A snorkeler off the coast of California found more than she bargained for on the ocean floor Sunday, when she saw the large eyes of an 18-foot fish staring back at her. It turned out to be a dead oarfish, a mysterious creature known to live in waters thousands of feet deep.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Several gay couples in New Jersey are expected to gather late Sunday to wed in ceremonies to be held shortly after midnight.
The last-minute weddings were planned after the state Supreme Court last week refused to delay a lower court order for the state to begin recognizing same-sex marriages at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
Gov. Chris Christie's administration has a pending appeal, but justices said they would not hold up marriages while they consider it. The justices said they did not think the state's arguments were likely to prevail and that delaying the lower court's order would hurt couples who would not become eligible for certain federal benefits until they could legally marry in New Jersey.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Lambertville Mayor David DelVecchio both plan to lead ceremonies for gay couples at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
Hoboken, Collingswood and a handful of other towns opened municipal offices Saturday to accept applications for marriage licenses from same-sex couples.
Activists still were working Saturday to line up judges who could waive the three-day waiting period for same-sex couples who want to exchange vows first thing Monday. Under state law, couples normally must wait 72 hours after applying for a marriage license before they can tie the knot.
Garden State Equality executive director Troy Stevenson said the effort to get couples hitched without the waiting period was a "work in progress." He didn't have specific details on how many judges were available to consider couples' waivers during the weekend, but he said many marriages will be held across the state at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
Officials noted that state law says couples married legally elsewhere can wed in New Jersey without a waiting period — a provision that appears to apply to many New Jersey couples.
Many same-sex couples began scrambling to plan their weddings shortly after the state Supreme Court issued its unexpected decision Friday. They reached out to florists, photographers, catering firms, banquet halls and other wedding-related businesses to see what was available on short notice.
Justin Jordan, a photographer who shoots many weddings in southern New Jersey, said he's heard from "numerous couples" since Friday.
"Many people have been waiting anxiously for the chance to get married, and now that they have the chance to do it, they're jumping at the opportunity," Jordan said. "But they're also realizing everything that goes with a wedding, like getting a photographer or video person, buying flowers, arranging for food ... it's a daunting task when you have months to plan, let alone a few days."
Among those seeking their licenses Saturday morning were Hoboken residents Paul Somerville and Allen Kratz, who have been together since 1985. They were previously married in Oregon in 2004, only to have the union nullified by the state's supreme court. They also have been part of a domestic partnership in 2006 and a civil union in 2008, both through the city of Hoboken.
The couple said they will receive their license on Tuesday and plan to wed Thursday in a private ceremony. Kratz told The Jersey Journal that it's wonderful to be able to marry his longtime partner.
"Civil rights always come too early for those in a comfortable position of power and never soon enough for those who have been denied life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," Kratz said.
___
Follow Mulvihill at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill
File-This Aug. 23, 2013 file photo shows Santa Fe County Commissioner Liz Stefonics, left, and Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for Equality New Mexico, holding hands after they were married in the Santa Fe County Commission Chambers, in Santa Fe, N.M. Siegle was first in line to get a marriage license with her partner of 22 years when the Santa Fe County clerk started in late August to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. Now she’s waiting to see whether New Mexico’s highest court will legalize gay marriage in all 33 counties statewide. (AP Photo/The Albuquerque Journal, Eddie Moore,FILE) THE SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT: EDDIE MOORE/THE ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
File-This Aug. 23, 2013 file photo shows Santa Fe County Commissioner Liz Stefonics, left, and Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for Equality New Mexico, holding hands after they were married in the Santa Fe County Commission Chambers, in Santa Fe, N.M. Siegle was first in line to get a marriage license with her partner of 22 years when the Santa Fe County clerk started in late August to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. Now she’s waiting to see whether New Mexico’s highest court will legalize gay marriage in all 33 counties statewide. (AP Photo/The Albuquerque Journal, Eddie Moore,FILE) THE SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT: EDDIE MOORE/THE ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
FILE - This undated file image provided by Lambda Legal shows plaintiffs Beverly Sevcik, 73, right, and Mary Baranovich, 76. A gay rights advocacy group is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that upheld Nevada’s constitutional ban against same-sex marriage. The appeal filed Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, by Lambda Legal on behalf of eight Nevada couples, including Baranovich and Sevcik, asks the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to overturn a decision last year by U.S. District Judge Robert Jones in Reno. (AP Photo/Lambda Legal, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007 file photograph, Lambertville Mayor David Del Vecchio performs a civil union ceremony for Beth Asaro, left, and Joanne Schailey, right, at the Lambertville Municipal Court just after 12 a.m., in Lambertville, NJ. On Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled, same-sex marriages will begin within days in New Jersey after the state's highest court ruled unanimously Friday to uphold a lower-court order that gay weddings must start Monday and to deny a delay that was sought by Gov. Chris Christie's administration. Asaro and Schailey plan to be married at 12:01 Monday morning. ( AP photo/Mel Evans)
Same-sex marriages can begin within days in New Jersey after the state's highest court ruled unanimously Friday to uphold an order that they must start Monday and to deny a delay that had been sought by Gov. Chris Christie's administration.
