Diabetes drugs would be subject to more stringent safety standards that could cost manufacturers millions of dollars, under recommendations made Wednesday by a government panel.

Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted 14-2 that all new diabetes drugs should undergo longer studies to assure they don’t increase risks of heart problems.

The opinions from diabetes experts, cardiologists and statisticians come less than a year after the FDA was criticized for its handling of heart risks connected with a widely used GlaxoSmithKline pill. The drug was approved in 1999 but the agency didn’t add a warning about potential heart risks until last November.

The majority of the panel said drug companies could begin safety testing — expected to take between five and seven years to complete — before they submit drugs to the FDA and finish the studies after their release.

But at least one panelist doubted whether the proposed studies would actually uncover heart risks.

“If you wait this amount of time for testing you’re going to be preventing certain drugs from getting out there that may be better than what we already have,” said Dr. Eric Felner, a pediatric specialist at Emory University School of Medicine.

The FDA is not required to follow the panel’s advise, though it often does.

If the recommendation is adopted, development of diabetes drugs would become longer and more expensive, since it can cost tens of millions of dollars to perform long-term studies that track heart problems in thousands of patients.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC, AstraZeneca and Novartis AG are among the companies developing diabetes treatments to compete in the domestic market, which grew to over $6 billion last year, according to pharmaceutical research firm IMS Heath.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ Actos, GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia, and Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceutical’s Byetta currently dominate the U.S. market.

Nearly 24 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes, which can lead to kidney failure, blindness and heart disease.

The FDA was pressured to reconsider how it approves diabetes medications after an analysis released last year showed GlaxoSmithKline’s blockbuster drug Avandia may increase patients’ risk of heart attack.

The agency currently approves diabetes drugs based on their ability to lower blood sugar levels, since the condition is characterized by excessive blood sugar. But Dr. Steven Nissen, who authored the analysis on Avandia, said Tuesday that criterion has little value if drugs also increase heart problems.

The FDA is operating under “the irrational belief that lowering blood sugar using virtually any pharmacological means will produce” better results for patients, said Nissen, who is chairman of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic.

He recommended the FDA require drug companies to prove their drugs do not have significant heart risks before granting approval. After the drugs are on the market, companies would be required to complete large, multiyear studies to confirm their safety.

FDA scientists and outside researchers have warned that saddling companies with additional safety requirements could slow the development of new medications.

“The fallacy here is that we will never know everything we’d like to about a drug before it goes on the market,” Dr. Ray Woosley, president of the Critical Path Institute in Tucson, Arizona, said in a phone interview Tuesday. “If we held up drugs until we did know everything a lot of people would die.”

The institute is a nonprofit partnership with the FDA that aims to speed up the development of new drugs.

Approving drugs based on biological measurements, like blood sugar levels in diabetics, is thought to be a promising method for speeding-up drug development because the results can be gathered relatively quickly. But that approach is under scrutiny, as some lawmakers and medical experts believe the FDA should not approve drugs without evidence they improve more meaningful measures like increasing patients’ life span.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is investigating the FDA’s approval of Avandia and another drug Vytorin, which was also cleared based on biological test results.

The agency approved Vytorin, jointly marketed by Merck & Co. Inc. and Schering-Plough Corp., based on its ability to lower bad cholesterol, which is widely believed to reduce heart attacks and deaths.

But a study released in January showed Vytorin was no more effective at limiting deadly plaque buildup than a low-cost generic drug.

Since then, the FDA has denied approval of another highly anticipated cholesterol drug from Merck, prompting speculation by analysts that the agency is raising approval standards for those medications. The FDA has not said whether such changes are in the works

 

 

Pitt will play Connecticut — another consensus pre-season top 10 team — twice this season as part of its 2008-09 Big East men’s basketball schedule.The home-and-home dates with the Huskies are part of the 18-game conference schedule released Wednesday by the Big East.

Pitt, ranked in the top five in some pre-season polls, also will play home-and-home games with West Virginia and DePaul. The Panthers meet every other Big East team once. The dates will be released in September.

Pitt’s other home games are Cincinnati, Marquette, Notre Dame, St. John’s, South Florida and Syracuse. Top road games include Georgetown, Louisville and Villanova. West Virginia will play home-and-home games with Louisville and South Florida, along with Pitt.

Pitt’s non-conference schedule, which will be released in late summer/early fall, features Duquesne, Robert Morris and Vermont, all at home, and Florida State on the road.

The Panthers will play in the Legends Classic, which consists of two home games against smaller conference schools and two neutral games against either Mississippi State, Texas Tech or Washington State in late November in Newark, N.J. Pitt also will play an undetermined opponent at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec. 17.

A Snyder County company, Snyders of Berlin,  that makes potato chips is having trouble because of the weather.Normally, Ira Middleswarth & Son gets eight tractor-trailer loads of potatoes from its supplier each week. Middleswarth Vice President Jeff Golf says his company is now getting only four.

Golf says lack of rain is causing low potato yields throughout the South. Floods in the Midwest are causing trouble for the crop there. He’s hoping to get potatoes from southern Virginia and the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

At a peak time when it’s all picnics, picnics, and picnics, where potato chips go great with hot dogs, baked beans, and other salads, were having a bit of a problem meeting demand.

