NEW YORK – The new Navy assault ship USS New York, built with World Trade Center steel, arrived in its namesake city Monday with a rifle volley salute near the site of the 2001 terrorist attack.
First responders, families of Sept. 11 victims and the public gathered Monday at a waterfront viewing area, where they could see the crew standing at attention along the deck of the battleship gray vessel.
The big ship paused. Then the shots were fired, with a cracking sound, in three bursts.
The bow of the $1 billion ship, built in Louisiana, contains about 7.5 tons of steel from the fallen towers.
"It's a transformation ... from something really twisted and ugly," said Rosaleen Tallon, who lost her firefighter brother, Sean, on 9/11. "I'm proud that our military is using that steel."
Tallon said her brother, who was a Marine, would have been proud.
JoAnn Atlas, of Howells, N.Y., who lost her husband, fire Lt. Gregg Atlas, draped a flag-themed banner along the fence. The names of emergency workers who died were written on the red stripes.
"We have to remember. It's a way to honor them," she said.
Members of the public included Nancy DiGiacomo, who came from Huntington, N.Y., with her husband, 9-year-old son, mother and sister.
"I just thought it was important to see" the transformation of the tragedy's wreckage, said DiGiacomo. "From that, something else can come of it."
Lt. Cmdr. Colette Murphy, a Navy spokeswoman, said she was excited for those serving on board to see the city's "awe-inspiring" welcome.
At a short ceremony later at Pier 88 near the site of the aircraft carrier, the USS Intrepid, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the USS New York couldn't have a more fitting name, representing freedom, courage and resilience.
"This ship is actually a physical representation of that spirit with steel from the World Trade Center built into its bow so every friend that sets foot on it and every foe that dares challenge it will feel its power and know that it is literally made from the heart and soul of the city that has sacrificed so much," the mayor said.
Of the 361 sailors serving aboard the ship, around 13 percent are from New York state, which is higher than would normally be the case, Murphy said. There were many requests from Navy personnel to serve on the ship, which will carry some 250 Marines.
After the ground zero stop, the ship — escorted by about two dozen tugboats and other vessels — headed up the Hudson River toward the George Washington Bridge. After a U-turn there, it headed south to Pier 88. An official commissioning ceremony is scheduled for Saturday.
The New York will remain in the city through Veterans Day and then head to Norfolk, Va., for about a year of crew training and exercises, Murphy said.
The ship is 684 feet long and can carry as many as 800 Marines. Its flight deck that can handle helicopters and the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.
It was scheduled to be built before the terrorist attacks. About a year later, the announcement came that the ship would bear the name New York to honor the city, state, and those who died.

It's the latest in a line of Navy ships to bear that name. The others included a Spanish-American War-era cruiser, a battleship that served in World Wars I and II and a nuclear submarine retired from the fleet in 1997.

The ship is technically known as a San Antonio-class amphibious dock vessel. Four vessels in that class are in service, the USS San Antonio, USS New Orleans, USS Mesa Verde and USS Green Bay. Four others are being built. Of those, two also have been named in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks.

The USS Arlington was named to honor the attack on the Pentagon. The USS Somerset was named after the county in Pennsylvania where United Airlines flight 93 crashed.

Carom billiards, referring to games played on tables without pockets, including among others balkline and straight rail, cushion caroms, three-cushion billiards and artistic billiards

Snooker, which while technically a pocket billiards game, is generally classified separately based on its historic divergence from other games, as well as a separate culture and terminology that characterize its play.

Pool Sticks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
An outbreak of food-borne illness, linked to dangerous bacteria in ground beef, sickened 28 people and may have caused two deaths in the U.S. Northeast, health officials said on Monday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said all but three of the illnesses were in the Northeast and 18 were in the six New England states. A common strain of E. coli bacteria was involved so tests were under way to see if all of the reported cases have the same cause.

State officials said a death in New Hampshire was linked to the ground beef that is being recalled by Fairbank Farms of Ashville, New York. The New York State Health Department said a death in the Albany area from E. coli O157:H7 bacteria was being investigated to see if it is linked.

