WASHINGTON (AP) — One person has died and three newborns have become ill in an outbreak of listeria linked to Hispanic-style cheese.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that the death occurred in California. Seven additional illnesses were reported in Maryland.
All of the Maryland victims reported eating soft or semi-soft Hispanic-style cheese that they purchased at different locations of the same grocery store chain. Listeria was later detected in a sample of cuajada en terron, or fresh cheese curd, purchased at that chain.
The CDC says three of the victims are newborns. Two of those ill are mothers of two of the ill newborns.
The agency says the cheese was probably produced by Roos Foods of Kenton, Del.
by Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
Winter Olympics, Sochi, Russia. An American woman is competing in the Olympic event called the skeleton. This woman isn’t just representing America, she is especially representing rural Kansas.
Katie Uhlaender is the young Olympian with the Kansas connection. She must have gotten her interest in sports from her father, the former major league baseball player Ted Uhlaender. Ted Uhlaender played outfield for the Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians, and Cincinnati Reds. In 1972, his last year playing baseball, the Reds won the pennant and played in the World Series. He went on to be a scout for the San Francisco Giants.
Ted married Karen, a ski instructor. Their daughter Katie grew up in Breckenridge, Colorado.
In 2003, as a high-schooler, Katie discovered the sport of skeleton. This is a timed event consisting of a stripped-down sled on which a single rider hurtles head first down a sheet of ice at speeds approaching 80 miles an hour. It sounds scary, but it appealed to Katie’s athleticism and sense of adventure. Katie even won the junior nationals in this event.
Meanwhile, Katie’s family had purchased an 800-acre farm in northwest Kansas, in Rawlins County west of the county seat of Atwood, near the town of McDonald. Her dad, Ted Uhlaender, enjoyed fixing fence and working on the farm.
Katie continued to train and compete in the skeleton. She finished sixth in the 2006 Olympics and in 2007 and 2008, she won the World Cup championship. In 2009 she placed second, but as she left the winner’s stand she learned the tragic news: Out on the farm, her father had perished from a massive heart attack.
This was very hard for Katie, a self-professed “daddy’s girl.” Ted had encouraged her throughout her athletic career.
“He would remind me of things he had done in his career and how proud he was,” Katie said. “Just the way he spoke to me gave me reassurance that I was on the right path and that I was doing the right thing.”
Katie said she suffered without her father’s encouragement. Then a month after his death, Katie was seriously injured in a snowmobiling accident. After all that, in the 2010 Olympics she finished a disappointing 11th place.
After the Olympics, Katie and her brother went to the farm to check on things. She said she felt her father’s spirit when she got to the farm and she started working on the farm herself.
In a Team USA video, Katie said, “My father left behind a farm in western Kansas, three hours east of Denver. I’m not scared to get dirty, I’m not scared to get work done, and I love seeing the product of my hard work. It’s American,” she said.
When not on the farm, Katie was training or competing. Then came the 2012 World Cup competition. Katie wore a chain with her father’s 1972 National League pennant ring around her neck, and she won the World Cup.
At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Katie faced very tough competition. In the end, she placed fourth in the event, just four one-hundredths of a second from the bronze medal.
People in Rawlins County, Kansas were watching the Olympics with great interest. Ken Higley said he had not met Katie but owns ground which adjoins the Uhlaender’s place. “Her dad was really nice,” Ken said. People here seem especially pleased that Katie is celebrating her Kansas connection. It’s been a great thing for us out here. People in Rawlins County and Atwood and McDonald are very proud of her.”
It’s exciting to find an Olympian with ties to rural Kansas. After all, McDonald is a community of 155 people. Now, that’s rural.
Winter Olympics, Sochi, Russia. We commend Katie Uhlaender for making a difference by representing the U.S. with her athleticism and competitive fire as she competes in the Olympics. As she hurtles down the ice, she carries two special things with her: Her father’s major league pennant ring and the well-wishes of her neighbors in rural Kansas.
Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
Farmers and ranchers have always adhered to sound principles of animal care for their livestock.
Society’s views on animal welfare, on the other hand, continue to evolve.
John Schlageck writes for the Kansas Farm Bureau.
Today, people are becoming more concerned for the animal’s quality of life.
While there are fringe groups, “activists” if you will, many people have honest questions and concerns about the quality of life for food animals.
Who are these people?
Some are like you. Others may be like me.
They are not opposed to eating meat. They just want to know that while that sow is going through the production cycle she has a reasonable quality of life.
Consumers want to know animals are not abused, or subjected to inhumane conditions. They believe animals should be well cared for and the people who care for them honestly care for them.
Farmers and ranchers cannot single out anyone and place blame for these changing societal views. Instead, the agricultural sector must view this as our culture and society coming to terms with new types of social issues. It just so happens that animals have become integrated into this process.
One reason for this new interest in animal welfare may be that Western European, Japanese and U.S. consumers do not have to worry about where their next meal comes from.
U.S. citizens have time to contemplate the quality of life for animals in this country, but few of us want to change our own lifestyles.
Farmers and ranchers – those people who provide our food – will have to continue to accept and use sound animal husbandry practices. If agricultural producers honestly show they are putting effort into meeting a standard of care that’s beneficial and conducive to a healthy living standard, the public will accept and embrace those who raise and care for livestock.
