AFP Today: Weekend of April 23-25

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1. afp says:

   April 23, 2010 at 10:15 am

   Waynesboro Police Department media release:

   The Waynesboro Police Department responded to 260 N. Commerce Ave. for a reported assault at 2:53 A.M this morning. Upon arrival officers found a 44 year old resident who had been stabbed in the neck during a suspected domestic disturbance. Officers rendered first aid until arrival of Emergency medical services and the victim was transported to Augusta Health. He was subsequently transferred to UVA in serious condition. The suspect had fled the scene prior to officers arriving but has been identified and the incident remains under investigation.

   Then, at approximately 5:22 A.M officers were dispatched to Basic City Luncheonette located at 408 N. Commerce Ave for an attempted robbery of a 44 year old bread delivery driver. He reported that he was making a delivery to the restaurant when an unknown young white male jumped into the back of his delivery truck armed with a metal pipe and attacked him. During an ensuing struggle the victim was struck once in the head before spraying his attacker with pepper spray causing him to abort his assault and flee.

   Officers, who were still at 260 N. Commerce from the earlier incident, responded on foot quickly and within a few minutes had located the freshly pepper sprayed suspect heading north on the railroad tracks still in the 400 block of Commerce Ave. He was identified as David Alan Burns Jr., 20 years of age with no fixed address and currently is being held at Middle River Regional Jail on 1count of Assault and Battery.

   The victim did not require treatment for any injuries sustained during the incident.
2. afp says:

   April 23, 2010 at 10:18 am

   DataMonitor group press release:

   Immediate impacts of U.S. health-care reform as Pharma lowers 2010 revenue predictions. Expert Comment, Dr Tijana Ignjatovic, Healthcare Analyst at Datamonitor.

   “So far, companies including Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Abbott, Amgen and Gilead have already given guidance on the effects that can be expected on their performance this year. For example, Johnson & Johnson estimates that its 2010 impact will be at the top of the range for the overall pharmaceutical industry, with an estimated $400-500m reduction in sales, or 3% of the company’s 2009 US pharma revenues. The magnitute of the impact in 2010 is primarily based upon the level of US sales, in particular, those derived from the Medicaid program.According to our analysis – looking at companies with a high US sales dependency in their prescription pharma business – Forest, King, Cephalon, Amgen and Shire can be expected to be amongst the biggest losers while Big Pharmas Bayer, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis and Roche will suffer a reduced negative impact on their 2010 sales performance, due to their relatively low focus on the US market.

   “The recently passed healthcare reform law is already impacting pharma and biotech companies in the US, mainly due to introduction of higher rebates on drugs sold through the Medicaid program. While the rebate increase is valid from January 2010, reform law measures that are set to benefit pharma by increasing the number of insured individuals will start to have an impact only in 2014. In 2011 pharma will face further downward pressure on drug prices when the 50% discount for patients in the Medicare Part D donut hole is enacted. With the sector already facing a major negative impact of the patent cliff in 2011, reform law provisions that will have a negative impact on the sector could not come at a worse time. Companies will have to weather a perfect storm before they can see much of the upside of reform law.”
3. afp says:

   April 23, 2010 at 4:26 pm

   Democratic Party of Virginia press release:

   Virginia Democrats Question Priorities of McDonnell’s First 100 Days

   RICHMOND – The administration of Governor Bob McDonnell, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, and Lt. Governor Bill Bolling will have been in power for 100 days as of Sunday, April 25, 2010. As the first traditional time stamp approaches, Virginia Democrats must question the priorities of the McDonnell Administration.

   Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman Dick Cranwell released the following statement Friday declaring that Virginians deserve more from their elected officials, citing ideological distractions that have damaged Virginia’s reputation at home and around the nation:

   “Governor McDonnell, Attorney General Cuccinelli, and Lt. Governor Bill Bolling have been in office for 100 days. In that time it has become clear that this administration is struggling on one major front: setting clear priorities. Virginians overwhelmingly expect a commonsense, results-oriented government, yet what we have endured for the last 100 days is a distracted government.”

   “Instead of prioritizing the state’s $4.2 billion budget shortfall, Governor McDonnell spent 100 days back-tracking and apologizing for actions that appealed to the far right-wing elements in his party. Unfortunately he succeeded only in embarrassing the majority of Virginians by portraying us as a backward-looking, intolerant Commonwealth. He omitted language condemning slavery from his “Confederate History Month” proclamation, and after being called out was forced to apologize and regroup. He instituted a new obstacle for restoring voting rights and again backtracked after public outcry. And he waited two days before issuing a token repudiation of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s misguided instructions to Virginia’s colleges and universities about equal opportunity. While he was busy back-tracking and apologizing, he failed to submit a plan to fix Virginia’s crumbling and gridlocked roads, he attempted to cut millions of dollars in state support to our most vulnerable citizens and he tried to cut $731 million from Virginia’s public schools. Virginians deserve more from Governor McDonnell than ideological distractions, national embarrassments, and repeated apologies.”

   “Meanwhile, Attorney General Cuccinelli has gone rogue, pursuing his own far-right ideological crusade and funding it with taxpayer money. In the last 100 days, Cuccinelli has filed three lawsuits against the federal government: one to block healthcare reform, another to deny the science of climate change, and another to prevent the EPA from stopping polluters. He ruled that Virginia’s colleges and universities did not have the authority to protect students and staff from discrimination based on sexual orientation. He’s been a regular guest on right-wing TV and radio programs and traveled all over the state to speak at Tea Party rallies instead of devoting his time and efforts to the job he was elected to perform: serving as an impartial lawyer and providing legal advice to state agencies. His intolerant views and misguided actions have consistently earned Virginia nationwide ridicule, and he added insult to injury by establishing a political action committee so he could raise money from his political stunts. Virginians need more from their Attorney General than what they’ve seen over the last 100 days.”

   “Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling has attempted to raise the profile of his part-time position presiding over the Virginia Senate, but he has only drawn attention after being called-out for his blatant hypocrisy in celebrating worthwhile economic development efforts that were funded entirely through a federal stimulus package that he vehemently opposed. Virginians deserve better.”