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☆ An Invasive Hornet Species Is Spotted in the U.S. for the First Time
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Rebecca Carballo | More About Rebecca Carballo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An invasive hornet species was spotted this month in the United States for the first time, and state officials in Georgia, fearing it could harm the agriculture industry, said they were working with federal officials and academic experts to eradicate it. A beekeeper in Savannah, Ga., discovered an unusual insect on his property and reported it to the Georgia Department of Agriculture, which worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the University of Georgia to confirm that it was a yellow-legged hornet. Native to tropical and subtropical areas of Southeast Asia, the yellow-legged hornet could threaten the state’s honey production, native pollinators and agriculture industry, the state’s Agriculture Department said in a statement on Tuesday. The species’ appearance is troubling because the hornet preys on honeybees, said Chuck Bargeron, director of the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health at the University of Georgia.

Persons: Chuck Bargeron Organizations: Georgia Department of Agriculture, U.S . Department of Agriculture’s, Plant Health, Service, University of Georgia, state’s Agriculture Department, Center Locations: United States, Georgia, Savannah , Ga, Southeast Asia

Mr. Smith is not the first special counsel to investigate Mr. Trump. Mr. Smith, by contrast, faces no such limits given that Mr. Trump is no longer in office. Mr. Mueller said little when faced with a barrage of falsehoods pushed publicly by Mr. Trump and his allies about him and his investigative team. During Mr. Trump’s arraignment in Miami in June, Mr. Smith sat in the gallery, closely watching the proceedings. Some in the courtroom suggested he stared at Mr. Trump for much of the hearing, sizing him up.

Persons: General Merrick B, Garland, Jack Smith’s, Donald J, Trump, Smith, Maddie McGarvey, The New York Times “, ”, Ryan Goodman, Trump’s, Robert S, Mueller, Smith —, —, Goodman, Smith “, Edgar Hoover, Mueller III, Anna Moneymaker, Ted Stevens, “, Robert McDonnell, Rick Renzi, James, Smith’s, Jay I, Bratt, Cooney, Robert Menendez, Greg Craig, Obama, Andrew G, McCabe, Roger J, Stone Jr, William P, Barr, Aaron Zelinsky, Thomas P, Windom, Peter Dejong Mr, John H ., Carlos F, legwork, sotto, intently, Alan Feuer Organizations: White, The New York Times, New York University School of Law, Capitol, Washington, Department, Just Security, Trump, U.S, New York Times, Justice Department, Justice, Republican, Supreme, Mr, Department of Justice, Democrats, Robert Menendez of New, Hague, Credit, House Republicans, U.S . Postal Inspection Service Locations: Washington, The Hague, Russia, Alaska, Virginia, Arizona, Robert Menendez of, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, U.S, Netherlands, John H . Durham, ’, Miami

☆ Coronavirus Probably Spread Widely in Deer and Perhaps Back to People, U.S.D.A. Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Emily Anthes | More About Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Indeed, the new study confirms prior reports that some coronavirus variants, including Alpha and Gamma, continued to circulate in deer even after they became rare in people. They found multiple versions of the virus in deer, including the Alpha, Gamma, Delta and Omicron variants. Then, the scientists compared the viral samples isolated from deer with those from human patients and mapped the evolutionary relationships between them. They concluded that the virus moved from humans to deer at least 109 times and that deer-to-deer transmission often followed. Many questions remain, including precisely how people are passing the virus to deer, and the role that the animals might play in sustaining the virus in the wild.

Persons: APHIS Organizations: Alpha, Gamma, Plant Health, Service, D.C, Nature Communications, APHIS, Centers for Disease Control, University of Missouri Locations: ., Washington, North Carolina and Massachusetts

☆ Cultivated chicken debuts in San Francisco restaurant
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Chicken made from cultivated cells is officially on the menu at Bar Crenn in San Francisco. On Saturday, cultivated chicken tempura will be on Bar Crenn’s menu, served with a burnt chili aioli and garnished with greens and edible flowers. Ujpside Foods' cultivated chicken is on the menu at Bar Crenn. UPSIDE FoodsAfter Saturday, there will be other opportunities to try cultivated chicken at Bar Crenn, but not right away. Cultivated meat at scale could use far less land and water than conventional agriculture, experts say.

Persons: hasn’t, José Andrés, it’s Organizations: New, New York CNN, US Department of Agriculture, Foods, Innovation, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, Service Locations: New York, San Francisco, Washington, China

☆ Lab-grown meat is coming. Here’s everything you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

New York CNN —Soon, Americans are going to able to try chicken that comes directly from chicken cells rather than, well, a chicken. On Wednesday, the USDA gave Upside Foods and Good Meat the green light to start producing and selling their lab-grown, or cultivated, chicken products in the United States. In a nutshell, lab-grown meat — or cultivated or cell-based meat — is meat that is developed from animal cells and grown, with the help of nutrients like amino acids, in massive bioreactors. Meat eaters who are concerned about those types of risks might prefer cultivated meat. Eat Just Inc's Good Meat cultivated chicken.

