Storm Closes Johnson Space Center

NASA's Johnson Space Center closed at 12 p.m. CDT Monday and will remain closed through Tuesday because of the threat of tropical storm Edouard. Plans call for the center to reopen Wednesday.

Edouard is predicted to cross the Texas coast early Tuesday.

Flight control of the International Space Station will continue from Houston, and the Space Station Mission Control Center at Johnson will remain open.

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Consumer Demand Flavors Food Import Safety Issues

An ever-changing U.S. consumer who enjoys the convenience of ready-to-eat produce and seasonable fruits during the dead of winter has brought new challenges to food import safety, experts say.

With U.S. food imports set to top more than $2 trillion this year and expected to triple by 2015, a panel on food safety commissioned by President Bush met at Texas A&M University to discuss ways to strengthen the national and global import infrastructure.

Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, Food and Drug Administration commissioner, says the nation’s consumer is one who “expects to eat strawberries in February.”

That has led to more change and complexity among how food is processed and delivered into the U.S. “This nation and the people we serve, and their health that’s so critically important, is threatened - not that we haven’t been doing a good job,” he says. “In fact, we’ve been doing an incredibly good job. But the world is rapidly changing around us. Although we have been the gold standard (in food safety), we must respond and be prepared for new challenges that are emerging from radical changes.”

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples says “consumers’ tastes and preferences are changing. “They are demanding specialty products from around the world, seasonal products such as fruits and vegetables,” he says.

The working group, comprised of senior officials from 12 federal departments and agencies, is charged to report an action plan by mid-November. Additional information on the panel’s activities can be found at http://www.importsafety.gov.

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Survey of Hurricane Preparedness Finds One-Third On High Risk Coast Will Refuse Evacuation

According to a new survey of people in high-risk hurricane areas conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health Project on the Public and Biological Security, one-third (31%) of residents say if government officials said they had to evacuate due to a major hurricane this season, they would not leave. This is an increase from 2006 when 23% said they would not evacuate.

The survey was conducted in eight states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas—and only included residents of counties within 20 miles of the coast. The poll included a special sample of the New Orleans metropolitan area.

The top reasons people give for not evacuating involve issues of safety and security. Three-quarters (75%) say their home is well-built and they would be safe there. Over half (56%) feel that roads would be too crowded, and slightly more than one in three (36%) feels that evacuating would be dangerous. One-third (33%) worry that their possessions would be stolen or damaged while one in four (27%) say they would not evacuate because they do not want to leave their pets.

“Public officials need to be concerned that the further we get from the severe hurricanes of 2005, the less willing people are to evacuate,” says Robert Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health. “Officials need to remind people that many homes are vulnerable to major storms. They also need to ensure safe evacuation routes are available and the public is aware of them.”

These findings are based on interviews conducted June 18 - July 10, with 5,046 adults in high hurricane risk counties in eight states.

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Home Prices Drop and Housing Markets Cool

Global Insight, a company for economic and financial analysis and forecasting, has released the first-quarter 2007 update of its study, House Prices in America. The updated U.S. housing valuation analysis shows a widely dispersed drop in single-family home prices, resulting in a continued decline in the incidence of overvaluation in the nation's housing market.

The overall number of single-family housing units deemed to be overvalued fell from 17% in the fourth-quarter 2006 to 14% (revised). Meanwhile, in terms of single-family asset value, the percent deemed to be overvalued fell to 25% from 33% (revised) in the prior quarter.

Nationally, single-family home prices increased in the first quarter at an annualized rate of 2.2%. On a year-over-year comparison, however, prices are up only 3.0%, further normalizing the market with the weakest gain in a decade. Nearly 50% or 157 of the 317 metro areas in the study experienced price declines in the first quarter, accounting for 38% of all single-family units and half of all single-family real estate assets in the nation.

The most highly concentrated declines, while widely dispersed, occurred in areas that had experienced the most dramatic run-up in overvaluation, including California, Florida, New York, and New England. The industrial Midwest was hit hard by the cutbacks in automobile manufacturing. The most dramatic declines among the nation's large metro areas were seen in California's Central Valley. Sacramento Calif., where prices fell by 8.2% inthe past year and 10.0% since 2005, experienced the greatest decline among the nation's large metro areas.

