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Around the Gulf . . .
Alabama's agricultural commissioner, Charles Bishop, recently banned the sale of six packaged shrimp products using imported chinese shrimp, after it was found that they contained small amounts of the antibiotic chloramphenicol. The drug was banned from U.S. agricultural products after it was found to cause both leukemia and aplastic anemia.

A federal judge has ruled that President Bush's administration failed to create adequate sanctuaries for Florida's endangered manatees, violating the settlement reached last year with various private groups. The private groups argued that the protections were delayed so as to avoid the issue during the Governor Jeb Bush's election year. Governor Bush stated that he requested the delays to allow Florida to expand their own protections first. The court ruled that no delay was allowed under the settlement. The Court ordered the Fish & Wildlife Service to submit a proposal by July 15 to remedy the situation.

Around the Nation . . .

California Governor Gray Davis recently signed a law requiring all residential clothes washers in California to be at least as water efficient as commercial washers starting in January 2007. The law makes California the first state to mandate water efficiency standards and proponents estimate that the law could result in a savings of about 1 billion gallons of water annually. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the new standards will raise the average cost of a washing machine by about $250 annually.

Whitney Houston was issued a summons for violating water-use restrictions at her New Jersey estate after police found sprinklers running on her property. State officials imposed water-use restrictions last month because of continuing drought conditions and have banned residents from washing cars and watering lawns. Persons violating the restrictions can face fines of up to $1000.

Around the World . . .

Norweigan officials have barred people from getting near Keiko, the killer whale who starred in the "Free Willy" movies. Six weeks after being released from Iceland, he was spotted in a western Norweigan fjord, where crowds have been trying to feed him, pet him, swim with him and even climb on his back. Despite Keiko's friendliness, officials are worried that his continued contact with humans will prevent him from learning how to hunt for food on his own. Police will fine anyone who violates the ban.

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