In brief: Obama wants more money to fight antibiotic-resistant germs

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama wants the U.S. to invest much more in fighting antibiotic-resistant germs to prevent re-emergence of diseases conquered long ago. The White House said today that Obama will ask Congress to nearly double its funding to fight antibiotic resistance, to $1.2 billion.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more than 23,000 Americans die every year from infections that can withstand some of the best antibiotics. The World Health Organization said last year that bacteria resistant to antibiotics have spread to every part of the world and might lead to a future where minor infections could kill.

Obama’s proposal would fund research into new antibiotics, monitoring of outbreaks and address resistance at veterans’ and military hospitals. It also would fund efforts to prevent overprescription of antibiotics.

Democrats in Senate block Keystone bill

WASHINGTON – Swift Senate passage of legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline ran into trouble Monday after Democrats temporarily blocked the measure from advancing.

In the first notable test of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s leadership, key Democratic senators said they were protesting what they viewed as the majority leader’s strong-arm tactics in bringing the three-week congressional debate over the pipeline to an end.

These Democrats support the pipeline project and were being counted on to provide the crucial votes needed to overcome a filibuster from others in their party, but several withheld their support Monday as a way to protest McConnell’s tactics.

The vote was 53-39, shy of the 60-vote threshold needed for the measure to advance. Four Democrats supported the measure, but several others who have supported it as recently as last fall voted no. A subsequent vote also failed, 53-39.

By procedure, the Republican leader switched his vote to no so that he can quickly bring the bill back for a do-over vote in the days ahead.

The setback may be temporary, as the pipeline’s chief backers suggested cooler heads would prevail in the days ahead and another vote would be attempted.

USAID suspends awards to contractor

WASHINGTON – The main U.S. foreign assistance agency on Monday suspended awards to a nongovernmental organization that has received more than $1 billion for its work in Afghanistan and Iraq the past nine years.

The U.S. Agency for International Development suspended awards to Arlington, Virginia-based International Relief and Development, which five years ago was USAID’s sixth largest contractor.

USAID said an agency review revealed “serious misconduct” in IRD’s performance, management and internal controls.

A USAID official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said USAID will take steps to recover mismanaged awards, which could amount to millions or more.

In 2010, IRD received about $631.5 million for work in Afghanistan, Iraq and other nations. Last year, it received $29.4 million, ranking as USAID’s 25th largest contractor. IRD said Monday that it is “cooperating fully” with USAID.

Man shoots worker at mental health clinic

LOS ANGELES – A man described as paranoid shot and wounded a mental health worker Monday during a struggle at a Los Angeles-area clinic where he had sought help, and the employee was expected to survive, officials said.

The shooting occurred shortly after noon at a mental health urgent care center that shares a campus with Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in unincorporated Willowbrook.

The gunman, 20-year-old Vincent Heard, entered the clinic and was being interviewed in the office of a nurse practitioner when he became agitated, sheriff’s officials said.

Heard “became more and more paranoid,” and the nurse practitioner pushed a “panic button,” said Luana Murphy, president and CEO of Exodus Foundation, which operates the clinic.

Two unarmed security guards arrived and tried to get the man to leave, but there was a struggle during which a gun went off, Murphy said.

A mental health worker who was nearby was shot in the thigh and was hospitalized in stable condition, she said.

The man had managed to bring the gun into the building, but “my staff did not feel he intended to” shoot anyone, Murphy said.

Heard was later arrested and was being held on $120,000 bail.