Wolf wins Dem nod for Pa. governor

Wolf wins Dem nod for Pa. governor

HARRISBURG, Pa.

Pennsylvania Democrats on Tuesday picked millionaire businessman Tom Wolf as their nominee to challenge Republican Gov. Tom Corbett after Wolf dug deep into his own pocket to finance months of folksy TV ads that catapulted him to the top of a four-way race.

Returns from 15 percent of the state’s 9,184 precincts showed Wolf with 57 percent of the vote, ahead of U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, state Treasurer Rob McCord and former state environmental protection secretary Katie McGinty.

Study: Too many antibiotics given

About 7 in 10 patients who go to a doctor seeking treatment for acute bronchitis wind up leaving their appointment with a prescription for an antibiotic, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That’s a problem, the study authors say, because the ideal prescription rate should be 0 percent.

More than 40 years of clinical trials have demonstrated that antibiotics do not help patients with acute bronchitis. On top of that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been emphasizing this fact for the past 15 years, as has the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set for nearly 10 years, the JAMA report says.

Case against former governor to proceed

RICHMOND, Va.

The corruption case against former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, is set to go to trial this summer after a judge tossed out a motion to dismiss most of the charges against the couple.

U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer also decided Tuesday that the former first couple should be tried together rather than apart.

The rulings are the latest in a series of setbacks for the McDonnells’ legal team, which had had several motions denied since the former first couple was indicted in January.

The Republican and his wife are charged in a 14-count indictment with accepting more than $165,000 from Jonnie Williams, the former CEO of dietary supplements maker Star Scientific Inc. In exchange, they would help promote his products, according to prosecutors.

Petco to stop selling treats from China

NEW YORK

Petco said Tuesday that it will stop selling dog and cat treats made in China by the end of this year due to ongoing fears that the imported treats are making pets sick.

Investigators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration haven’t been able to figure out why pets are getting ill from the treats since the agency began receiving reports of illnesses in 2007.

In an update last week, the FDA said it has received more than 4,800 complaints of pet illnesses and more than 1,000 reports of dog deaths after eating Chinese-made chicken, duck or sweet-potato jerky treats. The FDA said tests found antiviral drug amantadine in some samples of imported chicken-jerky treats sold a year or more ago, but doesn’t think it caused the illnesses. The FDA said it will continue to investigate.

Mo. appeals halt to killer’s execution

BONNE TERRE, Mo.

The Missouri Attorney General’s office Tuesday evening appealed a federal appeals court panel’s ruling that temporarily halted the execution of a condemned killer, a ruling that cited concerns about the inmate’s rare medical condition that could cause pain and suffering during lethal injection.

The appeal came soon after a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, halted the execution of Russell Bucklew. He was scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. today for killing a southeast Missouri man in 1996.

Combined dispatches