Editors Note: next they will say there is a shortage of dogs for making hot dogs, this just gets worse and worse. (Yes I know we don’t make hot dogs out of dogs)

Two classes for Master Gardeners will be taught at the Mercer County Cooperative Extension Office, U.S. Route 19, north of Mercer. They are:

• “Understanding Bees as Pollinators” with Dr. Mary Ann Frazier, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 14.

The class will teach Master Gardeners about native bees and their importance in the pollinator world.

• “Diagnosing Interior Plant Problems” with Dr. Jay Holcomb, professor of floriculture, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 11.

This program will teach Master Gardeners how to diagnose interior plant problems. Common insect, disease, and abiotic symptoms will be reviewed and control suggestions will be provided.

Info: 724-662-3141.

By John Baer
Philadelphia Daily News

Daily News Political Columnist

YOU’D THINK that our conservative-leaning Legislature would jump at a chance to save $100 million a year in the state welfare budget, wouldn’t you?Well, you’d be wrong.

A proposal to do that appears headed for defeat - for the third year in a row.

At issue is a Rendell administration plan allowing the Welfare Department to buy prescription drugs for a million folks on medical assistance, including about 400,000 in Philly.

Currently, the drug benefit is run by multiple managed-care organizations, you know, the health insurance industry, and, of course, the drug companies.

They want to keep it that way.

Those with lots of loot don’t easily give it up.

Never mind that the state can get federal rebates (not available through managed care) allowing it to buy drugs for 30 percent less, hence an estimated savings of $95 million to $100 million per year.

Never mind that Welfare already does this for another 800,000 medical-assistance recipients not under managed care, and says it cuts costs doing so.

And never mind that 20 other states, including neighbors Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York have already made the switch.

With medical assistance making up 20 percent of the state’s $28 billion budget, you’d think savings would be vigorously sought.

And Welfare Deputy Secretary Michael Nardone says, “We’ve developed a plan. We will have an infrastructure in place . . . and this has no impact on eligibility.”

Nothing changes for recipients: The same doctors write the same prescriptions, and the prescriptions get filled at the same pharmacies.

The only change is that the state saves a boatload of money.

Yet it appears that lawmakers in both parties are ready to again block Welfare from grabbing for the savings.

The Republican Senate has a bipartisan bill to do so. The Democratic House has a similar resolution.

Why?

“When I can’t figure out what’s going on, my rule is you follow the money,” says Rep. Kathy Manderino, D-Philadelphia, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Health and Human Services and supports Welfare’s plan.

A good rule.

Taking, say, several hundred million dollars worth of drug buys out of the health-insurance system and compelling drug companies to sell for much less can’t be popular with either group.

And the health-care and pharmaceutical industries are powerful political forces with able, efficient and (obviously) successful lobbyists - who don’t mind investing.

The Center for Responsive Politics in Washington says that just one insurer, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, has pumped $14 million into politics since 1989.

The Center for Public Integrity yesterday reported that the pharmaceutical industry spent a record $168 million on lobbying just last year.

One company, the giant drug firm Pfizer, spent $13.8 million.

In Pennsylvania, from January 2007 to March 2008, state-required lobbyist disclosure records show that eight health insurers, including Independence Blue Cross, spent $2.6 million on lobbying.

And 15 drug companies, including Pfizer, spent another $1.9 million.

I called a few of the lawmakers opposing Welfare’s plan.

None called back.

Arguments I’ve heard against the plan include: nobody trusts Gov. Ed; Welfare is incapable of running anything well and won’t produce the savings; bipartisan opposition ought to tell you something.

The first two might be debatable, but I don’t think the third is.

Yesterday, the Coalition of Medical Assistance Managed Care Organizations issued a one-page statement with one argument: “It is important to note that this debate is not a partisan issue.”

Duly noted.

But the way I see it, all that means is that neither party wants to tick off the health-care/pharmaceutical lobby.

And the only thing there seems to be much interest in saving here is the sad, self-serving status quo.*

Send e-mail to baerj@phillynews.com.

For recent columns, go to

http://go.philly.com/baer

Be careful how you use the word “barbecue.”Barbecue can be used as a noun to describe a piece of equipment for cooking outdoors or to describe a gathering of folks for an outdoor party where barbecues are used to cook the food. “But barbecue also is a verb,” says Robert St. John, CEO, president and executive chef of three restaurants in Mississippi.

The author of “New South Grilling: Fresh and Exciting Recipes from the Third Coast” (Hyperion, $29.95) says that grilling and barbecuing are not the same. Grilling means cooking over live coals — quickly — while barbecue means slow-cooked smoked meat, usually cuts that are too tough to grill, such as pork butt, beef brisket, ribs, whole pigs and turkeys.

“A true barbecue guy is offended by the word ‘grilling,’ ” says Arthur Cohen, the owner of Pittsburgh Barbecue Co., 1000 Banksville Road, Banksville. “Our ribs don’t touch a grill. They are just smoked.” Like the pros, the company has a proprietary homemade rub with 16 spices and serves its top-secret barbecue sauce on the side instead of slapping it on meat or chicken right before removing it from the smokers. It’s considered a condiment or dip.

You won’t find Cohen in the kitchen or at a smoker, however. He’s the marketing guy, the person who brings in the business. “Most caterers are people with a passion for food, but they aren’t knowledgeable about the business side,” he says. “I grew up knowing what good food is.”

