Another 6 months

July 31, 2012 (WABC) -- The government's not going to shut down.

That's the headline.

The sub-head is - at least not until after inauguration in January, when the President - the current one or his challenger - takes office.

The 6-month Congressional agreement to avert a shutdown was announced late this afternoon.

Whew! I mean, c'mon, I know it was keeping you up at night.

Wasn't it?

Meanwhile, tomorrow is Day One of the Affordable Care Act - the health care reform proposed by Pres. Obama.

Yes, there's been much criticism - mostly by those who don't think the government should force people to buy health insurance if they don't have it. Of course, there are many who believe the government should do that, but that would never have passed the Republican controlled Congress. Anyway, it's an historic day, no matter what you think of the politics of paying for the plan.

Historic - because women, especially, will get guaranteed health care they never got before - like a free well-woman visit every year, testing for women over 30 to help reduce the prevalence of cervical cancer, and free contraception.

We'll have the latest on both the spending agreement and the health care look-ahead, tonight at 11.

We'll also have any breaking news of the night, plus Meteorologist Lee Goldberg's AccuWeather forecast, and Rob Powers with the night's sports. I hope you can join Liz Cho (in for Sade) and me, tonight at 11.

One more note before I sign off - we welcomed a new News Director to WABC-TV. It's a job that not many can claim to have had; news directors at the nation's biggest TV station tend to stay a while. And so say we hello to Camille Edwards, a TV news veteran who was, until yesterday, the News Director of WRC in Washington. She's a veteran of ABC as well - having been in management at our sister stations in Chicago and Philadelphia.

It's just day one, but so far, she's a big hit. And we expect great things. Welcome aboard, Camille. I mean, boss.

BILL RITTER

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