Persons: New York CNN —, It’s, don’t, Andrew Noyes, Noyes, ”, Bruce Friedrich, Friedrich, Julia Horowitz, ” Noyes, José Andrés, Ivy Farm, That’s, Noyes didn’t, Matthew Walker, Walker, won’t, “, — CNN’s Kristen Rogers Organizations: New, New York CNN, USDA, Inc, Good Food Institute, Impossible Foods, CNN, Ivy Farm Technologies, Service, FDA, British, Ivy, Companies, Foods Locations: New York, United States, Agriculture, British, Italian, Singapore, Washington, San Francisco

☆ Lab-grown meat is cleared for sale in the United States
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Cultivated meat, also known as lab-grown meat, has been cleared for sale in the United States. Good Meat, which is owned by plant-based egg substitute maker Eat Just, said that production is starting immediately. Good Meat, which has been selling its products in Singapore, advertises its product as “meat without slaughter,” a more humane approach to eating meat. Wednesday’s move follows a series of previous approvals which have paved the way for sales of cultivated meat in the US. That letter states that the administration is satisfied that the product is safe to sell in the United States.

Persons: ”, José Andrés, we’re, Josh Tetrick, Wednesday’s, —, Katie Hunt Organizations: New, New York CNN, US Department of Agriculture, Inspection, Food and Drug Administration, FDA Locations: New York, United States, Singapore, Washington

☆ Johnsonville recalls Beddar With Cheddar sausages over possible plastic contamination
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Michael Nam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —Sausage company Johnsonville is voluntarily recalling more than 42,000 pounds of its “Beddar With Cheddar” sausages because of possible contamination. The ready-to-eat pork links may include very thin black, fibrous strands of plastic, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. Johnsonville noted that if the fibers are consumed, the USDA believes they likely pose a low risk of adverse health effects. packages of Johnsonville Beddar with Cheddar Smoked Sausage links were produced on January 26, 2023 and have the best by 07/11/2023 C35 code date along with an establishment number of EST 34224 on the front, lower right corner. At least one incident of the plastic threads being found in the sausage has been reported but otherwise there have been no illnesses or injuries, according to Johnsonville.

Organizations: New, New York CNN —, US Department of Agriculture’s, Inspection Service, USDA, “ Consumers Locations: New York, Johnsonville, Colorado , Iowa , Kansas , Missouri , Nebraska, North Dakota , Oklahoma, Texas

☆ Don't send checks through the mail, the post office is warning. Criminals are stealing more than ever.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Reports of check fraud have steadily risen since 2020, with stimulus checks becoming a target. There were 680,000 reports of check fraud in the US in 2022, compared to 350,000 in 2021. Don't put checks in the mail, the US Postal Service is warning. The Postal Service investigated and Fischgrund has recovered about 70% of the revenue, but some of the cases haven't yet been resolved. Fischgrund said he'd never previously had an issue with check fraud in the nearly 10 years he has run his own business.

Persons: Banks, Eric Fischgrund, Fischgrund, he'd, Leonardo DiCaprio Organizations: Morning, US Postal Service, US Postal Inspection Service, Federal Reserve, US Mail, Network, PR, Postal Service Locations: United States, New York

☆ U.S. reports case of atypical mad cow disease
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

CHICAGO, May 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Friday an atypical case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), commonly called mad cow disease, in an older beef cow at a slaughter plant in South Carolina. USDA said the animal never entered slaughter channels and the agency did not expect any trade impacts as a result. It was the seventh detection of BSE in the United States since 2003 and all but one have been atypical. "This finding of an atypical case will not change the negligible risk status of the United States and should not lead to any trade issues," USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a statement. Reporting by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ This company could take lab-grown meat mainstream thanks to a green light from the FDA
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Upside Foods' pivotal moment also comes at a key moment in the alternative meat industry. The cultivated-meat industry could have a wider consumer base than previously introduced alternative meat products, because unlike plant-based meats, it's "real" meat — minus the slaughtered animals. And, accordingly, some traditional meat companies have expressed interest in the burgeoning cultivated-meat industry, which one day could become a competitor. The cultivated-meat industry will need a similar boost if it's ever going to become a grocery store staple, Swartz said. The FDA's clearance was a voluntary premarket consultation, which means the agency has no further questions about the safety of Upside's products.