Pittsburgh Barbecue’s heroes are the employees, Cohen adds — among them, Landon Ray, manager and multitasker; Jim Salva, king of ribs; and Rick Nethen, the chicken guy. They also can barbecue a pig in a portable smoker that resembles a black coffin and haul it to parties here and yon.

Pittsburgh Barbecue Co. makes Carolina-style barbecue, which, St. John says, is “long on bold flavors.” Typical sauces there have a base of cider vinegar or mustard, while farther north and west, tomatoes are the foundation.

Folks who like to cook outdoors and have a grill with a sturdy lid can easily transform it into a barbecue, says Dan Huntley, co-author with Lisa Grace Lednicer of “Extreme Barbecue: Smokin’ Rigs and Real Good Recipes” (Chronicle Books LLC, $18.95 paperback). Huntley, who lives in South Carolina on the border of North Carolina, is a columnist for the Charlotte Observer newspaper. He fell in love with smoking and barbecue when he was a commercial fisherman in the Florida Keys. Now he travels nationwide to do it.

“The basics are time plus fire plus wood plus smoke,” Huntley says. “You are slowing down the cooking process until the muscle fiber in (tougher cuts) break down and the meat is tender.” Better cuts, such as steaks and chops and chicken breasts, never should be barbecued, because they are more suited for quick high-heat cooking. So are hot dogs and hamburgers.

Barbecuing involves cooking with indirect heat — never over coals or a live fire, although chicken initially might be seared. Cohen says his team cooks meats at a temperature of about 220 degrees to a finished internal temperature of 190 to 195 degrees. Barbecuing starts at 4 a.m. so the meats will be fork-tender and juicy by 11 a.m., when the company’s retail shop opens on Thursdays through Sundays. Cohen goes through as many as 1,500 pounds of pork ribs every week.

Huntley, who has seven cookers in his backyard, suggests a temperature of 185 to 210 degrees for cooking to an internal temperature of 195 degrees.

“You need that (long cooking) time to allow the smoke to permeate the meat,” says St. John, whose restaurants are the Purple Parrot Cafe, the Crescent City Grill and the Mahogany Bar in Hattiesburg and Meridian, Miss. “You can use wood chips when you grill (over fire), but the smoke flavor is just on the surface.”

The barbecue’s lid is vital to success, because it regulates the heat and helps to incorporate smoke into the meat, St. John adds.

“It captures the smoke and moisture, and it makes it a lot more efficient at controlling the heat and humidity.” Huntley says.

Huntley suggests that home cooks start their barbecue adventure with a pork butt, also called Boston shoulder roast, Boston roast, Boston butt, shoulder butt or shoulder blade roast, until they get the hang of smoking. “Ribs are hard, because they are thin,” he says.

“Use wood that is local. I don’t use juniper because I don’t have it. I use hickory, which is preferred in the Carolinas, as well as pecan, oak, apple and cherry. But be careful about hickory — too much causes a bitter taste.” (People who would like to try a pecan wood flavor can soak pecan shells in water, then throw them onto the fire.)

Select a spice rub and cover the meat thoroughly with it, then refrigerate, wrapped in plastic wrap, for about 12 hours. You will need a drip pan and wood chunks or chips and charcoal if you are not going to build a hardwood fire. More charcoal or hardwood will need to be added during the cooking time to maintain a steady low heat.

Huntley suggests starting the fire with 15 to 20 coals on each side of the grill; the drip box should be placed away from the coals; pour in a liquid, such as beer or water with lemon slices in it, before the grid is placed on top. Wood or chips should be soaked for about 20 minutes before putting onto the low coals.

Meat should not be placed — fat-side up — over the fire, but to the side of the barbecue grid over the drip box. Close the lid and let cook until done, for five to six to eight hours, or until the temperature reaches 195 degrees on a meat thermometer, adding more coals as necessary. The pork fat will be rendered into the drip box. An hour before the meat is done, wrap it in aluminum foil and close the lid again, letting it steam to perfect tenderness for about 1 hour.

Bring out the forks, spoons, barbecue sauce, buns, baked beans, macaroni salad, coleslaw and lots of napkins to serve. Knives should not be necessary, however, says Huntley, adding, “I have buddies who say that if you use a knife on pork barbecue, you didn’t do it right.”

---

Safe barbecue

In their book, “Extreme Barbecue” (Chronicle Books LLC), authors Dan Huntley and Lisa Grace Lednicer offer these tips for a safe and sound barbecue.

• Use big leather gloves, preferably welder’s gloves, which also protect the forearms, rather than regular oven mitts. Leather aprons are a good idea, too, because cotton aprons can catch fire.

• Do not grill barefoot, lest you step on a hot coal while carrying a platter of meat. If you must wear flip-flops, try it, but you probably won’t continue doing so after you have dropped lava-colored coals on the top of your bare foot.

• Alcohol and fire are a dangerous mix, because cooks who have had a bit too much to drink have been known to lose control of the fire, the meat and their dinner party. Everything in moderation until the guests are served.

• Garden hose, garden hose, garden hose. If one is not nearby, get a fire extinguisher and a 5-gallon bucket of water. A fire’s best antidote is water.

