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Arizona’s Ban on Gay Marriage Struck Down

The path for legally recognized gay marriages in the state of Arizona has been cleared by a Federal judge who ruled the state’s ban on same-sex unions was unconstitutional.

The ruling by US District Judge John Sedwick came today, barring state officials from enforcing a 1996 state law but also a 2008 voter-approved constitutional amendment in which gay marriage was outlawed. Judge Sedwick was nominated in 1992 to the Federal bench by then President George H.W. Bush.

In his ruling, Judge Sedwick stated that since the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had already ruled on October 7 against bans on gay marriage in the states of Idaho and Nevada, there was no reason to provide drawn-out details regarding his decision. He added that he was legally bound by the decision that came down from the appellant court.

Judge Sedwick pointed out that a stay on the decision to allow defendants to appeal was not warranted. Also, an appeal to the 9th Circuit Court would be unsuccessful and that the High Court would not listen to any request for relief specific to the decision of the 9th Circuit Court. In today’s ruling, the judge ordered Arizona to permanently cease the ban on gay marriage, followed by declining to stay the order.

An attorney for one plaintiff, Jennifer Pizer with the Lambda Legal law firm, said she was thrilled with the judge’s ruling. She added that some couples in Arizona have been waiting for more than 20 years for this day and finally, it has arrived. She hopes that the people of Arizona will embrace Judge Sedwick’s decision, allowing same-sex couples to enjoy their constitutional rights.

In a midmorning news conference called for by Attorney General Tom Horne, his office must now decide if the ruling will be appealed or if the state’s clerk needs to be advised to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples.

Until advice from the state Attorney General’s office comes down, the county clerk’s office in metro Phoenix will not issue any same-sex marriage licenses, this according to spokesperson Aaron Nash.

Just this past week, the US Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from a number of states trying to retain the ban on same-sex marriage. Currently, about 30 states allow gay marriage, which has created an array of rulings, as well as confusion in lower courts throughout the country.

Judge Sedwick’s ruling was in response to one of two lawsuits filed whereby the ban on gay marriage in Arizona was challenged. In his case, seven Arizona couples challenged current law, which included some who were legally married in other states but unable to have their marriage recognized in Arizona.

In both lawsuits, attorneys argued equal protection and due process rights were being violated and that clients were being denied the benefits that come with marriage to include spousal survivorship rights, pension benefits, and the right to make medical decisions for one another.

On the side of attorneys for the state of Arizona, Judge Sedwick was encouraged to retain the state’s definition of marriage as being a union between a man and women. Attorney’s further argued the ban supported interest in having a child connect with the biological mother and father and that it was enacted by voters and lawmakers as a way to protect the right to define marriage for their community.

US Vice President’s Son Kicked out of Navy for Drugs

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According to inside sources, the youngest son of Vice President Joe Biden was kicked out of the navy after testing positive for cocaine. Hunter Biden a former lobbyist who works at a private equity firm was booted from the military this past February, this according to a Navy spokesperson.

Hunter’s leave from the Navy comes just under a year after being selected for the part-time position as a public affairs officer in the Reserve. Although the Navy did not disclose any reasons for Hunter’s discharge citing privacy laws, the information was leaked in the media yesterday.

In a statement from Hunter’s attorney, his client respected the decision of the Navy and was putting everything behind him, allowing him to move forward thanks to the love and support of family members and friends. When questioned as to why he was discharged, Hunter had no comment. Even when his attorney was asked about possible cocaine use, no response was provided.

However, Hunter did say it was an honor to have served in the US Navy and that not only does he regret his actions, which ultimately led to his administrative discharge, but he is extremely embarrassed. The Vice President’s office was also contacted for comment but refused to give a formal statement.

Information about Hunter, age 44, failing a drug test in 2013 came from two different people close to the situation. Although these individuals were not authorized to discuss the incident in detail, the first report of Hunter’s discharge due to a failed drug test was provided by The Wall Street Journal.

Hunter, who is an attorney in training, was one of seven candidates recommended for a direct commission for public affairs. As part of the process, he was interviewed by a board of senior Navy officers prior to them making a recommendation. After applying to join the Navy Reserve, he was selected in 2012.

Because of his age at the time, to be accepted a special waiver was required. In a statement from Commander Ryan Perry, spokesman for the Navy, Hunter was assigned to the Virginia-based Navy Public Affairs Support Element. Typically, a member of the military who is discharged for a failed drug test is given a dishonorable discharge although Hunter’s separation status remains unclear.

It is common for US Vice President Biden to talk about his kids when making public appearances and in one trip to Asia Hunter along with one of the daughters accompanied him where he was heard giving praise to his son for work done around the world.

However, concerns with Hunter surfaced earlier this year when he joined the board of a private gas company in Ukraine, a time when both his father and the Obama administration were trying to cut Ukraine back from depending on Russian energy. Questions raised were quickly brushed off by the Vice President’s office saying that Hunter is a private citizen.

As far as US Vice President Biden’s older son Beau, he is attorney general in Delaware and served in Iraq for one year as a member of the Army National Guard.