Prices were most resilient in the Pacific and Mountain Northwest, most of Texas, and the Carolinas.

Markets identified in the study as overvalued decreased to 54 metroareas in the first quarter, down from 62 metro area markets (revised) in fourth- quarter 2006. The nation's most overvalued markets are now Bend, Ore., and Prescott, Ariz., highlighting the precarious nature of the price resiliency in the interior West. Meanwhile, the most undervalued markets continued to be in Texas, specifically Dallas (24.9%) and Houston (22.1%).

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Researcher Focuses on Pros, Cons of Antioxidants

Researcher Susanne Mertens-Talcott of Texas A&M University is looking into how plant-based phytochemicals, including antioxidants and herbal supplements, can be useful in the promotion of health and prevention of chronic diseases.

This field is still growing. In the U.S. more than $20 billion was spent on dietary supplements in 2005, said Talcott, who is in a joint research and teaching position with the department of nutrition and food science and the department of veterinary physiology and pharmacology.

"Over $7 billion was spent on herbal dietary supplements in 2005." These supplements are plant-based, including grape seed extract, St. John's wort, ginseng and biloba extract, she added.

"In addition to that there is the segment of so-called ‘functional foods,' including antioxidant foods – for example, fruit juices and beverages and grain-based products," Talcott says.

The amount spent on these foods each year "has increased drastically; however, we do not know yet how efficacious these different antioxidants really are in the prevention of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer," she says. "We also do not know very much about the mechanisms, which appear to include antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of these phytochemicals."

This can be important to health since these reactive oxygen species or "free radicals" may play a role in some diseases, including Alzheimer's, cancer and atherosclerosis, she says.

"However, other mechanisms, including the prevention of chronic inflammation and interaction with intracellular mechanisms, may be as important in the prevention of chronic diseases," she says. But are they safe? Are they efficient? How much is required? And how much is too much? Talcott is looking for the answers to these questions through her research.

"My overall goal is to find out more about the safety and efficacy of phytochemical dietary supplements," she says. Because these items are already popular with consumers, "we need to follow up with research. We know very little about (dose) recommendations and how safe (they are)."

Phytochemicals, also called secondary plant compounds – including antioxidants – have been defined as chemicals found in plants that have protective or disease-fighting properties.

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Apprehensions Down 30 Percent Along Southern Border

Apprehensions through the end of the second quarter are down 30 percent compared to the sameperiod during the previous fiscal year, continuing a trend in the overall decline of border apprehensions between ports of entry, according to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency.

From Oct. 1 through March 31, CBP Border Patrol agents made 418,184 arrests along the US southern border compared to 594,142 apprehensions during the same period last year, with all southern bordersectors experiencing declines in apprehensions. The Del Rio, Texas and Yuma, Ariz., sectors experienced the greatest declines, with a decrease of 68 percent in Yuma (24,726 apprehensions) and a decrease of 57 percent in Del Rio (12,151 apprehensions), CBP says.

Apprehensions of other than Mexico nationals declined 55 percent along the southern border, which totaled 25,269 through the second quarter 2007. The decrease in other-than-Mexican apprehensions reduces the time agents spend transporting and processing and increases time spent patrolling the border, the agency adds.

Under the Secure Border Initiative, CBP continues to strengthen border security efforts through the deployment and integration of tactical infrastructure, proven technology and additional personnel. Other significant efforts include the expansion of expedited removal, thedeployment of National Guard personnel through Operation Jump Start, targeted operations within the sectors and strong federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partnerships, CBP says.

Additionally, Border Patrol agents have seized more than 1 million pounds of marijuana (a 31 percent increase) and 7,275 pounds of cocaine (a122 percent increase) compared to same period in fiscal year 2006. Agents in the Tucson, Ariz., sector accounted for nearly 50 percent of the southern border marijuana seizures with 498,815 pounds and the Rio GrandeValley, Texas, sector accounted for 55 percent of the cocaine seizures with4,021 pounds, CBP says. The total combined estimated value of the narcotics seizedalong the southern border is more than $1.03 billion, it adds.

