In Brief: ‘Loco-Motion’ lyricist Gerry Goffin dies at 75
Gerry Goffin, a prolific and multidimensional lyricist who with his then-wife and songwriting partner Carole King wrote such hits as “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Up on the Roof” and “The Loco- Motion,” died early Thursday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 75.
His wife, Michelle Goffin, confirmed his death.
Goffin, who married King in 1959, penned more than 50 top 40 hits, including “Pleasant Valley Sunday” for the Monkees, “Crying in the Rain” by the Everly Brothers, “Some Kind of Wonderful” for the Drifters and “Take Good Care of My Baby” by Bobby Vee. Goffin was able to pen jokey lyrics or achingly sad ones, and he did it for solo artists and multiple voices.
Louise Goffin, one of his daughters, said her dad “wore his heart on his sleeve, and I am deeply blessed to have had a father who could so easily make the world laugh and cry with just a spiral notebook and a pen.”
King and Goffin divorced in 1968, but Goffin kept writing hits, including “Savin’ All My Love for You” for Whitney Houston. Goffin and King were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three years later.
Audit: More veterans waiting for care
WASHINGTON – Tens of thousands more veterans than previously reported are forced to wait at least a month for medical appointments at Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics, according to an updated audit of 731 VA medical facilities released Thursday.
The updated report includes new figures showing that the wait times actually experienced at most VA facilities were shorter than those on waiting lists for pending appointments.
Disparities in average wait times were found around the country. Pending appointments, for example, don’t include patients who walk into a clinic and get immediate or quick treatment, VA officials said. They also don’t reflect rescheduled appointments or those that are moved up because of openings due to cancellations.
VA officials said the two sets of data complement one another, but both are evidence that many veterans face long waits for care. More than 56,000 veterans were waiting more than 90 days for an initial appointment, the new report said.
CDC employees exposed to anthrax
About 75 workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may have been accidentally exposed to dangerous anthrax bacteria this month because of a safety problem at some of its labs in Atlanta, the federal agency revealed Thursday.
Independent experts say it appears to be the largest incident involving anthrax, a potential bioterrorism agent, in a U.S. lab in at least a decade. CDC officials say the risk of infection seems very low, but the employees were being monitored or given antibiotics as a precaution.
The problem was discovered last Friday, and some of the anthrax may have become airborne in two labs the previous week, the statement says.
The safety lapse occurred when a high-level biosecurity lab was preparing anthrax samples. The samples were to be used at lower-security labs researching new ways to detect the germs in environmental samples. The higher-security lab used a procedure that did not completely inactivate the bacteria.