FDA Scam & New Year Weather

FDA Scam & New Year Weather plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning the public about criminals posing as FDA special agents and other law enforcement personnel as part of an international extortion scam. If you previously purchased drugs over the Internet or via "telepharmacies" the callers will identify themselves as FDA special agents or other law enforcement officials and inform the victims that purchasing drugs over the Internet or the telephone is illegal, and that legal action will be pursued unless a fine or fee ranging from $100 to $250,000 is paid.

So what does the first week of the New Year look like weather wise? Here’s USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey.

RIPPEY: We’ll see a break in the weather across the west. Milder air will be spreading across at least the Pacific coast states perhaps as far east as the Rockies and in terms of the precipitation patterns for the January 5^th -11^th time period look for more wet weather in the southeast and extending northward along the Atlantic seaboard. We’ll also perhaps see an increase in snowfall across the northern Rockies and additional snow across the northern plains. But we’re expecting generally dry conditions from California to the southern plains and also in much of the Midwest.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

In with the good air, out with the bad. 2010 is definitely going to need some life breathed into it as most of us are still reeling from the life sucking year that was 2009. Each New Year is met with it’s own set of challenges and 2010 starts out having to deal with 2009’s leftovers; leftover financial collapse and bailout of Wall Street, leftover healthcare bill, leftover climate change talks, and leftover wars. But as most of us have had to come to grips with, leftovers are just a fact of life. You can either choke them down, reinvent them, or throw them out and start fresh. 2010 has all the promise of not only a new year but a new decade and many people are reflecting on 2009 while looking towards the future with anticipation and hope. This past year saw more than its fair share of troubles and end of the world doomsayers, they’re a group that has always been around in one form or another and always will be, lucky for them their margin of error is on the high side. As for 2009 and 2010, our history and our future go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.

Thanks Lacy. On that note, let me extend a very Happy New Year to you from all of us at the Northwest Ag Information Network. We sure have enjoyed bringing these stories to you and look forward to a brand new year beginning on Monday. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.