Blue agave tequila cargo heads to China
MEXICO CITY – Mexico has shipped its first load of blue agave tequila to China in hopes of turning the Asian nation into the biggest market for the alcoholic beverage after the U.S.
The shipment of more than 70,000 bottles contains nearly 14,000 gallons of 100 percent blue agave tequila, considered the best quality.
A Friday ceremony in Guadalajara marked the departure of the $412,000 shipment for the Pacific port of Manzanillo. Mexico says the shipment will arrive in China in 25 to 35 days.
Chinese President Xi Jinping in June lifted the previous import ban on Mexico’s 100 percent blue agave tequila. The methanol content was considered too high until Chinese authorities had a change of opinion after visiting with President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico.
California ban on foie gras upheld
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court ruled Friday that California can keep in place its ban on the sale of foie gras.
In doing so, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals signaled that a lawsuit filed by foie gras producers seeking to invalidate the California law was on its last legs.
The three-judge appeals panel rejected the delicacy producers’ arguments that the ban illegally interferes with commerce and is too vaguely worded, among other claims, indicating the court’s doubts about the underlying lawsuit in the process.
Marcus Henley, the operations manager of New York’s Hudson Valley farm, said he and his lawyers would continue to fight the California law.
The California law bars state farmers from force-feeding birds with a tube, the procedure used to produce foie gras. It also bans sales of the delicacy.
The Legislature concluded tube-feeding birds to engorge their livers is cruel.
Chicago passed a similar law but later repealed it.
Pennsylvania man run over by asphalt roller
MONROEVILLE, Pa. – A construction worker who lost control of an asphalt roller and fell off it on Friday was run over by it but was freed from beneath it and airlifted to a hospital.
The man lost control of the heavy vehicle he was driving in Monroeville, 15 miles east of Pittsburgh, Monroeville police Chief Steven Pascarella said.
Officials at the scene said they believe a hydraulic hose on the roller broke, sending the roller jerking forward.
The man tried to pull the machine, described by police as an asphalt steam roller truck, off the road. But as he pulled over it tipped, throwing him off onto his stomach. The machine rolled over him, trapping him underneath.
Doctors went to the scene and helped free the man, who later was hospitalized in critical condition.
The man, who works for the Cortland, N.Y.-based asphalt products manufacturer Suit-Kote Corp., suffered severe head trauma and blood loss. The company said he was having surgery.
Apple offers trade-in ahead of unveiling
Excited about the new iPhone expected to be unveiled Sept. 10? Apple will now join others in allowing you to trade in your old model.
The company said starting Friday that it would give customers credit for functioning older models at Apple Stores. The credit can be used toward the purchase of a new iPhone, which will be activated in the store.