WASHINGTON – Federal officials on Friday placed a hold on 20 million chickens raised for market in several states because their feed was mixed with pet food containing the industrial chemical melamine. Three government agencies – the Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency – are overseeing an assessment to determine whether the chickens would pose a threat to human health if eaten, a USDA spokesman said. The assessment may be completed by Monday.
Visas will require all 10 fingerprints
Most foreigners wanting to come to the United States will soon have to bare all – their fingers, that is – when applying for U.S. visas, the State Department said Friday. Instead of scanning the prints of just two fingers of visa applicants, as is now the case, U.S. embassies and consulates are beginning to require scans of all 10 digits to better screen out undesirables, it said. “The department is instituting the 10 finger-scan standard to improve our ability to detect and thwart persons ineligible for visas by raising the accuracy rate in matching fingerscans,” it said in a notice published in Friday’s Federal Register.
California: Mayor returns to L.A.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa cut short a trade mission to Mexico to deal with fallout from the police department’s use of batons and more than 200 rounds of rubber bullets to clear out a park where immigration rights activists were rallying. “I think it is necessary to make sure people know everything is in order and we will conduct a thorough and transparent investigation,” the mayor said Thursday in Mexico. He was expected back in Los Angeles on Friday. The melee occurred with the mayor away on a city mission to Central America.
Pennsylvania: Inmates win lawsuit
A federal judge in Philadelphia sided with three prison inmates who said a state policy involving the opening of their court and legal mail is unconstitutional. Under the policy, certain legal and court mail was opened and checked for contraband in the prison mail room before being delivered to the inmate. The U.S. District judge ruled Thursday that the inmates had a right to be present when their mail was opened. The judge said officials had offered only “scant evidence” of safety and security threats.
New York: Sleepover apology
A Republican state legislator apologized after he was censured and stripped of his committee leadership position for sleeping overnight on the floor of a female intern’s apartment. Assemblyman Michael Cole, a 35-year-old married father of two, had said he walked the intern home from a sports bar April 16 after watching a hockey game. He had said nothing inappropriate occurred and that he spent the night on the apartment floor after he felt he was too drunk to drive. The 21-year-old intern was fired from the program.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
