Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Recall

June 15, 2007

Recall notice from RC2 Corporation, manufacturing of Tomas the Tank Engine and Friends wooden vehicles and train set components….

In cooperation with the CPSC, RC2 has issued a voluntary recall on June 13th, 2007, of various Thomas & Friends™ Wooden Railway vehicles and wooden train set components sold at toy stores and various retailers nationwide from January 2005 through June 2007.

The recall involves only the specific wooden vehicles, buildings and other train set components for young children listed in the chart below. RC2 has determined that the surface paints on the recalled products contain lead. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects.

The front of the packaging has the logo “Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway” on the upper left-hand corner and a manufacturing code may be located on the bottom of the product or inside the battery cover.

Toys listed in the chart below marked with codes containing “WJ” or “AZ” are not included in this recall. No other Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway or other Thomas & Friends brand toys are affected by this recall.

Recalled Product Names

Red James Engine & Red James’ # 5 Coal Tender

Red Lights & Sounds James Engine & Red James’ #5

Lights & Sounds Coal Tender

James with Team Colors Engine & James with Team Colors #5 Coal Tender

Red Skarloey Engine

Brown & Yellow Old Slow Coach

Red Hook & Ladder Truck & Red Water Tanker Truck

Red Musical Caboose

Red Sodor Line Caboose

Red Coal Car labeled “2006 Day Out With Thomas” on the Side

Red Baggage Car

Red Holiday Caboose

Red “Sodor Mail” Car

Red Fire Brigade Truck

Red Fire Brigade Train

Deluxe Sodor Fire Station

Red Coal Car

Yellow Box Car

Red Stop Sign

Yellow Railroad Crossing Sign

Yellow “Sodor Cargo Company” Cargo Piece

Smelting Yard

Ice Cream Factory

Click here for a full list of images of the specific recalled products.

At this time, there have been no reports of illness or injury as a result of this issue.

Consumers should take the recalled toys away from young children immediately and return the affected products to RC2 Corporation for a replacement product. Consumers must include a completed return form, indicating the item(s) being returned. Return product and completed form to:

In the United States:

RC2 Corporation

Attn: Wooden Vehicle Recall

2021 9th Street SE

Dyersville, IA

52040-2316

U.S. Return Form

Postage will be reimbursed via separately-mailed check at the estimated U.S. Postal Service Ground rate.

In Canada:

KRG Logistics

Attn: RC2 Wooden Vehicle Recall

170 Traders Blvd

East Mississagua, ON L4Z 1W7

Canada

Canadian Return Form

Postage will be reimbursed via separately-mailed check at the estimated Canada Post Regular Parcel rate.

For more information and/or instructions on returning the affected products and obtaining replacements, please contact RC2’s customer service toll-free at (866) 725-4407, Monday through Thursday between 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. CT and Friday 8 – 11 a.m. CT., by email to Customer Care.

All media inquiries should contact Salmon Borre Group at (847) 295-4235.

Click here for a copy of the official CPSC press release

Source: recalls.rc2.com

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Massive Animal Herds Flourishing Despite Sudan War, Survey Reveals

June 12, 2007

New aerial surveys have revealed that staggering numbers of elephants, gazelles, and antelope survived Southern Sudan’s ruinous 25-year civil war virtually unknown to the outside world.

Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

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First, too much sun; now, any sun risky for kids

June 12, 2007

Shade your kids. New evidence suggests overall sun exposure, not just burns, in childhood is a big factor for those who later develop deadly skin cancer.

Source: twincities.com

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Tags: Health | %% | Washington | burns | cancer | CHILDHOOD | Deadly | Evidence | exposure | factor | kids | overall | proposed | RAYS | risky | suggests | sunscreen


Illinois Boy Finds Rare, Blue-Eyed Cicada

June 12, 2007

Those pesky little bugs, cicadas, have been making their return in recent weeks in parts of the Midwest.

They pop out of the ground like clockwork every 17 years.

Looking something like angry versions of crickets, cicadas are known for their bright red eyes.

Source: clickondetroit.com

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Great Lake’s levels sink – Record lows likely to hit shipping & recreaton

June 12, 2007

Lake Superior water levels are headed toward record lows in early fall, a projection that is causing concern about an eventual trickle-down effect in the other Great Lakes as well as Lake St. Clair.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ June forecast — looking ahead to September and October — predicts Superior’s water level will dip under the record low for that time of the year. That low was set in 1925.

Source: detnews.com

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West Nile Devastated U.S. Bird Species

May 17, 2007

West Nile virus or a similar disease could wipe out many of the U.S.’s backyard birds, profoundly changing some of the country’s most familiar wildlife and ecosystems.

That’s the finding of a new analysis of 26 years of data from the national Breeding Bird Survey—data that reveal the dramatic effects of the 1999 arrival of West Nile virus in the U.S.

Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

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Michigan Govenor Jennifer Granholm proposes a 6% cut in Medicare provider fees. And, adds with her purposed cut “People will die.”

May 16, 2007

State budget talks continue in Michigan….

Earlier in the month, Governor Granholm threatened cuts to the states school districts and in Medicare provider fees…
 

Granholm had threatened the cuts—as well as a 6 percent cut in Medicare provider fees—after what she characterized as inaction in the Legislature on a comprehensive solution to the state budget crisis. The necessary, the cuts would go into effect on June 1—30 days before the end of the school year.

Source: journalgroup.com

Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s proposed 6 percent cut across the board in state Medicaid funding has created a wave of fear among the disabled and family members like Howell that it’ll be harder to get treatment.

Source: dailytribune.com

As June 1st nears, the state’s budget crisis continues.  With her proposed cut to medicaid, Granholm states: “People will die.”

She said a 6% cut in Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals, scheduled to take effect June 1, will result in some deaths because of lack of medical care.

Source: freep.com

Granholm stepped up the rhetoric today when she told the Michigan State Medical Society at a meeting in Lansing that unless the state increases revenues, access to Medicaid will be curbed and “people will die.”

Source: detnews.com

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Child’s arrest angers Minnnesota Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe tribe

May 10, 2007

The 11-year-old boy was led from his school in handcuffs, held overnight in a juvenile detention center, and hauled into court in shackles and an orange prison jumpsuit.

His crime? Missing a court date to testify as the victim of an assault.

The treatment of the boy, a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, has reignited a decades-old feud between the tribe and officials from the surrounding county in central Minnesota.

Source: news.yahoo.com

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Granholm sets the clock ticking on school, Medicaid budget cuts

April 30, 2007

LANSING – Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she will order a $125 per pupil cut in state aid to schools and a 6% reduction in state payments to doctors and hospitals that treat Medicaid patients because of the state’s budget deficits.

Source: freep.com

“The Legislature is forcing this stuff. These are not my cuts, these are the Legislature’s cuts that they failed to act on.”

Source: freep.com

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At Least 32 Dead After Virginia Tech University Shooting

April 16, 2007

BLACKSBURG, Va. — At least 32 people are confirmed dead and at least another 21 are wounded after a shooting at Virginia Tech University Monday morning, law enforcement officials told FOX News.

Source: foxnews.com

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Tags: Crime | Monday | Shooting | tech | university | Va. | Virginia | ENFORCEMENT | police | Shooter