In brief: Senators dislike FDA process for approving modified fish

Washington – Eleven senators, mostly from coastal states, urged the Food and Drug Administration Tuesday to stop moving forward with the approval process for a genetically modified Atlantic salmon.

Led by Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, the senators complained to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg that the agency is using the wrong process for evaluating the safety of the modified fish and that the public is being left out.

The fish, named the AquAdvantage salmon by the biotech company seeking federal approval to market it, is an Atlantic salmon that has been given a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon and a gene from an eel-like ocean pout, which allows it to grow twice as fast as a wild Atlantic salmon.

Senators signing the letter included Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both D-Wash.

Cleveland – While on tour promoting his 26th book, former President Jimmy Carter was hospitalized Tuesday in Cleveland with an upset stomach, but he was expected to resume his schedule today with two events in Washington.

Carter, who will turn 86 on Friday, fell ill aboard a flight from Atlanta and was rushed by ambulance to MetroHealth Medical Center, where he was to remain overnight. By midafternoon, President Barack Obama had called Carter and reported that he “sounded great,” said White House spokesman Bill Burton.

Los Angeles – A longtime Quentin Tarantino film editor may have died from heat stroke while hiking in the Hollywood Hills during a record hot spell, a coroner’s official said Tuesday.

The body of Sally JoAnne Menke, 56, was discovered at 2:15 a.m. Tuesday in rugged Beachwood Canyon on the west side of Griffith Park. Her black Labrador retriever was standing near the body.

Investigators suspect she died of hyperthermia on Monday in Griffith Park, when downtown Los Angeles was on its way to a record high of 113, Los Angeles County coroner’s Lt. Fred Corral said. An autopsy was planned for today.

Menke edited every Quentin Tarantino film from “Reservoir Dogs” in 1992 to last year’s “Inglourious Basterds,” which earned her an Academy Award nomination.

Menke and a friend went hiking in the wilderness park at about 9 a.m. Monday, Corral said. They had a 16-ounce bottle of water and had been walking for about 45 minutes when Menke, who had a history of seizures, complained of dizziness and said she would return to her car, Corral said.

“Her friend continued on and didn’t see her again,” Corral said.