Beach ripped out for oil cleanup AVILA BEACH, Calif. (AP) - Hard times closed businesses. El Nino storms flooded streets and ripped up piers jutting out from this California beach town. But it took a leaky petroleum pipeline to force the demolition of the entire commercial beachfront - at the peak of the summer season. The last shop owners tore down posters and shuffled out boxes of swimsuits Sunday. An ocean breeze carried the putrid smell of oil from a slick floating atop an algae-green-colored pool at the bottom of a huge pit. Summer has been canceled at Avila Beach. Unocal Corp., making good on its promise to clean up a 400,000-gallon plume of diesel, crude oil and gasoline that has leaked into the ground under the town for decades, began the cleanup in the fall. It is scheduled to be finished in time to reopen the beach next summer. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559826135-a04> 6 red pandas born in India zoo NEW DELHI, India (AP) - Six Himalayan red panda cubs were born in one year in a zoo in northeastern India, a rare feat in breeding the endangered animals in captivity, a news report said Friday. Four cubs were in one litter and two others were born separately in the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling, Press Trust of India reported. The report did not say when the cubs were born. The town is about 875 miles east of New Delhi. The red panda lives in the temperate forest belt of the Eastern Himalayan ranges. It feeds on roots, fruits, tender leaves, insects and eggs. The animal is often killed for its rich chestnut red fur. ###