---

BBQ Ribs

---

Robert St. John — CEO, president and executive chef of the Purple Parrot Cafe, the Crescent City Grill and the Mahogany Bar in Hattiesburg and Meridian, Miss. — offers this recipe in his book “New South Grilling” (Hyperion, $29.95).

• 3 full racks of pork spareribs, 3 to 4 pounds each (3-inch/down)

• 2 cups white vinegar

• 1/2 cup paprika

• 1/4 cup garlic powder

• 2 tablespoons onion powder

• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

• 2 tablespoons kosher salt

• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon Creole Seasoning, recipe follows

• BBQ Sauce, recipe follows

Place the ribs in a large roasting pan or baking dish and pour the vinegar over them. Using your hand, rub all of the ribs with the vinegar and allow them to marinate for 1 hour. Drain the vinegar and dry each rack completely, using paper towels.

Combine the spices, sugars and Creole Seasoning and coat the ribs completely with the mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Prepare the grill. Cook the ribs over indirect low heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until they begin to pull away from the tips of the bones and the entire rack bends easily when held in the middle with a pair of tongs. Serve the ribs dry with BBQ Sauce on the side.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Creole Seasoning

• 1/2 cup seasoned salt, such as Lawry’s

• 2 tablespoons onion powder

• 2 tablespoons paprika

• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

• 1 tablespoon ground white pepper

• 1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon dry mustard

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

Combine all ingredients. Store leftovers in a sealed container in a cool, dry place.

Makes 1 cup.

BBQ Sauce

• 2 tablespoons bacon fat

• 2 tablespoons dried minced onions

• 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic

• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup molasses

• 2 cups chicken stock

• 1 quart ketchup

• 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 2 tablespoons dry mustard

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

• 1/2 cup cider vinegar

Heat the oven to 300 degrees.

In a 3-quart Dutch oven, heat the bacon fat over low heat. Add the dried onions and garlic and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients and place the sauce in the oven. Bake for 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.

Use to baste ribs during the last hour of cooking, or serve on the side. Refrigerate leftovers, or freeze for longer shelf life.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

---

Jerry’s Smoked Brisket

---

This recipe is from “Extreme Barbecue: Smokin’ Rigs and Real Good Recipes” by Dan Huntley and Lisa Grace Lednicer (Chronicle Books LLC, $18.95 paperback). It was offered by Jerry Hines of Foster, Mo., who cooks meat on a grill fashioned from a discarded bulk milk tank from a dairy farm.

The authors write that “this is an amazingly simple recipe that relies almost entirely on time — it takes eight to 10 hours.”

“There’s no two ways about it. A brisket is a danged tough piece of meat, and the only real way to tenderize it is by cooking it a long time,” Hines says.

• 1/2 cup barbecue dry rub, purchased or homemade

• 1 beef brisket, about 10 pounds

• 1 cup tomato-based barbecue sauce of your choice

Build a fire in a smoker-grill for indirect heat. Maintain a temperature of 200 degrees.

Sprinkle the dry rub all over the brisket. Place the brisket in the smoker on the side opposite the coals and cook for 4 hours. Remove the brisket from the heat and let cool slightly, then cut the top half from the bottom half along the line of thick fat. Trim out the fat, then place the smaller part of the brisket on top.

Wrap the meat tightly in the foil and return it to the smoker. Cook for about 3 hours and 45 minutes longer. Remove from the heat and let rest for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and cut the brisket against the grain into long pieces. Serve with barbecue sauce on the side.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

---

Southern Pork Barbecue Sandwich

---

This recipe is from The National Pork Board. Use apple and hickory chips for best flavor.

• Kosher salt

• Coarse black pepper

• 1 whole boneless pork butt, 6 to 8 pounds

• 1 cup sweet Hungarian paprika

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 2 large onions, chopped

• 1 tablespoon paprika

• 1 tablespoon chile powder

• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 2 cans (28 ounces each) tomatoes, undrained

• 3 cups cider vinegar

• 1 bottle (14 ounces) ketchup

• 1/2 cup orange juice

• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

• 1/4 cup country-style brown mustard

• 12 large soft sandwich buns

Combine 1 cup kosher salt, 1 cup coarse ground pepper and the sweet paprika. Coat the pork butt evenly with the mixture. Prepare a smoker with apple and hickory chips and smoke the meat over a low fire for about 5 hours. Let cool slightly, and break the meat apart, using forks.

Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy saucepan and saute the onions until translucent. Stir in 1 tablespoon paprika, the chile powder, crushed red pepper, cumin and cayenne, and cook until fragrant, for about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, ketchup, orange juice, brown sugar, mustard, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon pepper.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick and coats the back of a spoon. Puree the sauce and let cool. The sauce can be made 2 or 3 days in advance and refrigerated.

To serve, combine the pork and sauce in a large saucepan. Heat through, stirring over medium-low heat. Pile the sauced pork on buns.

Makes 12 servings.

---

Massachusetts Smoked Turkey Breast

---

• 1 bag (6 ounces) sweetened dried cranberries

• 3 tablespoons dried tarragon

• 4 cups soaked fruitwood chips

• 1 fresh whole turkey breast, 4 to 7 pounds

Prepare a grill or smoker according to manufacturer’s directions.

