Meat entering U.S. despite concerns
Washington More than 4.4 billion pounds of Canadian meat and poultry made its way into U.S. grocery stores despite government officials’ warnings that Canada wasn’t doing enough to assure the safety of its food products.
A report by the Agriculture Department inspector general found that food safety officials in the department warned two years ago that public health was at risk, yet agency brass refused to limit shipments from Canada, and the department says it can’t take final action on Canada’s inspection system until November 2007. Canadian officials say they have taken steps to fix the problems.
The Agriculture Department said Monday it addressed problems at individual plants, some of which lost export privileges. “In no instance was public health placed at risk,” said Richard Raymond, undersecretary for food safety.
Both wings of seaplane had cracks, probe finds
Miami The seaplane that crashed off Miami Beach last month, killing all 20 people aboard, had fatigue cracks in both wings, a preliminary federal report said Monday.
The right wing of the Chalk’s Ocean Airways plane separated from the fuselage shortly before the Dec. 19 crash, and investigators had earlier found cracks on the right wing’s support beam. But the new report by the National Transportation Safety Board on Monday revealed that the left wing had fatigue cracks as well.
The 58-year-old, G-73 Turbine Mallard plummeted into the ocean minutes after taking off for the Bahamas.
Ferry pilot sentenced for 2003 crash
New York The pilot at the helm of a Staten Island ferry during a 2003 crash that killed 11 people was sentenced Monday to a harsher-than-expected 18 months in prison. The city’s former ferry director was sentenced to one year in prison.
Assistant Capt. Richard Smith apologized to victims’ families and recalled how he was too exhausted to have been working that day.
The ferry director, Patrick Ryan, apologized to the families of the victims before he was sentenced to one year and a day.
Smith, 57, pleaded guilty in 2004 to negligent manslaughter and concealing his high blood pressure and a prescription for a powerful painkiller on a Coast Guard pilot’s license renewal form. Prosecutors have said either disclosure could have disqualified him from service.
Ryan, 53, pleaded guilty to related charges last year, admitting he failed to enforce a rule requiring ferries be operated by two pilots whenever docking.
Cubans sent home after ‘wet-foot’ landing
Miami Fifteen Cubans who fled their homeland and landed on an abandoned bridge piling in the Florida Keys were returned to their homeland Monday after U.S. officials concluded that the structure did not constitute dry land.
Under the U.S. government’s “wet-foot, dry-foot” policy, Cubans who reach dry land in the United States are usually allowed to remain in this country, while those caught at sea are sent back.
The Cubans – including a 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy – were sent back around midday, said a Coast Guard spokesman, Officer Dana Warr. They were rescued last week and were held aboard a Coast Guard cutter while they awaited a final decision on their status.
The Cubans thought they were safe Wednesday when they reached the Old Seven Mile Bridge. But the historic bridge, which runs side by side with a newer bridge, is missing several chunks, and the Cubans had the misfortune of reaching pilings from a section that no longer touches land.
An attorney for relatives of the Cubans had planned to file an emergency request Monday to prevent them from being sent back, but did not act in time. William Sanchez said he would file a lawsuit seeking the return of the 15 Cubans.