☆ Brazil boosts bird flu defense to protect world's top chicken industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Ana Mano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Per protocol, local veterinarians in Espirito Santo took samples from the birds on site and sent them to the reference lab in Campinas, Brazil. "The entire industry is mobilized to monitor the situation identified in Espirito Santo," national meat lobby ABPA said in a statement. In other countries, avian flu outbreaks in wild birds have frequently been followed by transmission to commercial flocks. Bird flu outbreaks have contributed to higher prices of poultry and eggs, normally an affordable source of protein. Since early 2022, wild birds have spread the highly infectious virus farther and wider around the world than ever before.

☆ Financial fraudsters are targeting postal workers to steal their mailbox keys, so USPS is trying something new
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

USPS and the Postal Inspection Service announced it is cracking down on robberies and mail theft. Incident rates of attacks against mail workers and theft from blue collection boxes are on the rise. But less talked about is another issue: Thieves targeting postal workers themselves. Robbers specializing in financial fraud schemes are increasingly stealing mail straight from the hands of mail workers, or stealing their keys to mailboxes. So the United States Postal Service is implementing new policies and security efforts to curb the worsening problem.

☆ US government is testing avian flu vaccines for birds, but ending the historic outbreak isn’t that simple
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Eradication and vaccinationAs of April 26, the CDC says, nearly 58.8 million poultry have been affected by avian flu since January 2022. The virus has been detected in at least 6,737 wild birds, and the number is likely to be much higher. Vaccinated birds would be protected, but with this highly infectious disease, they still could shed some virus that could infect unprotected birds. Partial protection means more birds will be spreading the virus,” Gallardo said. The US has the largest poultry industry in the world, with 294,000 poultry farms.

The Justice Department’s decision to subpoena government witnesses who would normally testify voluntarily to help build the government’s criminal case was highly unusual, according to a half-dozen legal and animal welfare experts. The inspectors wanted APHIS to take a tougher stance against the company for the mistreatment of the beagles. Yet, this did not happen with any of the agency's inspections of Envigo, public records show. TENSIONS RISETensions between Gibbens and Miller escalated shortly after Envigo appealed some of the findings from the October inspection, emails show. Gibbens told Envigo APHIS would strike the citation because the company ultimately provided the requested information.

Oct. 7, 2021 - APHIS director Robert Gibbens declines the request, citing “optics” and the risks of COVID-19 exposure. Oct. 25, 2021 – Three APHIS inspectors find 13 violations at Envigo, seven of which are “direct" or "critical." Nov. 16-19, 2021 - APHIS inspects Envigo and finds 26 violations, 14 of which are "direct" or "critical." Feb. 16, 2022 - Miller informs her staff that Goldentyer has removed her from working on any more Envigo inspections. March 8, 2022 - APHIS employees inspect Envigo and find five violations, two of which are “direct.”May 3, 2022 - APHIS inspects Envigo and only cite the company for failing to fix the dangerous flooring.

☆ A 26-year-old college dropout makes up to $73,000 a month in revenue selling products on Amazon FBA. He shares his top 5 tips to find the best products and sell them out.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Kevin Pak lost money on the first two products he tried to sell on Amazon FBA. In 2022, Pak made $289,000 in revenue and $127,000 in profit, according to screenshots of his Amazon seller's account viewed by Insider. Pak realized that the manufacturer he ordered shipped out poor-quality products. His product didn't look anything different, except he didn't have any reviews. If you're unsure about this step, Pak recommends consulting with an attorney or hiring a freelancer from Fiverr to do it for you.

But to reach its ultimate destination - supermarket shelves - cultivated meat faces big obstacles, five executives told Reuters. California-based cultivated meat company GOOD Meat already has an application pending with the FDA, which has not been previously reported. Regulatory approval is just the first hurdle for making cultivated meat accessible to a broad swath of consumers, executives at UPSIDE, Mosa Meat, Believer Meats, and GOOD Meat told Reuters. But it will take hundreds of millions of dollars for GOOD Meat, for example, to build bioreactors of the size needed to make its meat at scale, Tetrick said. But cultivated meat companies have the advantage that they can claim their product is real meat, Tetrick said.

More than 40 million egg-laying hens have been culled in the U.S. alone, causing the price of eggs nationwide to skyrocket, Lorenzoni said. Months earlier, the “bird flu” outbreak drove the cost of turkey meat to record highs. Poultry can become infected through direct exposure to wild birds but more likely from fecal matter that contaminates the ground around farms or yards. Many migrating birds are not sickened by bird flu, which means it’s not well understood just how widespread it is in the wild, Lorenzoni added. The sun can, for instance, naturally disinfect surfaces while gloomier days help viral particles survive on surfaces contaminated by infected bird poop, Lorenzoni said.

