Plain language Politicians may shudder or snicker about a memo recently released by United States vice-president Al Gore. “By 2002, all documents created before October 1998 must undergo a rewrite. New regulations issued after Jan. 1, 1999 will have to be written in plain language,” said a Washington Post story earlier this month. The memo, […] Read more
Stories by Elaine Shein
Making a video
There are times I’m really glad I’m in the newspaper business. I’d rather be behind the camera, tape recorder, notebook or phone than standing nervously in front of blazing lights and trying to look natural as melting mascara drips down a cheek and the 15-minute smile on my face begins to feel more fake than […] Read more
U.S. food programs at risk; children, elderly will suffer
WASHINGTON, D.C. – While her audience dined on steak and wine, Shirley Watkins spoke passionately about food stamps. At a banquet here for the National Association of Agricultural Journalists, Watkins spoke about children, the elderly and the disabled. Watkins is an undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and controls a budget of $40 billion […] Read more
Why dull newspapers?
Are newspapers dull and shallow because of poor reporting, cynical journalists, lack of direction from editors, or an obsession with profits at the cost of providing a good product to readers? A recent poll done on more than 200 U.S. editors and publishers offered a wide range of opinion about why they believe newspapers are […] Read more
Beef packers battle elusive E. coli
DENVER, Colo. – Hamburger disease is the Achilles heel of the beef industry and packers have spent millions trying to combat the bacteria that causes it. Since 1993, when Escherichia coli O157:H7 became recognized as a major food safety issue, the American beef industry has invested $8.4 million in food safety research. Finding solutions to […] Read more
New salmonella strain poses major food risk
DENVER, Colo. – A virulent new pathogen could edge out E.coli O157:H7 as the next dangerous contaminant in food. Salmonella typhimurium DT104 has been found in Canada, the United States, Denmark, Britain, Germany, France and Austria. “It wasn’t even on the radar scope a couple of years ago,” said W.W. Laegreid, during a cattle health […] Read more
Stop your peas from splitting
RED DEER, Alta. – Split peas are fine in soup, but not in a grain bin, said pedigreed seed grower Mark Kaun, of Penhold, Alta. “We need a premium product that is not damaged,” Kaun told producers at the Alberta Conservation Tillage Society farm technology expo. There are ways of reducing the percentage of split […] Read more
New fertilizer additive could soothe seeding problems
REGINA – A new fertilizer additive not yet available in Canada has the potential to make one-pass seeding and fertilizing easier. The additive is a urease inhibitor and an initial review by an Agriculture Canada researcher shows it can reduce the rate at which urea nitrogen fertilizer breaks down into components, including ammonia, which vaporizes […] Read more
Farmer doesn’t regret expensive investment
HILMAR, Calif. – Forget the days of chasing a stubborn Bossy into the barn, milking with one hand and using the other to keep a swishing tail or a stray hoof out of the pail. In Jim Ahlem’s dairy barn, the cows eagerly wait to enter their stalls, need little chasing to enter or exit, […] Read more
Chronic wasting disease: From wild animals to beef?
DENVER, Colo. – When chronic wasting disease was diagnosed in American elk and deer this winter, the spectre of mad cow disease loomed close by. Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects deer and elk. It is also part of the same family of diseases responsible for fatal brain eating conditions like […] Read more
