NEWS FOR WEDNESDAY

WORLD NEWS
Australian unfazed by shark bite

An Australian surfer has described the moment that she was attacked by a shark while surfing off New South Wales.
Former professional surfer Jodie Cooper said it grabbed hold of her hand as she paddled out from South Golden Beach, biting into her knuckles.

"It just came up from underneath me and just bit me, just like in the movies," she told Australian Associated Press.

But Ms Cooper says the attack by the 1.5m (five foot) fish will not stop her surfing, comparing it to a dog bite.

"I just went 'okay, I'm being attacked by a shark'," Ms Cooper, who achieved the rank of world number two on the women's surfing circuit in the 1980s, told the AAP news agency.

"It's pretty classic, except lucky it was a small shark, a little five-foot thing," she added. "I didn't even see the thing the whole time, it just gave me a good old chomp on the hand and took a couple of knuckles."

Ms Cooper said she managed to get the animal off and warn her fellow surfers before catching a wave back in.
But she is keen to play down any notion that she was brave, saying that she was afraid the shark would return to another try.

"It's one of those things in all honesty that we can laugh about now and I'm just laughing about it."

But despite her fear Ms Cooper, who was treated in hospital, says she is determined to get back out on the water as soon as possible.

"It's just like I've been bitten by a big dog, just down to the bone on two knuckles, and then about 10 teeth lacerations up my hand," she said.

"There doesn't appear to be any ligament damage... and I can sort of wiggle my hand - I'll give it a couple of days and then I'll go surfing for sure."



US NEWS
US lawsuit over 'pet food death'

A US woman who claims her cat died after eating tainted pet food is suing the manufacturer, Menu Foods.
On Friday, Canada-based Menu Foods said it was recalling 60m cans and pouches of dog and cat food after several animals died during taste testing.

But Chicago resident Dawn Majerczyk claims the company knew that there was a problem earlier and failed to act. Her nine-year-old cat Phoenix suffered kidney failure last week after, she says, eating just one of the pouches.

The ginger cat was taken to the vet on Friday but had to be put to sleep on Saturday, just four days after Ms Majerczyk says he ate the serving of Special Kitty Select Cuts. The cat had reportedly lost 6lb (2.7kg) in the four days and was unable to walk and almost blind by the time he was put down.

"By Friday, he couldn't walk," his owner said. "He couldn't even meow or lift his head up."
Ms Majerczyk filed her lawsuit against Menu Foods in a Chicago federal court on Tuesday. She says that she wants to be compensated for the veterinary bills and the trauma suffered by her children.

The US Food and Drug Administration says that 14 animals - one dog and 13 cats - have been killed by the food. Menu Foods said it was alerted to a problem with the food during routine taste tests carried out at the company. The food was fed to 40 animals - 25 cats and 15 dogs - and nine of the cats subsequently died.

As a result the company issued a product recall for 40 brands of cat food and 51 brands of dog food. The recall list includes well-known brands like Iams, Eukanuba, PetCare and Science Diet.

A further four cats and one dog owned by customers have also died, according to the US Federal Drugs Administration (FDA).

Dr Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, said he expected more pets to die as an investigation into what could have contaminated the food continued.

Dr Sundlof said the inquiry is currently focussing on wheat gluten used as a gravy thickener, though he said that may change. The gluten is not used in dry pet foods.

The recall has triggered panic across the US with pet owners frantically contacting information lines and vets to find out if their pet is in danger. (BBC NEWS)


LOCAL NEWS
Mayor urges crackdown on T violence


Mayor Thomas M. Menino is calling for a crackdown on violent crime on the T as a Herald review shows passengers at busy MBTA stations such as Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Ruggles in Roxbury and Dorchester’s Ashmont stop are most likely to be victims of assaults, robberies and other mayhem.

“We have to be vigilant,” Menino told the Herald. “Everyone deserves to be safe on the subways.” MBTA officials point to a slight dip in overall crime reported by commuters last year, but high-profile incidents such as a double stabbing at the Back Bay T stop this month and the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old near the Jackson Square station have prompted Menino to declare that more needs to be done to keep transportation hubs safe.