Put the cranberries in a mini food processor or blender and pulse until the cranberries are finely minced. In a medium bowl, mix the minced cranberries and tarragon. Gently loosen the skin on the turkey breast and spread the cranberry mixture directly onto the meat under the skin.

Place the wood chips in a smoker box over direct medium-high heat in the grill. Put the turkey breast on the other side of the grid (indirect heat), close the lid and smoke for about 20 minutes per pound or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 170 degrees.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

With higher airfares and more and more airline fees, I recently had to ask myself whether I could still do a trip to anywhere for under $500 without sacrificing too much. To my surprise, the answer is “yes,” at least for now.

Now that the presidential election race is heating up and Independence Day is fast approaching, I thought an affordable patriotic destination was in order. Instantly, Philadelphia came to mind. As America’s birthplace (think Declaration of Independence), mounds of political history, and let’s not forget the Liberty Bell, there couldn’t be a better place to visit. Plus, area hotels have put together a slew of packages, and Philly is served by Southwest Airlines, the only U.S. airline travelers still like.

Staying in Philadelphia

Three citywide hotel packages, sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, make Philly affordable and give travelers options for summer travel.

The Philly Overnight Hotel Package, available at more than 30 participating hotels, includes a two-night stay, free parking, a teddy bear, and discounts at Macy’s. In one example, you can stay at the Comfort Inn located downtown near the historic area for $157 per night, plus 14% tax, which totals $357.96 ($178.98 if you share the room with another person).

With the Philly’s More Summer Fun Hotel Package (valid through September 7), you get a $50 American Express reward card in addition to the Macy’s discount if you stay two nights, which is essentially cash back since you can spend it on virtually anything. For the dates I checked, the cheapest downtown hotel was the Residence Inn in Center City with rooms for $165 per night, which comes to $376.20 with the 14% tax. Subtract the $50 reward card to get $326.20 total, or $163.10 if you share with someone else.

For families, the Animal Discoveries Hotel Package (available through November 30) might be the best bet. A family of four sharing a room will receive two nights’ accommodations; free parking; four combo tickets to the Philadelphia Zoo, Adventure Aquarium, and Ride the Ducks Tour; and small gifts and extra hotel amenities. The best rate for my test dates was $250 per night at the well-located, four-star Loews Philadelphia Hotel. The total, including a seven percent state tax, came to $535, or $133.75 per person for a family of four.

To find the best rates, play around with a few dates. While Philly puts on a tremendous Independence Day celebration, Fourth of July weekend might be too pricey for the $500 budget, so consider other weekends. Better yet, go midweek for the cheapest prices and smallest crowds.

Getting to Philadelphia

Despite how most airlines are raising prices and adding new fees daily, Southwest is holding its own by keeping fares low and by not charging for first or second checked bags. When I looked, round-trip fares to Philly, including taxes and fees, for a non-holiday weekend in July included:

• $149: Columbus, OH; Jacksonville; Manchester, NH; Providence; Orlando; Raleigh-Durham
• $158: Palm Beach International Airport
• $159.50: Ft. Lauderdale
• $163: Ft. Myers
• $179: San Antonio, St. Louis
• $191: Nashville
• $220: Jackson, MS
• $261.50: Austin
• $270: Indianapolis
• $277: Chicago
• $278.50: Houston
• $284: Detroit
• $286.50: Birmingham

Southwest serves other cities, which might have fares that fit under budget, particularly from the East Coast and Midwest. West Coast travelers can expect to pay between $100 and $200 more per ticket—likely over budget but still reasonable. If Southwest doesn’t fly from your city, you can find fares under $300 on other airlines such as US Airways (a Philadelphia hub), but you might have to be more flexible with your travel dates and will need to consider the additional fees you might incur on top of the ticket.

Not in the mood to fly? Luckily, you can drive, take the bus, or use the train to get to Philly. With nationwide bus service, Greyhound drops riders off at a few Philadelphia locations, and Amtrak stops at the city’s 30th Street Station, while offering service through the Northeast Corridor and connecting to other major cities in the U.S. and Canada. Plus, a companion travels Amtrak to Philadelphia for half the price through December 10. And whether you come by air or alternative modes, you can get around the city via affordable public transportation or by walking, the latter of which is always free.

Cost breakdown

Here’s the cost breakdown with the most expensive airfare and hotel package on my list (note that other configurations might be cheaper):

$286.50 (airfare from Birmingham) + $178.98 (two nights’ hotel at the Comfort Inn) = $465.48 per person

With at least $34.52 left in the budget, you should have plenty left over for exploring the many affordable (or free) ways to enjoy America’s history in the City of Brotherly Love. Here are just a few:

• Independence National Historic Park (including the Liberty Bell Center, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, Old City Hall, City Tavern, New Hall Military Museum, Franklin Court, Bishop White House, and more) (free)
• Betsy Ross House ($3 adult/$2 child suggested donation)
• National Liberty Museum ($15 family admission or free admission every Sunday)
• Christ Church ($3 adult/$2 child suggested donation)
• Christ Church Burial Ground ($2 adult/$1 student)
• Elfreth’s Alley Museum ($5 adult/$1 child)
• SoundAboutPhilly podcast tours (free)
• Historic Philly Trolley Loop ($2 all day hop-on-hop-off service)

More than 10,000 laptops are lost or stolen each week at U.S. airports, says security industry executive Richard Stiennon in a blog for NetworkWorld.com. He cites a survey conducted by The Ponemon Institute, a monitor of privacy and security issues.

