While most eyes in government are on Congress and how it handles the ongoing debt crisis, some Interior Department officials are studying what options they have if a "lapse in appropriations" arrives at midnight September 30.

Crews at Joshua Tree National Park in California are continuing to cleanup flood debris from a storm early this month, but there's no timetable for when roads and trails closed by the mess will reopen to the public.

With the clock, and the calendar, ticking closer to congressional gridlock over the country's debt ceiling, how might the National Park Service react if October 1 arrives without an increase in the ceiling?

A plan to pump groundwater from beneath the desert and send it to thirsty cities in southern California has attracted a rather unusual group of opponents, including a Republican Congressman, a Democratic Senator, conservation groups, a mining company, a labor union and ranchers. Now the latest wrinkle in the debate involves a proposal for steam train excursion trips into the Mohave Desert.