Many grocers and restaurants have stopped selling fresh round and plum tomatoes, due to a contamination scare, prompting California growers and farm officials to emphasize that vegetables grown in the state have been cleared as safe by the FDA.

By Reed Fujii, The Record, Stockton, Calif. Mar. 27--Hoping to avert the type of crisis that struck spinach farmers last year when E. coli contamination sickened hundreds and resulted in three deaths, a group of California tomato producers plan to impose strict new standards on themselves.

By Sanford Nax, The Fresno Bee, Calif. Jan. 26--Fresno's airport may soon offer new destinations for Valley residents clamoring for expanded air service. A Houston-based regional airline is expanding its California presence, and Fresno appears to be one of its new stops.