Thursday, November 05, 2009Last Update: 11:01 PM PT

     WASHINGTON (CN) - The critical habitat of the La Graciosa thistle has been reduced by 17,000 acres to a total of 24,000 acres, in the California Counties of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. The acreage was reduced due to a settlement between the Homebuilders Association of Northern California and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, after the association challenged final critical habitat rules for several species.
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     (CN) - Tyson Foods Inc., one of the nation's largest poultry producers, has been found in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act at its Blountsville, Ala., facility. The jury's verdict in federal court in Birmingham resulted from a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor against the company.
     "We are very pleased that the jury in Birmingham has vindicated our position that employers must pay their workers for the time that they are required to work," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, according to a department news release. The Secretary attributed success to years of dedicated efforts and over 250 new staff members.
     In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, the Labor Department alleged that Tyson Foods did not keep accurate records and failed to pay production line employees for the time they spent putting on and taking off safety and sanitary gear, and performing other related work activities. The violations began in 2000, and affect approximately 3,000 current and former workers.
     The Labor Department was represented by attorneys from the agency's Office of the Solicitor in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

     WASHINGTON (CN) - The Environmental Protection Agency will not allow the insecticide methamidophos to be used on cucumbers, eggplants and melons, because no entity has registered that it still wants to use the agent on those crops. The EPA's rules will allow the insecticide to be used on cabbage and broccoli, however, because Bayer CropScience and the Canadian Horticultural Council requested this to allow imports of these commodities from Canada.
     Commonly used in Asia on rice fields, the insecticide is a neurotoxin which, in large enough doses, irreversibly inactivates acetylcholinesterase, which is essential to nerve function in insects, humans, and many other animals.
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     WASHINGTON (CN) Aliens will not need to be tested for Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection upon entry into the United States, after the New Year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have removed the disease from the definition of "communicable disease of public health significance," effective Jan. 4.
     The agency considers HIV not to be a communicable disease that is a significant public health risk for introduction, transmission, and spread to the U.S. population through casual contact.
     Previously, aliens with HIV infection were considered to have a communicable disease of public health significance and were thus inadmissible to the U.S. per the Immigration and Nationality Act.