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USDA says drought will push up food prices in 2013

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The drought gripping more than half the country is a major reason why consumers can expect to pay 3 percent to 4 percent more for groceries next year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday.
  
Milk, eggs, beef, poultry and pork prices will all be affected because the drought has pushed up prices for feed, and that will eventually translate into higher prices for steaks, hamburger, pork chops and chicken. The good news for cost-conscious consumers is that prices for fruits and vegetables, as well as processed foods, aren't affected as much by the drought.
  
Exactly how much more people might pay for a pound of hamburger, for example, isn't known because those prices are affected by lots of factors, including how much of the increase a given supermarket might pass along to the consumer. But beef prices as a whole are expected to see the biggest jump at 4 percent to 5 percent, according to the USDA.
  
Dairy product prices are forecast to climb 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent; poultry and egg prices are projected to rise 3 percent to 4 percent; and pork prices are expected to rise 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent in 2013, the agency said.
  
"In 2013 as a result of this drought we are looking at above-normal food price inflation. ... Consumers are certainly going to feel it," USDA economist Richard Volpe said.
  
Normal grocery price inflation is about 2.8 percent a year, Volpe said, so even a 3 percent increase is slightly higher than usual. The USDA kept its projected food price increase for 2012 steady at 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent, saying average retail food prices were flat for the first half of 2012 thanks to unusually low fruit and vegetable prices as well as lower prices for milk and pork.

Michael Jackson's mother denies kidnap in family power struggle

 Hours after Wednesday's court hearing, Katherine Jackson gave her first TV interview since the often wild and conflicting reports surfaced, denying she had been kidnapped by her adult children and saying she was devastated that Prince Michael, 15, Paris, 14 and Blanket, 10, "have been taken away from me."

Katherine Jackson, 82, who was appointed guardian of the kids in her son Michael's will, was reported missing and unreachable by granddaughter Paris last week.

She was later said by family members to be resting under doctor's order at the Arizona home of one of her daughters.

"There are rumors going around about me that I have been kidnapped," she told ABC News in the interview.

"I am here today to let everybody to know that I am good and fine ... My children would never do anything to me like that," she added.

Katherine Jackson said the court ruling that gave temporary guardianship to her grandson Tito was "based on a bunch of lies."

"I am devastated that while I've been away, my grandchildren have been taken away from me, and I'm coming home," she added.

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Katherine Jackson 'fine,' calls court hearing 'bunch of lies'

After days of rumors swirling about Katherine Jackson's whereabouts and well-being, the matriarch of the famous family said she is returning to Los Angeles and is "good and fine."
Jackson made her first public statements to ABC News since family members reported her missing over the weekend.

"There are rumors going around about me that I have been kidnapped," she said. "I am here today to let everybody know that I am good and fine."

Jackson was also critical of Wednesday's court hearing, in which a Los Angeles County judge stripped her of custody of Michael Jackson's three children. Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff transferred guardianship temporarily to a cousin after hearing allegations that Katherine Jackson was being "held against her will" at an Arizona spa and had sounded "strange" in the one phone call she made to relatives since leaving L.A. on July 15.

"I've never heard my grandmother talk like that," the cousin, Tito Joe "T.J." Jackson, told the judge about the early morning phone call Wednesday. "She wasn't sharp. Some words seemed a little slurred."

An attorney for Katherine Jackson, Sandra Ribera, told the judge that after staying with Michael Jackson's children this week in the Calabasas home where they live with their grandmother, "I have reason to believe she is being held or has been held against her will."

In naming T.J. Jackson temporary guardian, Beckloff said he was responding to "the intentional acts of third parties" rather than any misconduct by Katherine Jackson. He said that the law required T.J. Jackson, 34 — son of Michael's brother Tito — to file paperwork seeking permanent custody but that Katherine Jackson could be reinstated if she returned.

But Katherine Jackson said that ruling was "based on a bunch of lies."

She described the trip as a short vacation, adding: "My children would never do anything to me like that."

She had been at the Miraval Resort & Spa in Arizona. The fight between family factions became public over the weekend when relatives in Calabasas filed a missing person's report. Sheriff's deputies later closed the case after speaking with Katherine Jackson in Arizona, where she was staying with her daughter, Rebbie Jackson.

Katherine Jackson "Devastated" Over Temporarily Losing Guardianship of Michael Jackson's Children

Katherine Jackson was temporarily stripped of her guardianship over Michael Jackson's three children Wednesday by a Los Angeles judge, TMZ reports. Michael's nephew, T.J. Jackson, has been named the temporary guardian of Paris, Prince and Michael Jr. Jackson.

"I am devastated that while I've been away, my grandchildren have been taken away from me, and I'm coming home," Katherine told ABC News late Wednesday. "There are rumors going around about me that I have been kidnapped," she said. "I am here today to let everybody to know that I am good and fine. My children would never do anything to me like that."