DELAWARE
State becomes 11th to permit gay marriage
Delaware on Tuesday became the 11th state to permit same-sex marriage, the latest in a string of victories for those working to extend marital rights to gay and lesbian couples. The marriage bill passed the state Senate by a vote of 12-9 Tuesday afternoon. Same-sex couples will be eligible for marriage licenses on July 1.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Marathon fund chief: Lower expectations
The administrator of a fund created to help Boston Marathon bombing victims has a blunt message for them: Lower your expectations. Attorney Kenneth Feinberg said at a public meeting Tuesday that the $28 million One Fund Boston won’t pay out nearly enough to fully compensate the families of the three killed or the more than 260 injured, and may not pay much of anything to those with less serious injuries. “There isn’t enough money to pay everybody who justifiably expects it or needs it,” he said.
MISSISSIPPI
Court blocks execution when evidence challenged
The Mississippi Supreme Court has indefinitely delayed Tuesday’s scheduled execution of Willie Jerome Manning amid questions involving evidence in the case, intervening hours before he was set to die for the slayings of two college students. Manning, who had challenged errors involving evidence analysis, was originally set to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. CDT at the state prison in Parchman. But with mere hours remaining, the high court blocked the execution until it rules further in the case. Manning was convicted in 1994 in the shooting deaths of two Mississippi State University students.
PENNSYLVANIA
Jury in abortion clinic case will hear some testimony again
A jury weighing murder charges against a Philadelphia abortion provider will re-hear several hours of testimony before resuming deliberations. Dr. Kermit Gosnell is charged with killing a patient and four babies allegedly born alive. Prosecutors say the 72-year-old Gosnell routinely killed babies born alive. The jury is set to spend much of today reviewing the testimony of medical assistant Lynda Williams. One of the infant deaths Gosnell is charged with relates to Williams.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Interior Department releases $475m in Sandy aid
The Interior Department on Tuesday said it is releasing more than $475 million to help repair the damage from Superstorm Sandy, which roared up the East Coast last fall. The money will go for 234 projects that will repair and rebuild parks, refuges and other agency facilities damaged by the storm and help get them ready for the summer season. Some of the money will go to repairs to help the Statue of Liberty in New York reopen in time for Independence Day. Sandy spared the statue itself, but badly damaged the island and facilities surrounding the statue.
NEW YORK
Group buys Tesla property, plans science center
A New York community group that raised $1.3 million in a six-week online fundraising effort has purchased a laboratory once used by visionary scientist Nikola Tesla. Tesla was a rival of Thomas Edison who imagined a world of free electricity. He conducted experiments in the early 20th century at his laboratory in Shoreham, about 65 miles east of New York City. Jane Alcorn, president of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, said her group’s first priority is to secure the property from further vandalism. Among Tesla’s accomplishments were developments in alternating current and research in the creation of wireless communication and radio. He died in New York City in 1943.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Poll: Latinos now less likely to report crimes to police
Many Latinos say they are less likely than before to report crimes because local police are increasingly involved in enforcing immigration laws, leading to a sharp increase in deportations, according to a new study. About 44 percent of Latinos surveyed said they were less likely now to contact police if they were victims of a crime because they fear officers will inquire about their immigration status or the status of people they know. The figure jumps to 70 percent among Latinos who are in the country unlawfully. The report, “Insecure Communities: Latino Perceptions of Police Involvement in Immigration Enforcement,” is based on a telephone survey of 2,004 Latinos in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and Phoenix.
ALASKA
Critter cams provide peek into the lives of bears
Six bears were equipped with rugged video cameras attached to collars around their necks, which are allowing biologists to get a good idea of how the four black and two brown bears spent their time last summer. Biologists at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game collected 60 hours of video, according to the Anchorage Daily News. It shows the bears sleeping, eating gull eggs, walking greenbelts, and licking grease cans and gum stuck on the ground. Not all the collars attached last summer survived. A biologist says the brown bears destroyed their collars.
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