About 65% of them are not reclaimed, and half the laptops contain confidential corporate information, says the survey, which was sponsored by Dell. The data results were released last month as Dell introduced its new laptop data protection services for business travelers.

Stiennon suggests a few tips. Place your laptop in the first bin at the checkpoint, and put your laptop bag in front of it. Place a second bin with your shoes, belt, purse, wallet, etc. behind your laptop. Your carry-on bag should go last. The second bin and the carry-on separate the laptop from the person behind you.

The first thing you should do on the other side is claim your laptop and put it away in the briefcase.

He also suggests marking your laptop with a sticker, so that others don’t pick it up by mistake.

Construction materials combined with poor ventilation were behind the high levels of formaldehyde found in trailers the government bought as temporary homes for hurricane victims, according to a government study released Wednesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said their study of travel trailers used for displaced Gulf Coast residents does not apply to other trailers.

But trailer makers and government regulators “should consider using construction materials that emit lower levels of formaldehyde as well as designs that increase outside air ventilation,” said Michael McGeehin, director of the CDC’s division of environmental health hazards.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency supplied about 140,000 travel trailers and mobile homes to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. About 15,300 families are still living in them.

CDC tested about 500 trailers and mobile homes last winter and found most units registered high levels of formaldehyde gas. Emitted from plywood and other construction materials, formaldehyde has been linked to a number of health problems, including respiratory ailments and skin rashes, and is a suspected carcinogen.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has asked the manufacturers of the models with the highest levels of formaldehyde to testify at a July 9 hearing.

Pilgrim International Inc., Gulf Stream, Keystone RV Inc., and Forest River Inc. are all based in northern Indiana. More than half the tested trailers made by Gulf Stream, Pilgrim and Keystone — and 44% of Forest River trailers — had formaldehyde levels higher than those the Environmental Protection Agency has linked to health problems.

Pilgrim, which the committee has subpoenaed for information the company declined to voluntarily provide, announced last month new models using composite materials instead of wood. The composite materials are free of formaldehyde as well as lighter, according to the company.

Becky Gillette, a Sierra Club official who urged FEMA for more than a year to test its trailers and mobile homes, disputed the CDC’s statement that their findings are not applicable to trailers purchased by consumers. Gillette said high formaldehyde levels are a widespread problem but only residents living in government-provided trailers have been able to get their health complaints heard.

“People are buying these kinds of RVs and finding out too late that they can’t use them because of such high formaldehyde levels that they experience burning eyes, bloody noses, headaches and breathing problems,” Gillette said.

Gillette also said that because only one of the 45 trailer components the CDC tested exceeded — by itself — the formaldehyde standard for wood materials that shows the standards are too low.

The CDC had the Berkeley National Laboratory measure formaldehyde concentrations inside trailers and emissions from specific parts, such as walls, floors, ceilings, tables and cabinets.

“Even with a limited sample of trailers, this study affirms what would be expected, that construction materials that emit high concentrations of formaldehyde, when part of a relatively small structure that has poor ventilation, have the potential to produce elevated levels of formaldehyde in the indoor air,” McGeehin said.

“This suggests that efforts to design and build emergency housing units may be able to greatly improve indoor air quality by using different construction materials and ensuring that ventilation systems let in fresh air,” he said.

The CDC previously recommended that Gulf Coast families with children, the elderly and those with chronic diseases like asthma should move out of the temporary trailers as soon as possible. The center repeated that recommendation Wednesday and said those still living in trailers should spend as much time outdoors as they can and open windows to let fresh air in whenever possible.

FEMA has said it is helping an average 1,000 families move into permanent housing each week.

First it was the tomatoes. Now it’s the beef.

Fourth of July picnic tables are getting a careful look as familiar hamburgers are feared to be among the tainted ingredients in separate food safety scares.

ON THE WEB: Click to contact Kroger or call 800-632-6900

HEALTH BLOG: How to avoid cancer risk while grilling

On Wednesday, The Kroger Co. expanded its voluntary recall of some ground beef products to its stores in more than 20 states, saying the meat may be contaminated with E. coli.

The nation’s biggest traditional grocer also urged customers to check the ground beef in their refrigerators and freezers to determine whether it is covered by the recall.

The warning comes as federal investigators try to pinpoint the source of a separate salmonella outbreak linked to tomatoes that has sickened nearly 900 people, raising more questions about the nation’s food safety system.

While insisting that tomatoes remain the leading suspect, investigators are looking at other produce but remain mum on exactly what vegetables are getting tracked.

Kroger’s recall stems from meat obtained from one of Kroger’s suppliers, Nebraska Beef Ltd., that has been linked to illnesses reported in Michigan and Ohio between May 31 and June 8 caused by E. coli bacteria.

Nebraska Beef has recalled from wholesalers and other processing companies nearly 532,000 pounds of ground beef produced on five dates between May 16 and June 24.

Kroger said Wednesday that as a precaution it removed from stores all ground beef supplied by Nebraska Beef marked with sell by dates of May 21 or later.

“Ground beef in stores today comes from other suppliers not involved in the recall,” Kroger spokeswoman Meghan Glynn said Wednesday.

