4 indicted in sale of cancerous beef

4 indicted in sale of cancerous beef

The co-owners of a Petaluma, Calif., slaughterhouse behind a massive beef recall were indicted by a federal grand jury along with two of their employees for knowingly distributing cattle with eye cancer and processing condemned carcasses.

The indictment, which was dated last Thursday, names Rancho Feeding Corp.’s co-owners, Jesse Amaral Jr. and Robert Singleton, and employees Eugene Corda and Felix Cabrera.

The four are charged with conspiring to distribute adulterated, misbranded and uninspected meat. In addition, the defendants are charged with mail fraud for distributing the meat through the U.S. Postal Service. The four face up to 20 years in prison and several hundred thousand dollars in fines.

None of the defendants could be reached to comment Monday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service suspended operations at Rancho Feeding in January, sparking a recall that would include nearly 10 million pounds of beef sold to thousands of stores.

Hillary Clinton to go to Iowa in Sept.

DES MOINES, Iowa

Hillary Rodham Clinton will headline a high-profile fundraiser next month in the nation’s first presidential- caucus state of Iowa, creating a big campaign splash as Democrats scramble to hold a key Senate seat in November and the former secretary of state considers a campaign of her own in 2016.

Former President Bill Clinton and Mrs. Clinton will attend retiring Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry in Indianola on Sept. 14, Iowa Democrats said Monday. It will be the former first lady’s first appearance in Iowa since 2008 when she finished a disappointing third in the state’s presidential caucuses.

Police: 2 Calif. boys planned shooting

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif.

Police say they have arrested two teenage boys who were planning a mass shooting at their Southern California high school.

South Pasadena police Sgt. Brian Solinsky said the two students from South Pasadena High School were taken into custody Monday.

He says police learned Thursday of a specific plan to kill three staff members and gun down as many students as possible.

Solinsky didn’t say what form the plan took, only that police were informed through the school district. He says the boys possessed no weapons yet but were trying to get them.

Unrest sets back Ebola fight in Liberia

MONROVIA, Liberia

Authorities in Liberia urgently searched Monday for 17 people who fled an Ebola medical center over the weekend when it was attacked by looters who stole blood-stained sheets and mattresses and took them into an enormous slum.

Health officials were combing Monrovia’s West Point area that is home to at least 50,000 people to try to stop the virus from spreading further in a country where more than 400 people already have died.

The World Health Organization on Monday urged Liberia and other Ebola-affected countries to screen all passengers leaving international airports, seaports and major ground crossings.

The weekend chaos in Monrovia highlights the growing unease and panic in Liberia amid the mounting Ebola death toll and illustrates the risks of further instability in this deeply impoverished country where mistrust of the government runs high. In addition, health workers are complaining about a lack of protective gear. Treatment centers are viewed by many as a place where people go just to die.

Combined dispatches