Arizona Illegal Immigrants Right to Post Bail

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According to a Federal court, illegal immigrants in the state of Arizona must be given the right to post bail after being arrested, striking down a previous voter-approved Arizona law whereby immigrants in the country illegally and those charged with a range of felonies to include aggravated identity theft, shoplifting, sexual assault, and murder could be denied bail.

The 11-member panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals made its ruling today that this voter-approved law violates due process rights by imposing “punishment” before the offender had even gone to trial.

The court also stated that the law as it was is a poor attempt at confronting people who feel law enforcement and that no evidence existed to show the law dealt with a specific criminal offense.

Supporters of the 2006 statue believe it prevents people not authorized to be in the United States and who skip out on bail from committing additional crimes while critics believe the real intent of the law is to punish immigrants prior to being convicted.

This was just one of four immigration proposals approved by Arizona voters in 2006. The three others include making English the official state language, preventing immigrants not authorized to be in the country from receiving punitive damages stemmed from lawsuits, and prohibiting immigrants from receiving certain government benefits and services.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio from Maricopa County has been shrouded by controversy. As part of the challenge to this law, one of Arpaio’s own aides was actually sued. The aide stated that the sheriff’s office will request the 9th Circuit Court to reconsider its new opinion and if that fails, a petition with the Supreme Court will be filed.

Cecillia Wang, Attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who argued the case before the appeals court, stated that the ruling offers protection and ensures that everyone accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around.

The no-bail law was proposed by former state Republican Russell Pearce, who won approval for the state’s landmark 2010 immigration enforcement law. Russell strongly believes that the appeals court overstepped its bounds of authority with this latest decision by overriding voters’ wishes.

Toyota Recalling 1.75 Million Vehicles

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The Japanese carmaker, Toyota, is recalling 1.75 million vehicles from all over the world due to a number of issues. Just last month, 690,000 Tacoma pickup trucks were recalled by Toyota within the United States due to possible vulnerability in the suspension systems.

This past April 6.4 million vehicles worldwide were recalled again based on a number of different problems to include improperly working windscreen wiper motors and airbag cables. As part of this latest recall, vehicles have issues with faulty brake installation and a fuel component.

Fortunately, there have been no reported accidents or injuries associated with the reported problems. However, in not wanting to take a chance, the company opted for the recall. When approached for an official comment regarding the cost of this recall, Toyota refused to respond.

This latest recall involves certain models of the Toyota Crown Majesta, as well as Voxy and Noah model vehicles produced from June 2007 through 2012. Toyota offered a breakdown of the recall, dividing the issues into three different segments.

The first is the faulty brake system, which affects approximately 802,000 vehicles worldwide. With this problem, the system can crack, resulting in a secondary problem of brake fluid leaking. The fix entails a rubber seal ring in the master cylinder being replaced to stop fluid from leaking. If fluid has already begun to leak, an additional fix of replacing the brake booster will be provided.

Another segment of the recall is a faulty fuel delivery pipe system, which affects roughly 759,000 vehicles, broken down by 423,000 in the United States, 240,000 in Japan, and close to 70,000 combined for the Middle East and Europe, which includes 9,637 cars registered in the UK.

In this case, a faulty system could cause a fuel leak, which in turn increases risk of the vehicle catching fire. This aspect of the recall is specific to various models of Lexus that were produced between January 2005 and September 2010.

For the third segment of the recall, about 190,000 vehicles have faulty fuel suction plates, which again, could cause a fuel leak and thereby risk of fire. This particular problem affects a much smaller number of vehicles and only those made in Japan. The faulty fuel suction plate issue is linked to Auris and Corolla Rumion models that were manufactured between October 2006 and October 2014.

In light of this latest recall, Toyota stock was down on the Tokyo Stock Exchange compared to being up 0.02% to 5,990 yen per share at the prior day’s closing bell.

Four Faults in California Ready to Burst

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Although many people who live in California have become somewhat numb to the state’s frequent earthquakes, news that four more faults are about to rupture has caused some concern.

Researchers discovered four faults cutting through the San Francisco Bay area, which raises the question of not if, but when they will burst. According to study published today in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, enough seismic strain, also referred to as stored energy, has built up within these four faults to produce massive and devastating earthquakes.

The four faults include the Green Valley Fault, the Calaveras Fault, the Rodgers Creek Fault, and the Hayward Fault. All of these are smaller segments of the notorious San Andreas Fault system, which stretches more than 800 miles long. The biggest problem as indicated by scientists is that each of the four faults lies directly beneath major cities.

Jim Lienkaemper, lead author of the study and research geophysicist at the US Geological Survey’s Earthquake Science Center in Menlo Park stresses that the fault of greatest concern is the Hayward Fault, which is located in the heart of where people live, but also the area with the most infrastructure and buildings.

While the Hayward Fault is getting a lot of attention, he and other researchers are worried about all of the faults in the San Francisco Bay area. The risk for destructive earthquakes has been gauged by Lienkaemper and his colleagues who monitor small shifts in the earth’s surface along the California faults.