The ruling puts New Jersey on the cusp of becoming the 14th state — and the third most populous among them — to allow same-sex marriage. The advocacy group Freedom to Marry said that as of Monday, one-third of Americans will live in a place where same-sex marriage is legal.
"The state has advanced a number of arguments, but none of them overcome this reality: Same-sex couples who cannot marry are not treated equally under the law today," the court said in an opinion by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner. "The harm to them is real, not abstract or speculative."
A judge on a lower court had ruled last month that New Jersey must recognize same-sex marriage and set Monday as the date to allow weddings. Christie, a Republican who is considered a possible 2016 presidential candidate, appealed the decision and asked for the start date to be put on hold while the state appeals.
A spokesman for Christie said that he will comply with the ruling, though he doesn't like it.
"While the governor firmly believes that this determination should be made by all the people of the State of New Jersey, he has instructed the Department of Health to cooperate with all municipalities in effectuating the order," spokesman Michael Drewniak said in a statement.
Same-sex marriage is being debated elsewhere. Oregon has begun recognizing same-sex weddings performed out of state, and it is likely that voters will get a chance next year to repeal the state's constitutional ban on gay marriage. The Hawaii Legislature also soon could take up a bill to legalize same-sex unions, while a similar measure has passed the Illinois Senate but not the House. Lawsuits challenging gay marriage bans also are pending in several states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
New Jersey's top court agreed last week to take up the appeal of the lower-court ruling. Oral arguments are expected Jan. 6 or 7.
In Friday's opinion, Rabner wrote that the state has not shown that it is likely to prevail in the case, though it did present some reasons not to marriage to move forward now.
"But when a party presents a clear case of unequal treatment, and asks the court to vindicate constitutionally protected rights, a court may not sidestep its obligation to rule for an indefinite amount of time," he wrote. "Under these circumstances, courts do not have the option to defer."
Rabner also rejected the state's argument that it was in the public interest not to allow marriages until the court has had more time to rule fully on the issue.
"We can find no public interest in depriving a group of New Jersey residents of their constitutional right to equal protection while the appeals process unfolds," he wrote.
For those opposed to gay marriage, denying the request to delay was troubling.
"In what universe does it make sense to let the question at hand be answered before it's asked or argued?" Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, said in a letter Friday to members.
On Thursday, some communities started accepting applications for marriage licenses from same-sex couples so that they would pass the 72-hour waiting period by 12:01 a.m. Monday.
Several communities, including Asbury Park, Lambertville and Newark — where Cory Booker, who was elected Wednesday to the U.S. Senate, is mayor — are holding ceremonies for multiple couples then.
"It's a great day to be gay in New Jersey," said Amy Quinn, a member of the city council in Asbury Park who is planning to marry Heather Jensen, her partner of 10 years, on Monday.
The court did not address the question of what would happen to the status of same-sex marriages entered into next week if it later decides that the state does not have to grant the marriages.
Whether gay couples should have the right to marry in New Jersey has been the subject of a battle in the state's courts and Legislature for a decade. There has been a flurry of movements in both venues since June, when the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated key parts of a federal law that prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions.
Since then, gay rights advocates have asked New Jersey judges to force the state to recognize same-sex marriage, arguing that the current policy of civil unions but not marriage licenses amounts to denying them federal protections such as Social Security survivor benefits and the right to file tax returns jointly.
