H-10 SHOWDOWN
SANTA LETTERS Dozens of Creston elementary students have written letters to Santa Claus. Read their letters on page 8A in today’s newspaper.
Harlan Cyclones clip seventh-ranked Creston boys basketball team in a Hawkeye 10 showdown Tuesday evening. Jay Wolfe finishes with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Read more in SPORTS, page 9A. >>
creston
News Advertiser
SHAW MEDIA GROUP SERVING SW IOWA SINCE 1879 BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE AT WWW.CRESTONNEWS.COM
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2014
113th Congress ends with more fights than feats WASHINGTON (AP) — The tempestuous 113th Congress has limped out of Washington for the last time, capping two years of modest and infrequent legislating that was overshadowed by partisan clashes, gridlock and investigations. “Thank God it’s over,” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., said as he left the Capitol late Tuesday. How’s this for a legacy? More than 200 bills became law during the past two years, according to congressional data. That was the fewest since at least 1947 and 1948, when what President Harry Truman dubbed “the do-nothing Congress” enacted over 900 laws. This Congress did less than the do-nothing one. AP photo by SCOTT APPLEWHITE Efforts to revamp the immigration system, tight- Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., left, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., walk to the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, following the Democratic caucus meeten gun buyers’ background ing. The Senate was preparing for a contentious confirmation vote on Sarah Saldana checks and force work on to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that will oversee the new the Keystone XL oil pipe- administration policy on immigration that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, hoped to defund. line all foundered as the Republican-run House and Before leaving, Congress Democratic-led Senate ■ More than 200 bills became law during approved legislation financcheck-mated each other’s the past two years. That was the fewest ing federal agencies through priorities. Across-the-board September, but not without spending cuts designed since at least 1947 and 1948. revolts in both parties. Conto be so painful that they servatives bolted because would force the two parties But an 11th-hour attempt turmoil around him, Sen- the bill didn’t halt Obama’s to negotiate deficit reduction took effect anyway, at- to renew a federal program ate Chaplain Barry Black executive actions deferring tempts to overhaul the tax covering part of the cost of opened one session last year deportations of millions of code went nowhere, and losses from terrorism was by praying, “Rise up, O immigrants in the U.S. illeeach chamber passed a bud- sidetracked by retiring Sen. God, and save us from our- gally, while liberals rebelled against its eased restrictions Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who selves.” get that the other ignored. Republicans led con- on banks and big political The partisan impasse was called it a giveaway to the investigations donors. complicated by conservative private insurance industry. gressional Other accomplishments tea party lawmakers whom And while Obama signed of the IRS’ mistreatment GOP leaders often found 30 more bills into law Tues- of conservative groups and included a modest budget unmanageable. That helped day, they were mostly minor the deadly 2012 attacks on deal that capped spending spark a 16-day partial gov- — including one honoring Americans in Benghazi, and rolled back some government shutdown that was golfer Jack Nicklaus with a Libya. Both parties decried ernment-wide cuts. Lawhated by voters and became congressional gold medal poor medical care by the makers provided $60 billion one of this Congress’ hall- for his “excellence and good Veterans’ Affairs Depart- for victims of Hurricane Sandy, passed a farm bill sportsmanship.” ment. marks. Through two years, the Democrats unilaterally and eased flood insurance On the last day, the Democratic-controlled Senate bar for accomplishments weakened filibusters, the costs for homeowners. They provided billions to confirmed a dozen of Pres- dipped so low that routine Senate’s century-old rule ident Barack Obama’s judi- functions like averting a that helps the minority party improve veterans’ medical cial appointees and sent the federal default and keep- block action it opposes. Un- care, linked student loan inWhite House legislation ex- ing government agencies impeded, Democrats then terest rates to market prices tending tax breaks for work- open seemed like crowning confirmed a pile of Obama’s Please see stalled judiciary and execuing-class people and special achievements. CONGRESS, Page 2 As if to underscore the tive branch nominees. interests alike.
