Your customized headlines for Mon, Mar 5, 2012

Every day, inspectors in white hats and coats take up positions at every one of the nation's slaughterhouses, eyeballing the hanging carcasses of cows and chickens as they shuttle past on elevated rails, looking for bruises, tumors and signs of contamination.

BOOTHEVILLE, La. — A settlement that BP is working out with victims of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will provide a system for monitoring health concerns and compensating people whose illnesses are found to have a link to the disaster.

Developer Edens plans to host a James Beard Foundation dinner featuring a heavyweight roster of D.C. chefs at the Capital City Market in June, a kickoff for the firm's effort to transform the dilapidated wholesale district into a culinary destination for local foodies and chefs alike.

by Steven Pearlstein

In case you haven't noticed, the economy is actually getting better. Noticeably better.

Yes, it's been painfully slow in coming, as we continue to tack against strong headwinds coming from Europe and the Middle East as well as the strong ebb tide created by the wind-down of fiscal stimulus. And certainly the recovery has been halting and uneven.

On Friday, GM announced it was halting production of the Chevrolet Volt until April, so as to maintain "proper inventory levels." Sales of the electric vehicle have been disappointing, with the company missing its target of 10,000 Volts sold last year. Why hasn't the car caught on?