The nation in brief

— QUOTE OF THE DAY

“This is something that, you know, that was the worst day of my presidency. And it’s not something that I want to see repeated.”

President Barack Obama, on the shooting of 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Article, this page

Rx spending soars for the Pentagon

AUSTIN, Texas - Defense Department spending on prescription drugs in the past decade has soared, reflecting the aging military retirees its health-care program covers.

An analysis of Pentagon drug purchases since 2002 published Sunday by the Austin American-Statesman found, for example, that last year the Defense Department spent more on pills, injections and vaccines than it did on Black Hawk helicopters, Abrams tanks, Hercules C-130 cargo planes and Patriot missiles combined.

Officials with the military’s health-care program Tricare said Pentagon spending on drugs increased by more than 123 percent since 2002 to $6.8 billion in 2011. That was nearly double the growth rate of overall pharmaceutical sales in the United States during the same period.

Leaders agree to farm-bill extension

WASHINGTON - The top leaders in both parties on the House and Senate Agriculture committees have agreed to a one-year extension of the 2008 farm bill that expired in October, a move that some say could head off a possible doubling of milk prices next month.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow indicated that the House could vote on the extension as early as Sunday evening, though House leaders have not yet agreed to put it on the floor. In addition to the one-year extension that has the backing of the committees, the House GOP is also considering two other extension bills - a one-month extension and an even smaller bill that would simply extend dairy policy that expires Jan. 1.

Expiration of those dairy programs could mean higher prices at the grocery store within a few weeks. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Americans face the prospect of paying $7 for a gallon of milk if the current dairy program lapsed and the government returned to a 1948 formula for calculating milk price supports.

Oregon bus crash kills 9, injures 20

LA GRANDE, Ore. - A tour bus careened through a guardrail on an icy Oregon highway and several hundred feet down an embankment Sunday, killing nine people and injuring about 20 others, authorities said.

The charter bus carrying about 40 people lost control about 10:30 a.m. on the snow- and ice-covered lanes of Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon, according to the Oregon State Police.

Lt. Greg Hastings said the accident happened on the west end of the Blue Mountains, and west of an area called “Deadman Pass.”

Front Section, Pages 3 on 12/31/2012

Upcoming Events