site takeover MIAMI (AP) - Commissioners of Miami-Dade County have decided to go to court to take over a riverfront site where a developer wants to remove 500- to 700-year-old Indian ruins to make way for apartments. The commissioners voted 10-1 on Thursday to ask a judge to allow them to seize the 2.2-acre site from developer Michael Baumann through eminent domain. "I'd rather be on the side of preserving history than on the side of destroying history," Mayor Alex Penelas said. Archaeologists say the ruins could be part of a ceremonial temple built by the Tequesta, a tribe of about 10,000 Indians who lived in the area before war and disease wiped them out in the 1500s. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558510034-a96> U.S. approves Ga. woodpecker plan WASHINGTON (AP) - The Clinton administration has approved a paper company's plan to develop a conservation bank for the endangered red cockaded woodpecker in southwest Georgia. Jamie Clark, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the plan developed by International Paper Co. marks the first time under the Endangered Species Act that a private landowner has committed to increasing the numbers of an endangered species. The plan, developed by company biologists in consultation with the Environmental Defense Fund, calls for the paper company to manage 5,300 acres at its Southlands Forest as woodpecker habitat, including installing artificial cavities for the birds and creating new areas of nesting and foraging. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558511044-aaf Acid leak threatens England site GREATHAM, England (AP) - Environmental teams were struggling Friday to dilute acid that leaked into a protected marshland popular with migrating birds. A drain at Tioxide Europe Ltd.'s Greatham Works plant failed Wednesday, sending hydrochloric acid on to the 750,000-square-foot marsh in northeast England. The marsh has been designated a site of "special scientific interest" for attracting many species of birds. "It is one of the worst incidents I have attended," said Steve Hardy, an environmental protection officer. "It was as acidic as you get." About half the site was affected, he said. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558514565-a4c> Performance of lesbian play banned CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Organizers of a festival honoring promising young playwrights have excluded one of five winning entries from tonight's performances because its central characters are lesbians. The festival sponsors, Children's Theatre of Charlotte and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, said discussion of sexual orientation was not appropriate for the program's middle and high school audiences. The sponsors had told students in advance that winners could be deemed inappropriate for production. The play is about two adult women, one visually impaired, who meet, talk and fall in love. "I still consider it discrimination," said Samantha Gellar, 17, whose play "Life Versus the Paperback Romance" won't be performed at the Charlotte Young Playwrights Festival. ###
