STATE
SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2005
LAREDO MORNING TIMES | 7A
New mad cow case blow to beef exports Lottery officials admit
By BETSY BLANEY and DAVID KOENIG
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS — Ranchers and other
beef industry experts say the nation’s second case of mad cow disease may have only a temporary effect on beef consumption, but some
worry that Friday’s development
means export markets will remain
closed to American cattlemen.
U.S. Agriculture Department
officials confirmed that an animal
slaughtered late last year tested
positive for the brain-wasting disease. An internationally recognized laboratory in Weybridge,
England, confirmed the case after
U.S. tests produced conflicting results, Agriculture Secretary Mike
Johanns said.
Published reports earlier this
month indicated the cow might
have come from Texas, but federal and state authorities would not
confirm those reports Friday.
“Nobody knows where it was
from,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs said. “We
don’t have any idea yet.”
The animal, a “downer” that
could not walk, was not killed at a
“Nobody knows where it was from.
We don’t have any idea yet.”
TEXAS AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER SUSAN COMBS
slaughterhouse but at a rendering
plant for animals unfit for human
consumption, officials said. It was
first tested by the USDA in November after being taken to a pet food
plant and rejected, officials said.
Johanns would not say where
the cow was found, but he said
there was no evidence the animal
was imported. That means the
mad cow case may be the first
confirmed in an U.S. herd.
Jim McAdams, president of the
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said increased testing of animals after the first mad cow case
surfaced in the U.S. in December
2003 had protected the beef supply.
More than 388,000 dead cattle
have been screened in the past 13
months, compared with about
2,000 screenings annually before
the first case, Johanns said.
“Those who try to raise fears
are taking the very edges of the
science and trying to project back
to something that’s never been
proven,” McAdams said.
Cattle prices could slip when
commodity markets open Monday,
said David Anderson, a livestock
marketing economist at Texas
A&M University. He said traders
had already factored the possibility of a new case because agriculture officials announced the animal’s remains were being retested.
But the long-term effect of the
news isn’t clear, Anderson said.
U.S. beef consumption increased
slightly in 2004, after the first U.S.
mad cow case was discovered in
Washington state in a dairy cow
imported from Canada.
“Does a second case make a
difference to consumers? That’s
Judge halts trial of Air Force officer
By T.A. BADGER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE
BASE — On Friday, a military
judge halted the rape trial of an officer accused in the assault of an
Air Force Academy cadet whose
civilian rape counselor has refused to hand over records of their
conversations.
First Lt. Joseph Harding will,
however, be tried on a charge of
indecent assault against another
Academy cadet, said the judge,
Col. David Brash, who did not
elaborate on his ruling. The indecent assault charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in
prison. The rape charge carried a
maximum life term.
Brash’s ruling was in response
to a defense motion to stop the trial. Defense attorney David Shel-
don said access
to the counselor’s records
were necessary
for a fair trial.
“Obviously,
we believe it
was the correct
HARDING
ruling by a military judge,” Sheldon said.
An attorney for the woman in
the rape case, Jessica Brakey, criticized the ruling.
“It’s a travesty and a dark day
in the two-year fight to see justice
done instead of mere lip service
by the Air Force that they’re concerned about the problem of rape,”
Joe Madonia said.
Harding, a pilot trainee stationed at Columbus Air Force
base, Miss., is accused of raping
Brakey in 2000 and of an indecent
assault against another cadet in
1999. He faces up to life in prison
if convicted.
The counselor, Jennifer Bier,
of Colorado Springs, Colo., has
been threatened with arrest for
refusing to hand over records of
her sessions with Brakey. Bier’s
attorneys say she will not give up
the subpoenaed records, which
she considers confidential, and
that they will file an emergency
appeal if she is arrested.
A provision of military law
protects an accuser’s communication with psychotherapists.
Brash’s ruling came after a
lengthy closed hearing on the defense motion that began Wednesday.
In the indecent assault case,
Harding is accused of trying to
force the female cadet to touch his
genitals.
AG on poker games: ‘You can hold ‘em’
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ODESSA — A recent attorney
general opinion requested by a
West Texas prosecutor says the popular “Texas Hold ‘Em” poker tournaments are legal as long as players
don’t risk money for a prize.
District Attorney John Smith
asked Greg Abbott whether holding the tournaments in bars violates state anti-gambling laws.
the important question,” he said.
Tim Wilhelm, a rancher and
part owner of a cattle auction in
Tulia, said he expected a slight
fallout from the “psychological
fear” of the second case.
“I hope it’s short-term, or the
bank is going to come get my
stuff,” said Wilhelm, who owns
about 5,000 head of cattle.
After the 2003 case was discovered, beef exports tumbled from
$2.6 billion in 2002 and $3.1 billion
in 2003 to about $550 million last
year, according to the Agriculture
Department. At their peak, exports
accounted for nearly 10 percent of
U.S. beef production.
Dozens of countries banned
U.S. beef imports, including
Japan, formerly the largest customer of U.S. beef. Cattle industry
officials had hoped Japan’s ban
might be end soon, but Friday’s
announcement could delay that.
Last month, the Japanese Food
Safety Commission recommended
that mad cow disease tests be
waived for domestic cattle under
21 months old, which was seen as a
possible step toward resuming imports of beef from the United States.
jackpot was inflated
By LIZ AUSTIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Lottery officials
admitted Friday that they knew
ticket sales would not cover an
advertised $8 million Lotto Texas
jackpot this month, saying they
used the higher number to keep
players interested in the game.
The Texas Lottery Commission set an estimated jackpot for
the June 8 Lotto Texas drawing
even though staff reports estimated sales could only cover
$6.5 million, Product Manager
Robert Tirloni told commissioners Friday.
“At the time that we did these
estimations, I felt that it was critical for the long-term health of
the game for the jackpot to increase if there was no jackpot
ticket sold,” Tirloni said. “In hindsight, I would have left the jackpot amount at the same amount.”
The commission held the estimated jackpot at $8 million for
the June 11 drawing — marking
the first time in the game’s history that a jackpot that hasn’t
been won hasn’t increased.
An internal investigation
prompted by the shortfall found
the same thing had happened
twice before, once last October
and again in February, Tirloni
said.
Reagan Greer, executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission, said he signed off on
the inflated jackpots that Tirloni and other staffers recommended because he trusted
them and didn’t look carefully at
their reports.
Greer said his staff will base
future jackpots on their most
conservative sales estimates and
will consider holding jackpots at
the same amount more often if
sales don’t support an increase.
“I’m going to take a much
clearer, more micro approach to
this process and try to ensure to
you that it’s not going to happen
again,” he told the three commissioners.