The Cincinnati-based company initiated a recall June 25 for Kroger stores in Michigan and in central and northern Ohio. The expanded recall includes ground beef sold at Fred Meyer, QFC, Ralphs, Smith’s, Baker’s, King Soopers, City Markets, Hilander, Owen’s, Pay Less and Scott’s with overlapping sell-by dates from mid-May through mid-July.

In some stores, the recall includes products in Styrofoam tray packages wrapped in clear cellophane or purchased from an in-store service counter. It does not include ground beef sold in 1-, 3-, or 5-pound sealed tubes or frozen ground beef patties sold in the frozen food section of its stores.

Kroger is notifying customers about the expanded recall by placing signs in stores in meat departments. It also is using its register receipt notification system.

Kroger can track purchases by customers who use the company’s loyalty card, which entitles customers to certain discounts. Sometimes those customers receive information about products the next time the card is used and a receipt is issued, Glynn said.

In other cases, Kroger is able to call customers who used the loyalty card to purchase a tainted product, and it is doing that with the ground beef recall, Glynn said.

Symptoms of E. coli infection can include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting and fever. It can potentially be deadly, but most people recover within five to seven days.

Health officials urge people to thoroughly cook hamburger and, if possible, use a digital thermometer to make sure meat has been heated to at least 160 degrees.

They also recommend that people wash their hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after

For 40 years, Meredith Smith brought the Fourth of July to the sky over the Northside of Indianapolis. He and his wife, Charlotte, did it as a community service.

In February, he died at age 74.

Tonight, a little bit of Meredith Smith will burst over the White River as this year’s finale, the community’s way of giving something back to the school maintenance man who was a trained pyrotechnician.

About a half-teaspoon of his ashes are inside a shell that will punctuate the night with a white burst. (Indiana law allows cremated remains to be disposed of on property of a consenting owner, uninhabited public land or in a waterway.)

“Meredith felt like the people in this area didn’t get the opportunities that other people got, and so he wanted to give them the opportunity, Charlotte Smith told The Indianapolis Star (a Gannett paper). “Sometimes, we took the money out of our own pocket.”

Residents donated more than $10,000 for tonight’s display. They’ll also be decked out in T-shirts memorializing “the last shot.”

“I can’t think of a better way,” said family friend Kevin Moss.

Larry Harmon, who popularized Bozo the Clown through the new medium of television 50 years ago, died today of heart failure in his Los Angeles home. He was 83.

Harmon was not the original Bozo, who was created by Alan W. Livingston in 1946. Harmon exaggerated the original look, then donned the distinctive make-up, hair and suit for countless appearances as “Bozo, The World’s Most Famous Clown.” More important, however, he licensed the character to TV stations — which hired their own Bozos — and created a cartoon series.

“You might say, in a way, I was cloning BTC (Bozo the Clown) before anybody else out there got around to cloning DNA,” Harmon told the Associated Press in a 1996 interview. “Bozo is a combination of the wonderful wisdom of the adult and the childlike ways in all of us.”

His wife of 29 years called him the perfect Bozo.

“He was the most optimistic man I ever met. He always saw a bright side; he always had something good to say about everybody. He was the love of my life,” Susan Harmon said.

Here’s the AP obituary.

Ronald Said through his press secretary that it’s a sad day in happyland, and that he and grimmice will be sending flowers. Ronald did however say his diet of greesy cheese burgers, cigeretts and happymeal shakes contributed t his heart condition.

A Department Chair is being named in honor of him, at clown college at the Barnum Bailey Center for Happiness Research. 

For decades visitors to the spillway at Pymatuning State Park In Pennsylvania — “where the ducks walk on the back of fishes” — have fed the fish there with anything they had on hand.

Come Jan. 1, that will no longer be permitted.

Only pellets of an approved “fish food” will be permitted to be fed to the fish, according to Pete Houghton, manager of Pymatuning State Park. The fish food will be sold at the park, he said.

The move is being done to help improve the health of wildlife at the park.

People caught feeding the fish bread will be taken deep in to the park, and the shit will be kicked out of them by the overweight park rangers who won’tbe eatng the pellets, but need to. (OK, we just made that up.)

Ohio fish can still be fed the traditional shit they always ate, Ohio legislators could care less about fat fish, in other news, 20,000 carp swim west.

A 21-year-old woman working at a lottery drive-through told police that a customer exposed himself to her.The woman, who works at Millionaires Express, South Avenue, told police she was working about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when a man, described as being in his mid-20s, arrived to buy lottery tickets.

While sitting in his car, the man pulled his shorts down, exposing himself to her and then drove away.

Rain or thunderstorms may put a damper on your Fourth of July weekend barbecue, parade or fireworks show.But have a little patience because if it does rain or storm, it should pass quickly.

“If we get thunderstorms, they’ll be fairly short,” said Mark Adams, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland. “It won’t be a long rain.”

There’s a 30 percent chance of rain showers or thunderstorms Friday, a 40 percent chance Saturday and Sunday.

“That small chance lingers in the forecast for the weekend,” Adams said.

So you may have to wait 15 or 20 minutes to fire up the barbecue or have an umbrella handy as you grab candy at the parade.

The temperature will steadily climb this weekend, Adams said.

