by wildcherry on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 | News, World | No Comments

546,000 pounds of ground beef has been recalled, including meat sold at Price Chopper and BJ’s stores, because of links to illnesses from E. coli bacteria in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts, officials said this weekend.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the meat, sold by Fairbank Farms in Ashville, is in packages designated with “EST. 492″ inside the USDA inspection mark or on the nutrition label. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service classified the alert as a “Class 1 Recall” with a high risk to health because of a “reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death,” a media release issued Saturday said.

Price Chopper has stores in Oneonta, Cobleskill, Delhi, Sidney, Norwich and Richfield Springs. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a store in Oneonta.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause diarrhea, dehydration and, in the most severe cases, kidney failure.

It can be destroyed by cooking ground beef to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit, and USDA and Price Chopper officials said this cooking method should always be used for consumer protection.

The Price Chopper Supermarkets network is recalling select packages of USDA ground beef with expiration dates of Sept. 16 through Oct. 5, according to a media release from the grocery chain.

Price Chopper said the varieties of ground beef in question are ground round, ground sirloin, 80 percent lean ground beef, 80 percent lean chili meat, 93 percent lean grind, 96 percent lean grind and meatloaf mix. Consumers may return recalled products for a refund, the retailer said.

Tags: beef recall, beef recall 2009, Fairbank Farms Ashville, good morning america, ground beef recall, meat recall, meat recall 2009

by wildcherry on Monday, August 17th, 2009 | Entertainment, News | No Comments

Today’s Dancing with the Stars 2009 Season 9 Lineup announcement on Good Morning America introduced the country to its newest dancing icons. Some new cast members seem obvious, some are out of the blue - and one in particular is a bit of a shock.

The Dancing with the Stars 2009 new cast became big news on the political front when Tom DeLay was picked for Season 9. Tom DeLay has now gone from former House majority leader, and one of the many Bush administration officials to face scandal, to a reality star.

By joining Dancing with the Stars, DeLay has gotten one up on Rod Blagojevich, who failed to join the reality TV circuit when he was rejected for I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Aside from Tom DeLay, the Dancing with the Stars new cast has its usual mix of talent and B-list star power.

Musical icons like Donny Osmond, Macy Grey, Mya, Aaron Carter and Kelly Osborne will be on Dancing with the Stars Season 9. The sports demographic is represented by Michael Irvin, Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin, and boxer Chuck Liddell. The actors in the new cast are Melissa Joan Hart, Debi Mazer, and Ashley Hamilton - whose father George was a Season 2 contestant.

The rest of the Dancing with the Stars 2009 lineup has Iron Chef America’s Mark Dacascos, models Kathy Ireland and Joanna Krupa, and snowboarder Louie Vito.

The complete cast for Dancing Season Nine

Mya, singer

Melissa Joan Hart, actress

Michael Irvin, former Dallas Cowboy

Ashley Hamilton, actor, comedian, singer-songwriter

Aaron Carter, singer

Kathy Ireland, former supermodel-turned-businesswoman

Debi Mazar, actress

Natalie Coughlin, U.S. Olympic swimmer

Louie Vito, snowboarder

Chuck Liddell, ultimate fighting champ

Donny Osmond, singer

Tom DeLay, former Republican congressman

Macy Gray, singer

Joanna Krupa, model and actress

Mark Dacascos, Iron Chef personality

Kelly Osbourne, reality star

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