In brief: Paul says care law repeal is unlikely
MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. – Republican Sen. Rand Paul said President Barack Obama’s health care law probably can’t be defeated or gotten rid of. And he’s suggesting there are few ways and little time for him and other congressional Republicans to stop it.
Speaking to reporters Saturday at a gathering of Michigan Republicans, the presidential prospect said Republicans in Congress could use votes on measures in the House and in the Senate to come up with compromise legislation that could make the law more palatable. Some provisions, Paul said, include removing caps on health savings account contributions or deductibles for health policies.
But the Kentucky Republican said time for that is running out before Oct. 1, the start of the 2014 fiscal year and the date that state insurance exchanges begin.
Paul said Republicans still expect members to fight the law, which national polls show only about a third of Americans support.
Neal Cassady’s ex, Carolyn, dies at 90
SAN FRANCISCO – A longtime friend of Carolyn Cassady has confirmed the writer and former wife of beatnik Neal Cassady and lover of Jack Kerouac has died. She was 90 years old.
Estelle Cimino, co-owner of the Beat Museum in San Francisco, said Saturday that Carolyn Cassady died Friday in the United Kingdom. Cimino and her husband are longtime family friends of Cassady and her children.
Cassady’s proximity to the Beat generation was chronicled in Kerouac’s book “On the Road.”
Married to Neal Cassady for more than 20 years before a divorce, she was also a close friend of Beat generation poet Allen Ginsberg.
Two killed when car hits bicyclists
HAMPTON, N.H. – A car slammed into a group of bicyclists Saturday during an annual ride along the New England coastline, killing two riders and injuring two others, police said.
The crash happened on a two-lane bridge in Hampton at about 8:30 a.m., just after the start of the 40th annual Granite State Wheelmen Tri-State Seacoast Century ride.
Two Massachusetts women were killed, police said. They were identified as Pamela Wells, 60, of South Hamilton, and Elise Bouchard, 52, of Danvers. Two other riders suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.