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Study May Show How to Forestall Fatal, Viral Immune Meltdown

When a virus infects a person, it triggers a series of biochemical reactions in immune-system cells that literally may have life or death consequences.

Usually, the result is an effective immune response, leading to the elimination of the virus and the infected person’s recovery. But in the case of some of the world’s deadliest pathogens — including the Ebola, Marburg and Lassa fever viruses, as well as the influenza virus strain responsible for the 1918 flu pandemic — the immune system itself actually becomes the most dangerous element of the disease. All too often, a sudden immune overreaction sends the infected person into a shock-like state from which he or she may never recover.

Now, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) believe they’ve found a way to spot the biochemical profile of an inappropriate immune response to viral infection — an important step toward developing new therapies that may head off or stop an otherwise fatal immune system meltdown.

In a paper published in the February 14 issue of the Journal of Virology, highlighted in the journal’s “Spotlight” section and available now online, the scientists describe using a newly developed protein-scanning chip and a uniquely capable computer database to examine the activation and deactivation of more than a thousand proteins in cells from guinea pigs infected with two different strains of Pichinde virus. Guinea pigs infected with one of the Pichinde strains experience no ill effects, while those infected with the other strain develop symptoms similar to those seen in humans infected by the much more dangerous Lassa virus, which can cause an acute hemorrhagic fever and kills about 5,000 people a year in West Africa. (During some Lassa fever epidemics, as many as 50 percent of those diagnosed with the disease have died from it.)

“With these two forms of the virus and this new technology, we were able to compare pathogenic immune response and protective immune response on a broad, global level,” said lead author and UTMB postdoctoral fellow Gavin Bowick. He said that checking almost 1,200 interactions simultaneously let the researchers see the big picture of immune response, avoiding the contradictory results often produced by studies that focus on only a single biochemical pathway.


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Former Telecom Owner Convicted for E-Rate Scheme

A federal jury in McAllen, Texas, convicted the former president and owner of ATE TelSolutions Inc., which does business as ATE Telecom Solutions Inc. (ATETel), on seven of nine counts of wire fraud in a scheme to defraud the federal E-Rate program, the Department of Justice announced.

Rafael Adame was convicted of submitting fraudulent applications for payment onbehalf of ATE Tel to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). The indictment against Adame was returned on Dec. 6, 2006.

Adame was convicted of submitting fraudulent invoices for payment to the Schools and Libraries Division of USAC from December 2001 to May 2003. As a result of the scheme to defraud the E-Rate program, Adame fraudulently obtained $106,514 in payments from USAC.

"Committing fraud upon the E-Rate program harms underprivileged school districts," says Thomas Barnett, assistant attorney general in charge ofthe Justice Department's Antitrust Division. "The Antitrust Division will continue to vigorously pursue those who cheat the competitive process and steal money from this federal program."

The E-Rate program subsidizes the provision of Internet access andtelecommunications services, as well as internal computer andcommunications networks, to economically disadvantaged schools andlibraries. The program was created by Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and is administered by USAC, a non-profit corporation, under the auspices of the FCC.

Adame owned and operated ATE Tel, a vendor that provided computer-related goods and services through the E-Rate program to various school districts, including Weslaco Independent School District in South Texas. Adame devised a scheme to defraud the E-Rate program through illegitimate invoices, which were transmitted via wire communications to USAC. On these invoices Adame entered fabricated data, such as false customer bill dates and false amounts for reimbursement. USAC then relied on this illegitimate information to transmit wire transfers for theindicated amount into ATE Tel's bank account. By making false representations on invoices filed with USAC, Adame received payments in excess of what was authorized and for work that was not actually performed.

The wire fraud conviction carries a maximumpenalty per count of 20 years in jail, and a $250,000 fine. Adame has not yet been sentenced.

The conviction resulted from an ongoing national investigation offraud in the E-Rate program. The trial and prosecution of this case wasconducted by the Antitrust Division's Dallas Field Office and the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Inspector General.

