Iowa
Sheep killed, tested for mad cow disease
All 260 Vermont sheep suspected of having been exposed to a form of mad cow disease have been killed, and tissue samples were being tested Tuesday at a U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinary laboratory. Before the flocks were sent to Iowa, four sheep tested positive in Vermont for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, or TSE, a family of diseases that includes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, and scrapie, a common sheep disease that doesn't affect humans.
Scientists at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory here said they were running a series of blood and tissue tests on the carcasses. They said they would know within two or three months how many of the sheep were carrying TSE.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Democrats back judges' background checks
The American Bar Assn. on Tuesday got encouragement from Democratic senators to continue vetting judicial nominees after last week's negative nudge from the Bush administration.
"If it slows down the process, well, it's better to have a qualified judge slowly than an unqualified judge quickly," said Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, a member of the subcommittee that would get the first crack at judging the judges. The meeting came less than a week after President Bush decided the lawyers' association would not get advance word on names under consideration.
NEW YORK city
Foundations charitable giving jumps 18%
Grants from foundations reached a record level last year despite the slowing economy, according to a report released Tuesday.
Foundations gave an estimated $27.6 billion in 2000, up 18 percent, or $4.3 billion, from the $23.3 billion in giving reported for 1999, according to the report from the Foundation Center.
"Foundations have grown so rapidly since the mid-1990s that not even a volatile stock market and slowing economy could keep them from posting record growth in grant dollars," said Sara Engelhardt, the center's president.
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