The New York Times leads with the dam that broke earlier this week in Tennessee
and created what "may be the nation's largest spill of coal ash." As
hundreds of acres are covered with the byproduct of coal burning at the
Kingston Fossil Plant, environmentalists and officials are fiercely
reigniting a debate over its potential toxicity and residents are
unsure about what they should do. The Washington Post leads with new data that show U.S. consumers increased spending in November for the first time since May.
Consumers had more disposable income, largely thanks to falling energy
prices. But analysts warn this shouldn't be seen as a sign that the
economy is making a comeback because energy prices aren't likely to
fall much further and Americans seemed motivated to spend mostly due to
the deep discounts that retailers have been offering in an attempt to
save the holiday shopping season. The Los Angeles Times leads
with a look at how the Great Recession is affecting colleges across the
country. Alumni of some big institutions are receiving mixed messages
from their alma matters that sometimes insist everything is fine only
to turn around and beg for cash.
"More than one president has sent out a relatively rosy assessment,
only to follow up with news of cutbacks, hiring freezes and canceled
projects," says the LAT. While smaller institutions have
always been jealous of the huge endowments at big research
universities, this may actually work in their favor this time around
because they rely on tuition and other fees for most of their budget. To continue reading, click here.