California population records steady climb
Sacramento, Calif. One of every eight Americans lives in California after the state’s population grew by more than 500,000 for the sixth straight year, state officials said Monday.
California added 539,000 residents in 2004, bringing its estimated population to more than 36.8 million people – or 12.5 percent of the nation’s total. Largest increases: Los Angeles (44,092 gain to 3,957,875); San Diego (14,035 gain to 1,305,736); and San Jose (13,625 gain to 944,857).
Piece of finger found in dessert shop custard
Wilmington, N.C. A man who ordered a pint of frozen chocolate custard in a dessert shop got a nasty surprise inside – a piece of severed finger lost by an employee in an accident.
Unlike a recent incident at a Wendy’s restaurant in California, no questions of truth have been raised about the finger found in a package from Kohl’s Frozen Custard.
On Monday, the owner confirmed one of his employees lost part of a finger in an accident with a food-processing machine.
Media reported that Clarence Stowers found the piece in custard he purchased Sunday night. He said he planned to contact a lawyer.
Indonesia has detected first polio case in years
Jakarta, Indonesia Indonesia has detected its first case of polio in a decade, prompting the government to launch a vaccination campaign expected to reach more than 5 million children, the World Health Organization said today.
A 20-month-old girl was diagnosed with polio April 21. Officials believe she came in contact with a migrant worker or tourist who contracted the disease while outside the country.
The case, the first since 1995, has led to vaccinations in four villages.
Chinese mainland visit heats politics in Taiwan
Taipei, Taiwan Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian on Monday offered peace talks with Beijing, apparently seeking to gain the high ground as a political rival visits the Chinese mainland.
Today, China announced it was giving a pair of giant pandas to the people of Taiwan plus concessions on fruit imports and tourism in symbolic and concrete gestures apparently designed to give opposition leader Lien Chan something to take home.
Implicit in Chen’s speech during a visit to the Marshall Islands was the message that Chinese leaders should talk to him, the president, not to Lien, the man he has defeated at the polls.