By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – Federal health officials found the listeria bacteria at a San Antonio food processing plant that Texas authorities have linked to four deaths from contaminated celery.
The Food and Drug Administration today announced the federal agency said it found the pathogen in multiple locations in the SanGar Produce & Processing Co. plant. The latest information confirms testing data announced last month by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The Texas health authority shut the plant down Oct. 20 and ordered a recall of all produce shipped from there since January. A hearing on the case is set for Nov. 17 in Austin.
FDA spokeswoman Patricia El-Hinnawy said in an e-mail the agency would not comment on the results.
SanGar attorney Jason Galvan says he couldn't immediately comment on the FDA report. Galvan says the FDA and the state have not turned over, to the company, the documentation supporting their findings.
After the closure, the company alleged the state health inspector who took samples from the plant Oct. 11 could have contaminated them by being dressed improperly and touching surfaces. The state denied it.
Daughter testifies in DeLay money laundering trial
Testimony has resumed in the Austin trial of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, with his daughter telling jurors about her time working for his political action committee.
Prosecutors say DeLay used the PAC to illegally funnel corporate money into 2002 GOP legislative races in Texas.
Prosecutors on Wednesday continued questioning DeLay's daughter, Danielle DeLay Garcia, who worked as an event planner for the PAC.
Garcia, who started testifying Tuesday, has denied prosecution claims that her father was the driving force behind the group, saying he was more involved with the Washington-based leadership PAC that he ran.
The former Houston-area congressman is charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. DeLay has denied wrongdoing.
Drugs caused death of Texas man stunned with Taser
A coroner says toxic levels of cocaine, PCP and Ecstasy caused the accidental death of a robbery suspect after Dallas police shocked him with a Taser. The report from the Dallas County medical examiner's office involves the Sept. 12 death of 30-year-old Freddie Lee Lockett.
The Dallas Morning News, for its Wednesday editions, reported a Taser was used on Lockett at least six time in an attempt to subdue the fleeing suspect while he acted erratically.
Officers handcuffed Lockett, then took him to an ambulance. The medical examiner's report says Lockett went into respiratory arrest about 21 minutes after the last use of the Taser.
Lockett had previous convictions for drug manufacturing and delivery.
Costumed men rob Halloween partygoers in Pantego
Four party crashers at a Halloween eve bash in the Fort Worth area are sought after the costumed men robbed the guests of money, jewelry and cell phones.
Police in Pantego says a father who arrived to pick up one of the teenagers attending the party was beaten by the suspects after confronting them. Police say two of the four suspects had guns.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, for its Wednesday editions, reported the father was treated and released from a hospital.
Police says the home invasion happened around 11:15 p.m. Saturday in Pantego, located 10 miles east of Fort Worth.
Police Chief Joel McKinney says the four costumed robbers wore bandannas and were unknowingly let in by some teens at the party, thrown for students mainly from Arlington High School.