Agricultural producers must stay tuned in to societal and consumer concerns and be responsive industry wide while enhancing the well-being of their livestock.
That said, today’s consumers will continue to regard agriculture highly and embrace a food which they enjoy and feel good about.
John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas. Born and raised on a diversified farm in northwestern Kansas, his writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion.
WATHENA, Kan. (AP) — Witnesses say a northeast Kansas man may have suffered a medical problem before driving his van into a Pizza Hut restaurant.
KQTV reports the crash happened Friday afternoon in Wathena
The Kansas Highway Patrol says the 45-year-old Leavenworth man was driving east on U.S. 36 when his van drifted into the westbound lanes, hit a ditch and vaulted across the parking lot into the Pizza Hut.
No one inside was hurt, but a group of Doniphan County officers had just finished a lunch meeting and witnessed the accident. Another witness, Wathena firefighter Bob Ryser, says the driver was talking afterward but seemed confused and appeared to have suffered a medical problem.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Police say they have found child pornography at the southwest Missouri home of a middle-school football coach accused in the kidnapping and killing of a 10-year-old girl.
Search warrants released Friday by Springfield police say they found a three-ring binder containing pornographic photos of young children at the home of 45-year-old Craig Michael Wood.
Officers also seized computers, cameras, 15 guns, 30 video recordings and a hat believed to have been worn by fourth-grader Hailey Owens.
Wood is accused of snatching the child as she walked home from her best friend’s house this week. Neighbors said they watched in horror and unsuccessfully gave chase as Hailey was pulled into a pickup truck that quickly sped away.
His public defender said Friday Wood plans to plead not guilty.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A Springfield middle-school football coach plans to plead not guilty in the kidnapping and shooting death of a 10-year-old girl.
A public defender for 45-year-old Craig Michael Wood said that his client plans to contest the charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and armed criminal action in the death of fourth-grader Hailey Owens.
Wood made his first court appearance Friday morning, appearing by video from the Greene County Jail, where he is being held without bond. He spoke only briefly to answer several questions from the judge. Hailey’s parents, older brother and several family members also attended.
Police say Hailey was snatched off a neighborhood street Tuesday afternoon less than two blocks from her home as she walked back from her best friend’s house. Her body was found in Wood’s basement.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The family that owns Russell Stover Candies and Whitman’s Candies is exploring a possible sale for the businesses.
The Kansas City Star reports the Ward family, which bought Russell Stover in 1960, has hired the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs to assess the value of the businesses and consider the family’s options.
A spokesman for the Ward family, which owns the boxed-candies businesses, says no sale is imminent
The company says the Russell Stover and Whitman’s brands represent half the sales of boxed chocolates and sugar-free candies. They are sold in nearly 40 company-owned stores and through 70,000 wholesale distributors in the United States and Canada.
(AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court on Friday set an execution date of March 26 for Jeffrey Ferguson, convicted of kidnapping a 17-year-old girl in St. Charles, then raping and killing her.
Missouri has executed three men since November. A fourth execution is set for Wednesday. Michael Taylor is scheduled to die by injection for raping and killing a 15-year-old Kansas City girl in 1989.
Ferguson’s death sentence also stems from a 1989 crime. He was convicted of abducting Kelli Hall from the service station where she worked. Her body was found about two weeks later on a farm. An autopsy showed she had been raped before she was strangled.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of a Kansas City Chiefs fan in an Arrowhead Stadium parking lot.
Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced the charge Friday against 23-year-old Joshua T. Bradley of Independence. He was arrested early Friday and is being held on $75,000 bond.
Smithville resident Kyle Van Winkle died after being confronted by a group of fans Dec. 1 when he was found in the wrong vehicle in the parking lot. Police say the Jeep looked like one that Van Winkle rode in to the game.
Peters Baker said Friday that Bradley hit Van Winkle more than once during the confrontation.
An autopsy found that Van Winkle died from a blow to the head.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Railroads that haul volatile crude shipments have reached an agreement with U.S. transportation officials to adopt wide-ranging voluntary safety measures after a string of explosive and deadly accidents.
A copy of the agreement between the U.S. Transportation Department and the railroads was obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
It calls for railroads to slow down oil trains through major cities, increase track inspections and bolster emergency response planning along routes that see trains that can haul up to three million gallons of oil each.
The agreement does not address concerns over another fuel, ethanol, that’s also seen a spate of accidents as production has increased. Nor does it deal with design flaws in tens of thousands of tank cars that make them prone to rupture during derailments.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Federal regulators are ordering a company that sells hand-rolled cigarettes called bidis to pull them from store shelves.
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday ordered Jash International to stop selling four Sutra-branded products.
It’s the first time the agency has ordered products to be removed from shelves under a 2009 law that gave the FDA authority to regulate tobacco.
That authority includes reviewing applications for new cigarette and smokeless tobacco products.
A 2012 Associated Press review found that the agency hadn’t ruled on thousands of those applications for more than a year. The industry expected a 90-day process.
The vast majority of those awaiting review are for products already being sold in the U.S. and can be removed from shelves if they don’t pass muster with the agency.