City Hall sources said Menino is so distressed about subway crime he is discussing ways to “improve communication” with MBTA police Chief Joseph Carter, who oversees the 254 T officers, at his weekly Strategic Crime Council meetings.

All told last year, some 972 major crimes - assaults, rapes, robberies, car thefts and larcenies - were reported to MBTA police, down from 1,000 in 2005, according to T statistics reviewed by the Herald.

Among the most serious crimes last year were the rapes of three women, one at the Forest Hills stop, another at Ashmont and the third at the Maverick T station in East Boston.

Forest Hills station recorded the highest number of incidents among Boston T stops: 43. Ruggles in Roxbury had 34 serious crimes occur, including 21 robberies. The Dudley bus terminal logged 31 major crimes, including 16 robberies. Ashmont was also a hotbed of criminal activity, with 24 reported.

Of course, many incidents go unreported but leave a lasting impression on commuters. Jeanell Barrett, 22, of Chelsea said she was grabbed by a man at the Dudley Bus Terminal when she went to visit her boyfriend in Roxbury. “The people that congregate there are very aggressive, very physical,” Barrett said. “I just don’t take the subways over there anymore.”

Some stations, including Alewife in Cambridge and Wonderland in Revere, recorded more crimes than most Hub T stops last year, but those totals were inflated by dozens of reported bicycle thefts and stolen bike parts.

MBTA Deputy Chief John Martino said the crime reported on public transportation is “infinitesimal” when considering the T logged more than 337 million passenger rides last year.

“You have a less than half of 1 percent chance of being victimized by crime on the MBTA,” Martino said. “The crime we do have is primarily youth-on-youth. A lot of the people we carry are young people.”

Some T stations such as Ruggles, Roxbury Crossing and Forest Hills, all on the Orange Line, are magnets that draw boisterous teens after school and at night, which can having a chilling effect on older passengers.

Meanwhile, the T’s Martino downplayed any breakdown of communication between Menino and T cop chief Carter. “As violent crime is going up, including in the city of Boston, crime is going down on the MBTA,” Martino said, adding that T cops made 1,102 arrests in 2006. “Our officers are patrolling in a highly visible manner. The response times are very quick. We rely on, and work cooperatively with, the local police departments.” (BOSTON HERALD)


CELEB GOSSIP
It must suck to be Kevin Federline, especially today!

The failed rapper was set to celebrate his birthday in Los Angeles tonight, but the party just got cancelled.

In addition to not getting any interest from the general public in his "career," FedEx failed to get any interest from corporate America to sponsor his party.

Federline's publicist - he still has one? - asserts that it was Kevin who canceled the event. "He decided that one party was enough," said his rep. "Kevin is just focusing on his family right now."

The Federjerk will celebrate with a party in Vegas this weekend, and NO, Britney Spears will not be there!

But maybe she will come to Perez's Vegas birthday party, Saturday, March 31st at Moon Nightclub in the Palms Resort & Casino. (PerezHilton.com)

MUSIC NEWS
Walkmen's Leithauser Responds to SXSW Arrest

Toss a million bands, two million industry mongrels, three million gallons of free booze, a couple evangelicals, and a few dozen kids handing out complimentary condoms into the SXSW blender, and somebody's bound to get arrested. Turns out one of the unlucky souls to land behind bars this past weekend in Austin was none other than the Walkmen's vertically imposing vocalist with the aristocratically imposing name, Hamilton Leithauser.

Old Ham, it seems, had been hitting the bottle and returned to his hotel quite late (approximately 4 a.m., according to his publicist) on the morning of Friday, March 16. After some kind of verbal altercation with the fellow behind the desk, Leithauser found himself in Austin's Travis County Jail for 12 hours, according to NME.com.

Said Leithauser in a statement to Pitchfork, "Marice, this bastard who works the night desk at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on North IH-35, organizes room numbers like a very, very smart dog."

He was released in time to perform with the Walkmen at the Record Collection/Burnlounge SXSW showcase Friday night at Emo's Annex, and even found a moment to draft a rather humorous "review" of the jail facility where he spent the night. ("As far as underground dungeons go, the Travis County Central Booking Office is pretty convincing.") (Pitchfork Media)