The high for Friday is expected to be in the upper 70s, approach 80 degrees Saturday, be in the low 80s Sunday and then the mid-80s on Monday.

The location of the fireworks display originally scheduled for 10 p.m. Friday at the Mosquito Lake State Park has been changed to behind Lakeview High School.

A Fourth of July parade planned for noon Friday for downtown has been canceled.Parade organizer the Rev. Cecil Monroe said today that Wednesday was the final day for potential parade sponsors to respond, and they did not.

“The financial costs that are associated with organizing a Fourth of July parade for an entire city can easily soar into the thousands of dollars — thousands of dollars that one person cannot shoulder alone,” the Rev. Mr. Monroe said in a press release.

After more than a year’s time for its construction, the Foxburg bridge will open this afternoon, approximately a year ahead of schedule.Work began in the spring of last year on the $10.1 million project, which carries Route 58 over the Allegheny River separating Armstrong and Clarion Counties. The new four-span, multi-girder bridge carries two lanes of traffic over the original Warren Truss bridge that opened back in 1921.

A pedestrian walkway on the new span will be completed after the original structure is demolished. The bridge will close for the demolition, which will begin on Monday, July 14th and last three days.

The bridge will reopen at 5:30pm.

Independence Day activities include the Freedom Celebration, all day, at Butler’s Memorial Park, and parades in several communities, including Mars and Zelienople.

The Zelie parade starts at eleven, followed by the Shriner’s Parade.

The 4th of July parade in Mars is scheduled for five.

There will also be a free concert by the Pittsburgh Philharmonic Orchestra, starting at eight, in Zelienople Community Park.

Congressman Phil English was in Butler today, touting legislation that would give local veterans easy access to higher education benefits.Joined by local veterans at the Butler VA Medical Center, Congressman English talked about “The Post 9/11 Educational Assistance Act”. The bipartisan legislation strengthens and expands the original Montgomery GI Bill, as well as increase benefits for Reserve and Guard members. The legislation, which was included in H.R. 2642, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, was signed into law this past Monday.

The new law gives members of the military who have served at least three years on active duty since September 11, 2001, a maximum educational benefit equal to the highest tuition for a public college or university in their state. The federal government will also match, dollar for dollar, a private college’s financial contributions towards a veteran’s tuition.

Veterans, including National Guard and Reserve members, will have 15 years to use their educational benefits and will have the option to transfer unused educational benefits to their spouses and dependents.

A new Tanger Outlet Center will open in Washington County in late August.Billboards are up and retailers are working on their stores.

The outlet operator’s president and chief operating officer Steve Tanger says his malls have strong occupancy rates because manufacturers are always seeking to move their wares.

As for consumers, he says the slow economy helps his business.

In a bid to fight rising gas prices, Tanger rewards shoppers who carpool.

And Tanger says, if people like a bargain at the best of times, they need one in the worst of times.

A $5.82 billion takeover of Wyomissing, Pa.-based Penn National Gaming has been called off due a declining purchase price.The buyers, Fortress Investment Group LLC and private equity firm Centerbridge Partners LP, had valued the deal at $67-per-share. But since the buyout was first announced last June, Penn shares have sagged 44%, recently bottoming at $28.20.

Shares of the company fell 8 cents to $28.52 in morning trading. Fortress shares dipped 5 cents to $11.45.

Penn National says it was clear the takeover wouldn’t be completed without “significant and lengthy litigation.” It also says a re-negotiated, reduced purchase price “was not a viable option.”

 newspaper quotes the state Senate’s top Democrat as saying his staff helped a lawyer who was trying to get the numbers of reporters subpoenaed in an investigation of alleged grand jury secrecy violations.According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Senate Minority Leader Robert J. Mellow says the aides were simply providing a constituent service. He says they acted at the request of the lawyer for 1 of 2 men accused of lying under oath to the grand jury.

The Lackawanna County Democrat says he knew nothing about the help his staff provided to the lawyer for the Rev. Joseph Sica until the paper began asking questions Tuesday.

The priest and casino owner Louis DeNaples are charged with perjury. Fifteen reporters have been subpoenaed for a hearing to determine whether a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate alleged leaks in the county grand jury investigation.

Nebraska Beef Ltd. expanded a recall announced earlier this week to include all 5.3 million pounds of meat the firm produced for ground beef between May 16th and June 26th.Federal investigators have linked Nebraska Beef’s products to an outbreak of E. coli illnesses that has now sickened 40 people in Michigan and Ohio.

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement Thursday that it has determined these products may have been produced “under insanitary conditions.”

All of the beef being recalled was sold to wholesalers and distributors for further procession, so product labels likely will not include the “EST 19336″ code that identified Nebraska Beef.

Some of Nebraska Beef’s products were sold by grocer Kroger Co.

A foundation created by Steven Spielberg is giving $1 million to the National Museum of American Jewish History.The money from the Righteous Persons Foundation will go toward a new, five-story museum building being built in Philadelphia.

With the donation, officials say the museum’s capital campaign has raised $111 million toward its $150 million goal. The new museum is set to open in 2010.

Spielberg helped establish the Righteous Persons Foundation in 1994 after directing his Oscar-winning Holocaust film “Schindler’s List.”

The museum was established in 1976 and is dedicated to telling the story of the American Jewish experience. It is constructing the new building in hopes of raising its profile and increasing