The Antitrust Division's ongoing investigation into fraud and anti-competitive conduct in the E-Rate program has yielded charges being filedagainst 14 individuals and 12 companies. Six companies and four individuals have either been found guilty at trial, pleaded guilty, agreed to pleadguilty, or have entered civil settlements. The defendants have collectively agreed to pay criminal fines and restitution totaling more than $40 million. Two of the individuals have each been sentenced to serve six years in prison.

Anyone with information concerning fraud or anticompetitive conduct inthe E-Rate program should contact the Dallas Field Office of the AntitrustDivision at +1-214-661-8600.

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Report: Western States Home To Untapped Geothermal Capacity

Fourteen western U.S. states are home to extensive undeveloped geothermal resources, according to a new report.

The states are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Key conclusions of the 140 page-report are:

* The West's geothermal resources appear to be more extensive than most people believe;
* The unidentified resource base is a significant near-term target of opportunity with up to 150,000 megawatts of electricity;
* Federal and state policies need to be complementary and support a clear path for new project development;
* Federal programs and tax incentives will make a significant difference; and
* Federal efforts should be tailored to support the specific needs in each state

The report, An Assessment of Geothermal Resource Development Needs in the Western United States, written by Dan Fleischmann for the Geothermal EnergyAssociation.


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Texas Legislators File 'Stop the Darfur Genocide Act'

Texas state Sen. Rodney Ellis (D - Houston) and state Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale (R - Houston) announced the filing of Senate Bill 247 & House Bill 667. The bipartisan legislation calls for the targeted divestment of state pension funds invested in companies doing business with the government of Sudan. Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, state Sen. Florence Shapiro, state Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon and representatives of the University of Texas anti-genocide student coalition, The White Rose Society, joined the legislators in announcing the legislation.

In the past four years, the Sudanese government and their allied organizations have systemically killed more than 400,000 people and displaced more than 2.5 million in Sudan's Darfur region. For the first time in history, the U.S. government declared these ongoing atrocities to be genocide. The U.N. declared the crisis the "worst humanitarian disaster in the world today."

The Sudan Divestment Task Force, a project of the Genocide Intervention Network, developed the model legislation.

"We are grateful for the bipartisan support and leadership of Senator Ellis, Rep. Van Arsdale and Commissioner Williams on this vital initiative. Texas has a unique opportunity to lead the nation and the world by divesting its state pension funds from companies that support and condone state- sponsored terrorism," says Adam Sterling, project director of the task force.

"Stop the Darfur Genocide Act" utilizes a targeted divestment model focusing on the companies in Sudan that have a business relationship with the Sudanese government, impart minimal benefit to the underprivileged and have expressed no corporate responsibility policy regarding the current situation in Sudan. The targeted divestment approach will help to maximize
the desired effect on the Sudanese government while minimizing harm to Sudanese civilians and investment returns.

The legislation ensures that only the most egregiously offending companies will be affected and excludes any company that substantially benefits those outside of government circles such as those involved in medicine, education, general consumer goods, and agriculture, supporters say. The legislation has already passed in six states and is similar to efforts currently underway in over 20 other states.

Sterling adds, "While the exact figure won't be known until Texas fully scans its portfolios, most pension fund systems have somewhere between tens and hundreds of millions of dollars invested in problematic companies tied to Sudan -- a figure that is relatively small compared to
Texas' pension funds size, but is rather large in the context of Sudan."


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Judges Save Texas Horses From Slaughter

After four years of legal wrangling, the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled on Friday that Beltex Corporation and Dallas Crown, Inc., two horse slaughterhouses in Texas which slaughter horses and then sell the meat abroad for human consumption can be prosecuted for doing so under Texas state law, according to an organization working to protect the horses.

In 1949, and several times thereafter, the Texas legislature amended the state's Agriculture Code (Chapter 149) making it illegal to sell, possess and transport horse meat for sale for human consumption.

For the last 6 years, the Society for Animal Protective Legislation (SAPL) has led the fight to end horse slaughter in America. As part of its campaign to end horse slaughter for human consumption, SAPL worked with well-known Dallas Attorney Robert "Skip" Trimble on finding ways to have Texas state law enforced. The Texas Attorney General (now U.S. Senator John Cornyn), was asked to issue an opinion on the enforceability of Chapter 149. Mr. Cornyn declared that the law criminalizes the activities of the horse slaughter facilities in Texas and that it is in fact enforceable.