New Hampshire officials did not release information about the death in their state. The death in New York state last month involved an adult with underlying medical conditions, said the CDC. Two people were hospitalized in New Hampshire.

Fairbank Farms announced the recall on Saturday of 545,699 lbs (248,450 kg) of fresh ground beef products. The beef was produced in mid-September and probably was labeled for sale by the end of the month, said USDA.

The Agriculture Department, which oversees meat safety, said an investigation led it to conclude "there is an association between the fresh ground beef products and illnesses in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts." USDA worked with state and federal officials in examining a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses.

A potentially deadly bacteria, E. coli can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, the elderly and people with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.

USDA said it would examine Fairbank Farms' food safety plan this week.

A string of food-borne safety scares led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass legislation this summer to require more inspections and oversight of food manufacturers and would give the government new authority to order recalls.

The Fairbank Farms beef went to retailers including Trader Joe's, Price Chopper, Lancaster and Wild Harvest, Shaw's, a unit of Supervalu, BJ's, Ford Brothers and Giant, a unit of Ahold, in eight states -- Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

A complete list of products is available at:

http://link.reuters.com/vyx27f

The beef was produced September 14-16, and the company urged consumers to check their freezers for products listed in the recall. Labels of the recalled packages will say EST 492 inside the USDA seal.

(Reporting by Charles Abbott; Editing by Christian Wiessner)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
The U.S. Agriculture Department should tighten regulations for the transport and slaughter of veal calves to ensure they are not treated cruelly, the Humane Society of the United States said on Monday.

The group petitioned the USDA to expand an existing regulation to ban the slaughter of veal calves that cannot stand on their own, and also said it wants the USDA to put a new ban on transportation of calves younger than 10 days.

Federal inspectors also need more training and should spend more time ensuring animals are treated humanely, the group said after releasing more video footage from an undercover investigation at a Vermont veal plant.

The Bushway Packing Inc plant in Grand Isle, Vermont, was shut down on Friday by federal and state officials because of the footage, which showed calves repeatedly shocked with electric prods and kicked to try to get them to stand up.

Veal calves, which produce beef prized for its tenderness, are typically slaughtered when they are about 500 pounds. But the Vermont plant specialized in "bob veal" from calves as young as a few days old.

The Humane Society alleges some animals at the Vermont plant were not adequately stunned before slaughter. It said their footage shows a plant owner participating in the abuse.

"We have him on tape wielding the (prod) with recklessness and repetition, and setting an example of cruelty and callousness for the rest of his employees," said Michael Markarian, the group's chief operating officer.

The group said their footage shows a USDA inspector turning a blind eye to the abuse.

"This is animal abuse of the most sickening kind and it should not be tolerated at any federally inspected slaughter plant," Markarian said.

Officials from the plant did not return calls on Monday.

The USDA said its Food Safety and Inspection Service took "immediate action with respect to its employee," but a spokesman declined further comment.

Government officials are now conducting their own investigation into the plant.

CLOSE "DOWNER" LOOPHOLE

The United States finalized a ban on downer cattle from the meat supply earlier this year after a 2008 Humane Society investigation showing workers at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing plant in California mistreating cattle.

But the regulation allows plants to set apart and treat veal calves that are tired or cold, under USDA supervision -- an exception the Humane Society said should end.

"These regulations inadvertently incentivize slaughterhouses to move downed calves by inhumane methods," the Humane Society said in its petition to the USDA.

"USDA will consider any petition it receives," said spokesman Caleb Weaver. "Protecting animal welfare and ensuring a safe food supply are critical priorities for the department."

The Humane Society also plans to petition USDA to ban transport of calves younger than 10 days old. "We're going to ask the industry to join with us in urging a cessation of this industry practice," said Wayne Pacelle, the group's president.

The American Veal Association said in a statement that it believes the USDA investigation will determine if additional action should be taken in the wake of what it called "deplorable and unacceptable treatment of animals" at the Vermont plant.

(Editing by David Gregorio)