QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The pieces are all there to start bringing back more of the jobs that we’ve lost over the past decade.”

President Barack Obama, who announced a new public-private manufacturing hub in North Carolina to develop electronics Article, 4A

Judge upholds key health-law feature

WASHINGTON - People who buy insurance on health exchanges run by the federal government are eligible for tax credits to reduce their premiums, a U.S. judge ruled Wednesday, dismissing claims that only state-run exchanges can offer the subsidies.

“The plain text of the statute, the statutory structure and the statutory purpose make clear that Congress intended to make premium credits available on both state-run and federally facilitated exchanges,” U.S.

District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington said in a ruling dismissing a lawsuit.

The ruling undercuts what one supporter of the health-care law called an “existential” threat to the law. Opponents say it forces consumers and businesses to participate in a program their state governments opted out of.

The tax credits are intended to help low-income people pay for health insurance bought on the exchanges set up through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. There are 14 state run exchanges, while 36 states are covered by the federal exchange.

The plaintiffs filed a notice that they will appeal the ruling.

Blagojevich-case vet leads N.J. probe

TRENTON, N.J. - The federal prosecutor who helped convict former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich of corruption was tapped Wednesday to investigate the apparent political-payback scandal involving New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s administration.

Former Assistant U.S.

Attorney Reid Schar will advise a legislative committee investigating a plot that shut down lanes to the George Washington Bridge for four days in September, causing traffic jams in the town of Fort Lee. The plot apparently was hatched as a political vendetta, possibly against the town’s Democratic mayor for not endorsing the Republican governor’s re-election.

Christie, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, has apologized and denied any knowledge of the plot’s planning or execution. So far four members of his circle have been fired or resigned.

12-year-old suspect

said to warn some

ROSWELL, N.M. - The 12-year-old boy suspected of opening fire in a New Mexico middle school gym warned some students away just before the attack, Chief Pete Kassetas of the state police said Wednesday.

Kassetas said the attack at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell was planned. But he said it appeared the boy’s victims - an 11-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl - were chosen randomly.

During a Wednesday news briefing, Kassetas declined to speculate on a motive or say when charges would be filed. But he said the boy got the shotgun from his family’s home and had three rounds of ammunition.

Officials said Wednesday that the 11-year-old boy who was shot in the face and neck remains in critical condition at University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas.

The 13-year-old girl is in satisfactory condition with right-shoulder injuries.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 01/16/2014