Fearing prosecution by Tarrant County District Attorney, Tim Curry, who was pursuing enforcement of the law, the horse slaughter facilities filed for an injunction in federal court to enjoin any prosecution of them arguing that the specific Texas state law at issue had been repealed, was preempted by federal law and violated the dormant Commerce Clause. The
United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas agreed and permanently enjoined District Attorney Curry from pursuing legal action against the horse slaughter facilities.
Finding the district court's reasoning "backward" and "flawed," the 5th Circuit ruled that Texas state law making it illegal to slaughter horses and sell or transfer horsemeat for human consumption is in effect and "survives the constitutional challenges raised by the slaughterhouses." In reaching its opinion and vacating the district court's permanent
injunction, the court found that ending horse slaughter will protect horses and prevent the problem of horse theft in America. The 5th Circuit flatly dismissed the district court's finding that the alternative measures Texas takes to protect horses are adequate to preserve and protect horses.

The district court's permanent injunction will not be lifted if the slaughterhouses seek a rehearing within 14 days. They also can try to seek certiorari from the United States Supreme Court within 90 days. "While this ruling is an important step in resolving this issue, it is not yet
concluded because the law protects the slaughterhouses' right to further review of this decision, just as with any litigant," notes Assistant Criminal District Attorney Ann Diamond who is handling the case for the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office.

"This ruling, while significant and just, is bittersweet because it hasn't stopped horse slaughter yet," says Chris Heyde, deputy legislative director of SAPL. "That end will come. I foresee an end to this brutal practice in Texas and elsewhere through the eventual enforcement of the
Texas law and adoption of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act in the U.S. Congress."

"SAPL commends the Tarrant County District Attorney and his staff for their steadfast commitment to the law and protecting horses," notes Heyde. "While the DA's office continues to follow its case we urgently call on Congress to pass the pending federal legislation so that horse slaughter throughout the entire U.S. will be banned and export of horses to Mexico and elsewhere will be prohibited as well."


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U.S. Border Patrol Says Drop In Apprehensions Sign of Progress

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol first quarter apprehensions are down 26 percent compared to last year along the southwest border, an indication that the Border Patrol is becoming better equipped to respond to and resolve border security threats between the ports of entry, the agency says.

During the period that began October 1, Border Patrol agents made 158,818 apprehensions along the southern U.S. border compared to 207,197 apprehensions during the same period last year, with all southern border sectors experiencing declines in apprehensions, the agency says.

The Del Rio, Texas and Yuma, Ariz. sectors experienced the greatest declines, both with a decrease of 63 percent with 4,370 and 9,320 apprehensions respectively. The number of other- than-Mexican alien apprehensions dropped 58 percent along the southern border, which totaled 12,942 through the first quarter 2007. The decrease in other-than-Mexican apprehensions reduces the time agents spend transporting and processing and increases their time spent patrollingthe border, the agency says.

Under the Secure Border Initiative, CBP continues to enhance border security through a comprehensive approach of implementing innovative programs to include the expansion of expedited removal, Operation Streamline and Operation Jump Start as well as hiring additional Border Patrol agents, up to 6,000 by the end of 2008. The continued use of cutting-edge technology, tactical infrastructure and CBP's increased ability to detain other-than-Mexicans, further augments the border security mission, CBP says.

"We are seeing positive results," says Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar. "These programs continue to enable our frontline agents to be moreeffective in our border security mission."

Additionally, Border Patrol agents have seized more than 468,879 poundsof marijuana (a 26 percent increase) and nearly 2,934 pounds of cocaine (a96 percent increase) compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2006. Agents in the Tucson, Ariz. sector accounted for 46 percent of the southernborder marijuana seizures with 216,970 pounds and the Rio Grande Valley sector accounted for 50 percent of the cocaine seizures with 127,046 pounds. The combined estimated value of the narcotics is nearly $474 million, CBP says.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, controland protection of U.S. borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out ofthe country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

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