There are several faults in constant motion, which annually, move progressively by less than one centimeter. While extremely small, these movements add up over time, which is evident in cracked buildings and sidewalks. These tiny movements are also critical for scientists as they provide key information pertaining to things happening below ground where earthquakes occur.

As Lienkaemper points out, once experts find out where the faults are creeping they can then determine if they are locked and if so, by how much. The locked zones lie between three and six miles beneath the surface and located where faults are stuck opposed to sliding.

As in the case of the Hayward Fault, on average it is only 40% locked whereas the slow moving Rodgers Creek Fault is locked at 89% but as the locked areas build up tremendous strain, they break apart to produce an earthquake.

Using mathematical models, Lienkaemper and his team discovered that the Hayward Fault and Northern Calaveras Fault have stored enough energy to produce a 6.8 magnitude earthquake whereas potential risk for the Rodgers Creek Fault and the Green Valley Fault is a 7.1 magnitude quake.

Based on scientific information to include the Hayward Fault having ruptured roughly every 140 years, there is a 30% likelihood of it producing a 6.7 magnitude earthquake in the next 30 years. However, scientists average this quake at 160 years, give or take 100 years, and with it now being 146 years since the last Hayward quake, there is no telling when something will happen.

Former NC Mayor Sentenced to Federal Prison

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After being found guilty in a corruption scandal, former North Carolina Mayor, Patrick Cannon, was sentenced to 44 months in federal prison.

In 1993 at just 26 years of age, Cannon was elected to the Charlotte City Council and at the time of being sworn in, became the youngest council member in the city’s history. Initially, he represented District 3 but then in 2001, was elected to an at-large seat. Although Cannon stepped down in 2005, he was reelected in 2009.

Cannon declared his candidacy in the 2013 mayoral election and on November 5, 2013 with roughly 53% of the vote was elected as Charlotte’s official Mayor. At the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, he was sworn in on December 2, 2013 while still being a member of the city council an Mayor Pro Tempore.

On March 26 and just three months after becoming the Mayor of Charlotte, North Caroline, Cannon, 47 years old, was arrested during a meeting for an illegal payoff with undercover agents.

He was charged and this past June, pled guilty to accepting $50,000 in bribes that stem from January 2013 and February 2014. An affidavit associated with the corruption case shows that over $1 million in kickbacks was sought by Cannon.

After his arrest, Cannon immediately resigned from his position as Mayor. Voters had high hopes in the promises made if elected but as more and more information surfaced pertaining to the scandal, shock quickly turned to anger and disgust. Not only did Cannon accept bribes in 2013 while a city councilman but in 2014 as the city Mayor.

In exchange for a plea of guilty, prosecutors said they would not ask the court for a sentence of more than four to five years, this according to federal guideline recommendations.

Prior to today’s sentencing, United States District Judge Frank Whitney listened to the prosecutor’s request but is not bound by the plea agreement. Considering that Cannon could have been sentenced the maximum of 20 years in Federal prison, he got off with a light sentence.

Standing before the judge, Cannon apologized for his actions and stated that not only has he failed as a father, husband, and citizen, but also a servant leader.

He admitted to hurting his family and the community, saying that was the reason he decided to be fully cooperative from the start. While leaving the courtroom, Cannon simply said, “Hopefully, the community will be forgiving”.

10-Year-Old Boy Charged as an Adult in Woman’s Murder

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People around the country are in shock after hearing the report that a 10-year-old Pennsylvania boy will be charged as an adult in the murder of a 90-year-old woman. When questioned by authorities, the child stated his intention was to hurt the woman, not kill her.

According to a Wayne County District Attorney’s office news release, the boy’s grandfather, Anthony Virbitsky was the caregiver for an elderly woman named Helen Novak. Unfortunately while under his care and with his grandson in the home, things on Saturday went horribly wrong.

Typically, the names of minors who commit crimes are not provided to the public but because the boy is being tried as an adult in the case, authorities released his name as 10-year-old Tristen Kurilla of Damascus Township. Information about the incident was told by Kurilla to a trooper and shared in a statement by his mother.

Reportedly, Kurilla entered Novak’s room around 10:00 a.m. to ask a question but instead of getting an answer, she yelled at him to go away. Enraged, he left her room to grab a wooden cane. After returning he found the woman sitting upright in bed and without hesitation, hooked the curved end of the cane around her neck, pushing it down several times for roughly five seconds. This act was followed with repeated blows to the throat and stomach.

Around 10:30 a.m., the grandfather found Novak bleeding from her mouth, having trouble breathing, and looking frightened. By 11:00 a.m., she was completely unresponsive.

Yesterday, the coroner’s office performed an autopsy, confirming Helen Novak’s death was a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the neck. Kurilla was arrested and is currently being detained at the Wayne County Correctional Facility on a no bond order. A preliminary court hearing is scheduled in the case a week from tomorrow.

At this time, there is no mention whether this boy has demonstrated violent tendencies in the past.

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