Watercooler Stories

. SCHOOL LUNCH MEATS IN NATIONAL RECALL

The United States Department of Agriculture says that about 13 tons of meat that may be linked to a recent outbreak of listeria was sent to the national school lunch program in recent months. In making the announcement to national media, the "ag department" noted that it had purchased nearly 2 million pounds of turkey from Wampler Foods for distribution in the national lunch program. In recent days Wampler has been engaged in one of the largest meat recalls in national history because of the presence of listeria bacteria at its main processing plant. The USDA says there are concerns because children are in a high risk group for the illness caused by the bacteria.

In a few days federal regulators will release a list of the schools to which the product was sent.

In recent years the USDA has been under fire from several food safety groups about what is seen as lax inspection, particularly at poultry processing plants, and a lack of information coordination within the school lunch program.

YET ANOTHER 'BABY IN HOT CAR' DEATH

The latest tragic incident involving the death of an infant left alone in a too-hot car has been reported in Houston. The Houston Chronicle says that a 6-month-old baby whose body temperature apparently reached more than 108 degrees has died in a hospital in that city. The infant spent some hours in a locked, all-too-hot car.

The baby was left in the vehicle by a teenage cousin of its mother. The cousin remembered driving the child's mother to work and then leaving the baby in the car and later falling asleep.

When the boy's father inquired as to the whereabouts of his son, the cousin remembered that the baby had never been removed from the car. Because it was chilly when the baby was initially taken from the house it was still dressed in a sweat suit.

Doctors tell the publication that by the time the baby arrived its temperature was "off the scale."

DELTA FLIGHT INTERRUPTED BY FALSE ALARM

Police at Logan International Airport in Boston report that a beeping sound kept a Delta Air Lines flight on the ground Thursday while experts tried to find the source. At first, according to CNN, it was thought that the strange sound may have come from a pair of shoes in an overhead compartment.

The noise actually was coming from an electrical problem within the plane.

The scare involving the shoes was, of course, a reaction to the much publicized incident in which a passenger on a transatlantic flight put explosives in his shoes and was caught before exploding the charges.

One spokesman for the airline noted that the shoes were "simply in the wrong place at the wrong time" and the concern was normal, considering what has happened in recent months.

The plane was taken by Delta maintenance employees. The passengers were transferred to another Delta flight to Atlanta, their planned destination.

CELEBRITIES FIND TIME FOR FISHING TOURNEY

The latest "extreme" sport to capture the time of big-time athletes is, believe it or not, fishing. ESPN says that its first annual Billfishing Xtreme Release League StarFish Celebrity Challenge is about to take place. Some familiar names in sports have agreed to attend the tourney, to be taped off the coast of Mexico near Cancun.

Among those participating are former Major League Baseball standout Wade Boggs. He spent nearly two decades in the sport, amassing more than 3,000 hits. Profits from his participation in the event will go to his own youth athletics foundation.

Todd Bridges, an internationally known star since he was 15, from his time in "Different Strokes," will be there, with his profits going to the Todd Bridges Youth Foundation.

Bo Hopkins, famous for his numerous TV guest appearances, will try his hand at angling and will donate his profits to the Jay Nolan Community Services center.

The tournament will be seen on both of ESPN's major cable channels.