First Drip (10/1/13): U.S. government begins partial shutdown, breast cancer drug approved and more

The U.S. government will begin a partial shutdown today. Nonessential agencies, like U.S. parks, will close while essential facilities, like border patrol, air traffic control and prisons, will remain open, though their employees might not be paid.

Unfazed by the shutdown, the markets opened higher this morning.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month kicked off on a high note: The FDA has approved a pre-surgical breast cancer drug “expected to shrink the tumor and ease the surgical process of removal of the growth and lessen the chances of full mastectomy.”

Gov. Pat McCrory called the Justice Department’s lawsuit against North Carolina over the state’s controversial new voting law an “overreach.”

This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 1, 2013.