National Roundup

Massachusetts
Pharmacy recalls  some compound drug products
BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts pharmacy has issued a voluntary recall of some sterile compounding products following an inspection by state and federal officials.
Pallimed Solutions Inc., of Woburn, said Monday the recall is a precautionary measure involving certain items that had been dispensed since the beginning of the year.
The company says there are no reports of any illnesses or injuries. It says it issued the recall after a recent unannounced inspection by the state Board of Pharmacy and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The state issued a cease-and-desist order after the inspection.
The company says the recall does not involve its non-sterile compounding products.
The state stepped up inspections of compounding pharmacies after a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak was linked to a steroid produced at another Massachusetts company.

Montana
State Supreme Court to hear ‘stream’ case
BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — The Montana Supreme Court next month will hear a case concerning the state's stream access laws.
The Montana Standard reports the case involving access to the Ruby River from a bridge on Seyler Lane will be heard April 29 in Bozeman at Montana State University.
District Judge Loren Tucker in April 2012 ruled historic public use of Seyler Lane didn't guarantee public access to the river from the bridge. He did rule the public had a right to access the river from nearby bridges on established county roads, however.
The Public Land/Water Access Association appealed the decision denying access from Seyler Lane. Landowner James Cox Kennedy, who owns about 10 miles along the river, cross-appealed.
Kennedy contends the state's 1985 Stream Access Law allowing access to streams within the ordinary high water mark, and a 2009 law allowing access from bridges, is an "unconstitutional taking of his vested property rights."

New York
Judge abolishes NY subway rule on identification
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has invalidated a New York City transit system rule that allowed police officers to demand identification documents from anyone riding the subway.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by two vintage train aficionados who were stopped by the police while taking photographs at a station in Queens.
Both men were ticketed for "unauthorized photography." That violation was later dismissed because photography in the subways isn't illegal.
One was also ticketed for refusing to produce his driver's license until the officer put him in handcuffs.
U.S. Magistrate Cheryl Pollak ruled Friday that a rule requiring riders to provide any documents requested by police was "unconstitutionally vague" and encouraged "arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement."

Mississippi
Police probing apparent suicide of legislator
MENDENHALL, Miss. (AP) — Authorities say they are investigating the apparent suicide of a state legislator in Mississippi.
Simpson County Sheriff Kenneth Lewis tells WLOX that Rep. Jessica Upshaw appeared to have shot herself in the head at a home in Mendenhall on Sunday. The town is about 30 miles southeast of Jackson, the state capital. She was 53.
The sheriff told The Clarion-Ledger that Upshaw was found at the home of former state Rep. Clint Rotenberry. He has not been arrested.
Upshaw was an attorney who had been a lawmaker since 2004. She was a Republican from Diamondhead along the state's coast.
The sheriff did not return a phone call from The Associated Press.

Connecticut
Endangered giraffe born at conservation site
GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) — A rare, nearly 6-foot-tall giraffe listed as an endangered subspecies has been born in a Connecticut conservation center.
The Greenwich Time reports that Petal, a 6-year-old Rothschild giraffe gave birth on Friday to female calf as a group of other giraffes and staff at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center watched.
Marcella Leone, founder and director of the center, said the young animal is curious, approaching humans early on in its first days of life.
When fully grown, the newborn, who will mingle with a group of five giraffes, which includes two pregnant giraffes, could reach 18 feet in height.
The calf is the first born at the conservation center.
Rothschild giraffes were named and described by Lord Walter Rothschild, a British zoologist, after an expedition to East Africa in the early 1900s.

California
City of Stockton heads to date in bankruptcy court
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — After years of struggles, a Central California city is poised to become the most populous in the nation to enter bankruptcy when its trial begins in federal court.
Creditors who lent Stockton money are challenging its Chapter 9 bankruptcy petition, but most observers say there's no doubt the city of 300,000 will be successful.
Its largest creditors are bond insurers who helped the city refinance pension debt. They will argue that Stockton is solvent and hasn't cut spending enough.
For years Stockton's salaries, benefits and borrowing were based on anticipated long-term developer fees and increasing property tax revenue. But those were lost in foreclosures.

Montana
Feds shut down bus company serving Plains
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A spokeswoman for a Montana-based bus company says workers are scrambling to get customers to destinations after federal authorities shut Rimrock Stages down.
Kjersten Forseth says alternate transportation was being sought Saturday for an unknown number of stranded passengers. She says the company serves Montana and North Dakota and typically has about 100 passengers on any day on its 13 buses.
One of the company's buses crashed on icy Interstate 90 in Montana in January 2012, killing two people and injuring more than 30 others.
Forseth says U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered the company to stop hauling passengers late Friday following an inspection at the company's headquarters.