Creston Holiday Giveaway winning numbers are: Ellen Gerharz, executive director for Creston Chamber of Commerce, drew winning tickets in the Creston Holiday Giveaway drawing this morning. They are:
$500 - 897074 (red), 328716 (red) $100 - 621758 (red), 007035 (red), 784467 (white), 776898 (white), 999914 (white) Winning ticketholders have until 4 p.m. Jan. 5 to claim their prizes at the Chamber office. The Chamber reminds ticketholders if not all all prizes are claimed in the first drawing, a second drawing will be Jan. 5, so don’t throw away your tickets.
Police shoot, kill armed man this morning near Marshalltown MARSHALLTOWN (AP) — Police in the central Iowa city of Marshalltown say officers have shot and killed an armed man. Marshalltown police say the shooting happened just before 4 a.m. Wednesday, when two officers encountered a man armed with a handgun on a Marshalltown street. Police say the man was critically wounded and taken to a local hospital, where he later died. The officers were not injured. Police Chief Michael Tupper declined early Wednesday to give other details of what led to the shooting or the names of the man and officers involved, saying the investigation is still in the early stages. Marshalltown police have asked the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation to help in the case and conduct an independent investigation into the shooting.
14 charged for roles in meningitis outbreak BOSTON (AP) — Fourteen owners or employees of a Massachusetts pharmacy were charged Wednesday in connection with a 2012 meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people nationwide and was traced to tainted drug injections. Barry Cadden, a co-founder of the New England Compounding Center, and Glenn Adam Chin, a pharmacist who was in charge of the sterile room, were hit with the most serious charges, accused in a federal racketeering indictment of causing the deaths of patients in several states by “acting in wanton and willful disregard of the likelihood” that their actions would cause death or great bodily harm.
More than 750 people in 20 states were sickened and 64 died after they contracted fungal meningitis and other illnesses from tainted steroids made by the company. The steroids given were for medical purposes, not for body building; most received the injections for back pain. Cadden and Chin are charged with causing the deaths of patients in several states, including Michigan, Tennessee and Indiana. The others charged in an indictment unsealed Wednesday face charges ranging from mail fraud to the introduction of adulterated and misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.
Messages were left for lawyers for 12 defendants. Lawyers for two of the defendants could not immediately be located. Among the accusations in the indictment are that Cadden, Chin and others used expired ingredients in drugs, failed to properly sterilize drugs and failed to test drugs to make sure they were sterile. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cited numerous unsafe practices at the compounding pharmacy, which custom mixed medications and supplied them directly to hospitals and doctors. Compounding pharmacies are not subject to the same tight regulations and federal oversight as retail pharmacies.
THURSDAY WEATHER
CONNECT WITH US
COMPLETE WEATHER 3A
crestonnews.com | online 641-782-2141 | phone 641-782-6628 | fax Follow us on Facebook
30 22 PRICE 75¢
Creston News Advertiser 503 W. Adams Street | Box 126 Creston, IA 50801-0126
Copyright 2014
Volume 131 No. 140
2014
If you do not receive your CNA by 5 p.m. call 641-782-2141, ext. 6450. Papers will be redelivered in Creston until 6:30 p.m. Phones will be answered until 7 p.m.
An FDA agent also said pharmacy technicians were instructed to lie on cleaning logs, showing rooms were properly cleaned when they had not been. The contaminated medication was discovered in the fall of 2012. Regulators later found a host of potential contaminants at the company’s Framingham plant, including standing water, mold, water droplets and dirty equipment. Gregory Conigliaro, another co-founder, was among 12 of the 14 arrested at their homes around the state, officials said. A home number for Cadden rang busy, and a woman who answered the phone at a listing for Conigliaro
said it was the wrong number. Chin, a former supervisory pharmacist, had been charged with mail fraud in September. All those charged were expected to make an initial court appearance later Wednesday. The pharmacy gave up its license and filed for bankruptcy protection after it was flooded with hundreds of lawsuits filed by victims and their families. NECC was founded in 1998 by brothers-in-law Cadden and Conigliaro. Cadden, who is married to Conigliaro’s sister, Lisa, earned a pharmacy degree from the University of Rhode Island. Conigliaro is an engineer.
NEED LOCAL INFORMATION? Service Guides at the “click” of your mouse at www.crestonnews.com Retail Business | Community | Dining Special Events | Employment | Your Home