Proposal to close records draws fire. Traffic accident reports, information about animal diseases and the addresses of judges would be sealed from the public's view under proposals being considered by Tennessee lawmakers. [News Source]

Bush picks acting FDA head to take over as agency chief. President Bush nominated Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, acting chief of the Food and Drug Administration, but Democrats immediately moved to block the choice. [News Source]

Discovery could speed diagnosis of mad cow, other diseases. Scientists at McLaughlin Research Institute in Great Falls have found a powerful new tool to understanding prion diseases, including mad cow, chronic wasting and Creutzfeldt-Jakob. [News Source]

What we learned from a mad cow. Twelve facts, some unsettling and others reassuring, brought to light with the discovery of mad cow in Alabama. [News Source]

How now, mad cow Some Alabamians are concerned by the first known case of mad cow disease in the state, and they should be. [News Source]

Feds’ animal ID program raises ruckus among small farmers. Texas legislators have been preparing local farmers for the application of the new National Animal Identification System but more than a few independent farmers aren't particularly keen on the letter of this law. [News Source]

State program helps to make Cheatham County beef safer. With the news this week that a cow in Alabama has tested positive for mad cow disease, the importance of safe, accountable meat has once again hit home to Cheatham County cattle farmers. [News Source]

Chronic wasting disease found in western MN. The first case of chronic wasting disease in deer has been found in a farmed herd in western Minnesota, the state Board of Animal health reported Wednesday. [News Source]

Investigators will dig up infected cow. The Alabama cow infected with mad cow disease will be exhumed so investigators can get a better idea of its age. [News Source]

What that mad cow means. The USDA was quick to assure the public that the third case of mad cow disease did not pose a risk, but what this latest case indicates the disease has been circulating in U.S. herds for at least a decade. [News Source]