☆ Lula's changes at Brazil farm ministry draw cries from food security agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Ana Mano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The ministry did not comment on the changes, which are part of broader efforts by the new administration to cut government spending. In the memo, signed by a group of civil servants opposing the changes, they urge that the reshuffle be reconsidered "in the name of public health." The union ANFFA, which represents federal auditors who inspect food plants in the world's biggest chicken exporter, denounced the overhaul. "The federal laboratories network has struggled against drastic budget reduction and critical staff shortages for years," said ANFFA in a statement to Reuters. Reporting by Ana Mano in Sao Paulo Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The agency did not respond to requests for comment on its record monitoring animal research experiments nationally. The USDA inspector general has published at least three reports since 2014 critical of the agency’s lax oversight, though its criticism dates back to the 1990s. Neuralink says on its website that it champions animal welfare and tries to reduce animal testing where possible. Two academic studies conducted in 2009 and 2012 found that animal research committees approved between 98% and 99% of experiments proposed by researchers. Envigo was made to sign the consent decree giving up the beagles only after the USDA inspector general and the Justice Department investigated and found evidence of inhumane treatment.

☆ U.S. lawmakers push for more oversight of Elon Musk's Neuralink
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Rachael Levy | Thomson Reuters | Award-Winning Journalist Covering Corporate Governance. Her Reporting Has Prompted Federal Investigations | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. House Representatives Earl Francis Blumenauer and Adam Schiff want further U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scrutiny of Elon Musk's Neuralink following a Reuters report that outlined mistakes in the brain chip company's animal testing program, their offices said on Thursday. A USDA spokesperson said the agency could not comment on Neuralink and referred Reuters to the inspector general's office, which also declined to comment. In total, the company has killed about 1,500 animals, including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys, following experiments since 2018, Reuters found. Blumenauer's and Schiff's offices declined to comment on what they want the USDA to do beyond the inspector general's investigation. Schiff has also been critical of Musk's $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc, accusing him of "sabotaging safeguards against digital misinformation and hate."

☆ Feds charge 21 people in global crypto money laundering bust
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A member of the US Secret Service speaks on a cellphone as US President-elect Donald Trump attends meetings at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, November 10, 2016. The charges were unsealed as part of "Operation Crypto Runner," which was established by U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston of the Eastern District of Texas, the Secret Service and the U.S. We are committed to bringing each of the remaining perpetrators to justice," Secret Service Special Agent William Smarr said. "This case proves that we can track these people down and charge them," Secret Service Resident Agent in Charge Bill Mack told CNBC's Eamon Javers. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas also shared further details about some of the individuals named in indictments or who had pled guilty.

A startup that has developed lab-grown chicken made by culturing animal cells received a key safety sign-off Wednesday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The California-based company, called Upside Foods, was cleared by the FDA on the safety of its animal cell culture technology, which can produce meat products without slaughtering any live animals. In an update released Wednesday, the FDA said it evaluated Upside Foods' production process and cultured cell material and has "no further questions" about their safety. The decision has significant implications for sustainable food production and the burgeoning cultivated meat industry. “Human food made with cultured animal cells must meet the same stringent requirements, including safety requirements, as all other food.”

☆ Live Results: Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Democrat from the battleground state of Virginia, faces off against first-time House hopeful Yesli Vega
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Warren Rojas | April Joyner | Nov | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Abigail Spanberger is running against Republican Yesli Vega in Virginia's 7th Congressional District. VA-02VA-07 HouseTwo-term Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger faces off against Republican Yesli Vega in Virginia's 7th Congressional District. Vega is one of the conservative candidates backed by E-PAC, the women-centric recruiting effort run by Trump-aligned House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik. Voting history for Virginia's 7th Congressional DistrictThe Old Dominion's 7th Congressional District includes a big chunk of central Virginia, stretching from the exurbs of the nation's capital to the outskirts of the state capital, Richmond. The National Republican Congressional Committee has so far spent more than any other group.

☆ A New York fugitive was vacationing in Disney World after nearly one year on the run. Then an off-duty officer spotted him.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Mirna Alsharif | Mirna Alsharif Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A New York City fugitive who had been on the run for almost a year was vacationing at Disney World's Animal Kingdom Theme Park when he was spotted by an officer who recognized him, according to court documents. Jeff Andre, a federal officer with the United States Postal Inspection Service, was on vacation Oct. 20 at the Florida theme park when he happened to spot Quashon Burton. Officers approached Burton after he left the Orlando area theme park, where he gave them a false name and resisted arrest. "Perhaps the most concerning factor here is the defendant’s persistent use of false identities and his demonstrated ability to evade law enforcement," wrote United States Attorney Damian Williams. Burton will remain in custody pending trial in the Southern District of New York, according to an order from United States District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.

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