Stamp will honor Gerald Ford
President Gerald R. Ford, who died in December, will be honored on a new postage stamp to be issued Aug. 31, the Postal Service announced Monday.
The design of the 41-cent stamp was unveiled at the annual dinner of the Ford Foundation.
“This stamp personifies his strong character as a courageous and principled leader who successfully healed the nation at a critical time in our history,” Postmaster General John Potter said in a statement.
Miami
Shir toothpaste products recalled
A Florida company issued a nationwide recall Monday of toothpaste it imported from China and distributed to wholesalers, saying that the product may contain a poisonous chemical.
Gold City Enterprise LLC said the roughly 170,000 recalled Shir toothpaste products may contain diethylene glycol, a thickening agent used in antifreeze and as a cheaper substitute for the sweetener glycerin. No injuries or illnesses have been reported.
The recalled toothpaste brands are Shir Fresh Mint Fluoride, Shir Fresh Ice Shir Mint Fluoride and Shir Fresh Cool Shir Mint Fluoride. Consumers were asked to stop using the products and throw them away, or return them to the stores where they bought them.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently has increased its scrutiny of toothpaste made in China that contains the chemical, which can cause kidney and liver problems.
Orlando, Fla.
Atlantis crew attaches truss
The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis successfully attached a 35,000-pound truss to the International Space Station on Monday, preparing the way for Japanese and European science labs that will be added next year.
As the spacewalk was winding up, NASA officials decided to extend the mission for two days so the astronauts could repair a torn thermal blanket on the shuttle’s exterior.
The truss carries solar panels that will add 14 kilowatts of energy-generating capacity to the station, doubling its capacity.
Los Angeles
Mayor says he’s to blame for split
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took the blame Monday for the end of his 20-year marriage but declined to comment on the prospect of another woman.
“That is a private matter,” a sullen Villaraigosa told reporters at a brief, standing-room-only news conference at City Hall.
“While the public has a right to know about this change in our status as a family, I’m not going to entertain questions about our personal, private lives,” he said.
The mayor announced last week that he and his wife, Corina, were separating after more than 20 years of marriage.
From wire reports