Small farmers protest new federal produce rules

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Small and organic vegetable farmers who say proposed federal food safety rules could harm their businesses have organized dozens of events nationwide to inform people about the regulations and encourage them to write to the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA proposed the rules in response to the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, a major update aimed at preventing foodborne illness instead of reacting to it. Among other measures, the rules would require farmers to take precautions against contamination, including ensuring that workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean and animals stay out of fields.

While small farmers agree with the law's goal of creating a safer food supply, they say the rules show a lack of understanding of agricultural practices and could be costly enough to force some out of business. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coaliton, National Young Farmers Coalition and other groups have started a campaign to encourage the public to write to the FDA before the comment period ends Nov. 15.

It's unclear whether the government shutdown will affect that timeline.

"I think the main thing is that it's really important for farmers and consumers both to make comments to the FDA because these rules will have a huge effect on local farms and their ability to provide," said Lindsey Shute, spokeswoman for the National Young Farmers Coalition.

Shute and her husband have a community-supported agriculture, or CSA, farm in Clermont, N.Y., where they use manure from their chickens and a neighboring farm as fertilizer to grow a variety of vegetables. The chickens are rotated from field to field in an accepted organic method. Shute said national organic standards allow them to harvest about four months after the animals leave a field. The new rules would stretch that to nine months, which is far longer than the growing season.

Shute said she's also concerned her farm would have to test water from its irrigation ponds every week, costing an estimated $5,000 to $10,000 per year and requiring regular hour-long, one-way drives to the nearest lab.

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Woman evicted after 9-year stay at Racine hotel

RACINE, Wis. (AP) — A woman who has been staying at an upscale hotel in southeast Wisconsin for nine years will be evicted after running up an unpaid bill of $29,000.

Jana Ganjian said she first checked into the Racine Marriott in 2004 after her house went into foreclosure. She said she used to work in the insurance industry before going on disability due to a lupus-like disorder, The Journal Times of Racine reported (http://bit.ly/1bO0m5qhttp://bit.ly/1bO0m5q ).

"If I could be working, this wouldn't have happened in the first place," Ganjian told the newspaper.

She made some of her $89-per-day payments using her monthly disability benefits. But after she filed for bankruptcy in August, the Marriott began eviction proceedings. A Racine County judge granted the eviction Friday after Ganjian failed to show up in court.

It's not clear why the hotel allowed her to remain for so long. Hotel general manager Brian Wismar declined to discuss her situation, citing customer privacy.

Ganjian said she's been living in the hotel because she has no remaining family and she can't afford to rent a place.

She also said she accrued so many reward points during her stay that she reached the platinum level, the highest category. She said she tried to use points to pay for her stay but the hotel revoked her account.

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Community supervision ends for self-help author

SEDONA, Ariz. (AP) — Saturday marks the end of community supervision in Arizona for a self-help author convicted in the deaths of three people following a sweat lodge ceremony.

James Arthur Ray is expected to return to California. He did not respond to an interview request sent to his brother.

Dozens of people participated in Ray's sweat lodge ceremony near Sedona in October 2009. Kirby Brown of Westtown, N.Y.; James Shore of Milwaukee; and Liz Neuman of Prior Lake, Minn., died.

Ray was convicted on three counts of negligent homicide and served nearly two years in prison. He also was required to spend time in Arizona on community supervision.

Ray appealed the verdicts but later dropped the challenge, saying he wanted to avoid the possibility of a retrial and resentencing.

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Health reform: Wis. employers face decisions

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The new health care law means small-business owners in Wisconsin have important choices to make about offering health insurance to their employees.

Business owners across the state are trying to figure out which requirements apply to them and how they'll respond, the Press-Gazette Media reported (http://gbpg.net/17mkPGVhttp://gbpg.net/17mkPGV ). Many say they're not finding it easy to get the information they need.

"I've been to at least five seminars," said Dean Day, the owner of Day's Bowl A Dome in Wausau. "Most were of no value to me at all until the Wisconsin Business Alliance held one. It was upbeat and positive and they answered every question."

Part of the issue is that the Obama administration delayed for one year a provision that requires employers with 50 or more workers to provide health insurance or pay a penalty. But that doesn't mean businesses can ignore other provisions of the law.

"Some employers believe the whole thing is delayed a year. It isn't," said Scott Austin, who runs the employee benefits and life insurance division at Johnson Insurance in Racine.

Businesses below the 50-employee threshold can choose to drop coverage and have their employees go through the individual Health Insurance Marketplace. Those that don't offer coverage but want to could do so through the Small Business Health Options Program.

Some small businesses are renewing their current plans before new mandates in the health care law become effective Jan. 1, Austin said. That gives them another 11 months or so before they see the full impact of the law.