Since July, gay rights groups have also engaged in an intense campaign aimed at persuading lawmakers to override Christie's 2012 veto of a bill that would have allowed gay marriage. To get an override, the Legislature must act by Jan. 14.
Sheila Oliver, speaker of the state Assembly, issued a statement blaming Christie for not having gay marriage sooner in New Jersey.
"It's a shame it took this long to get to this point and that it took a court fight for same-sex couples to gain equal rights," she said. "New Jersey could have had marriage equality already if it wasn't for Gov. Christie, who has done everything he could to prevent this from happening, including wasting money and time continuing this court battle."
___
Follow Mulvihill at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill
___
Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, N.J. Contributed to this report were Associated Press writers Samantha Henry in Newark, Mark Sherman in Washington and David Crary in New York.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-18-Gay%20Marriage-NJ/id-106d480bb0ed4ec4bb885f41a9a77d71Good morning from Washington, D.C., your nation's capital, where we are now into Day 15 of your government's shutdown and counting down to your government's looming default on its debt.
Yes, we all wish we were still in bed with the pillow over our head. (Even, we imagine, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who told The Wall Street Journal that military readiness is being damaged by the budget standoff.)
Dire? There is little argument, except from the most ardent default-is-no-big-deal fringe.
Chinese leaders, grasping the opportunity handed them, in a weekend commentary in their state-run news agency advised a "befuddled world to start considering building a de-Americanized world."
Even the much publicized White House garden has taken a hit from Washington inaction, its veggies literally rotting on the vine. Insert metaphor here.
But, dear readers, the buzz-phrase for Tuesday: "Congressional leaders near agreement on framework for a bipartisan deal."
Here's how The New York Times characterized the situation:
WASHINGTON — While Republican senators prepared to meet on Tuesday morning to hear from their leadership about a potential deal with Democrats that could reopen the government and lift the threat of an American default by raising the debt ceiling, House Republicans tempered their demands to scale back President Obama's health care law, announcing that they would soon vote on a proposal meant to counteract a less conservative plan coming from the Senate.
The current statutory limit on total debt issued by the Treasury is just under $16.7 trillion. The No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-3) suspended the debt ceiling from February 4, 2013, through May 18, 2013. The act also specified that the amount of borrowing that occurred during that period should be added to the previous debt limit of $16.394 trillion. On May 19, the limit was reset to reflect the cumulative borrowing through May 18 and now stands at $16.699 trillion.
Because the No Budget, No Pay Act provided no additional borrowing authority above the amount of debt that had already been issued as of May 18, the Treasury has no room under the newly established limit to increase total borrowing. Therefore, to avoid a breach of that limit, the Treasury has begun employing its well-established toolbox of so-called extraordinary measures to allow continued borrowing for a limited time. As it reported in May, CBO projects that those measures will be exhausted in either October or November of this year.
As Congress continues to work on its "framework for a bipartisan deal," here are a few other stories we're watching:
The information is from senior intelligence officials and from top-secret documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. A key finding: Each day, the Washington Post reports, the NSA collects contacts from an estimated 500,000 buddy lists on live-chat services as well as from the inbox displays of Web-based e-mail accounts.
Tourists visit the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013, in New York. The Statue of Liberty reopened to the public after the state of New York agreed to shoulder the costs of running the site during the partial federal government shutdown. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Tourists visit the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013, in New York. The Statue of Liberty reopened to the public after the state of New York agreed to shoulder the costs of running the site during the partial federal government shutdown. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
This image provided by the National Park service shows Arizona Governor Jan Brewer holding a check for $426,500 dollars presented to her by the town of Tusayan, Ariz., as partial payment to the park, Saturday Oct. 12, 2013 at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. Also shown, from left, Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga; Brewer; Tusayan, Ariz., Mayor Greg Bryan and Tusayan Councilman, Craig Sanderson, rear. The National Park Service announced that it has entered into an agreement with the State of Arizona that will allow Grand Canyon National Park to re-open and temporarily operate during the government shutdown. (AP Photo/ National Park Service, Michael Quinn)
Jackson Blendowski, 6, of New Hampshire, peers up at the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013, in New York. The Statue of Liberty reopened to the public after the state of New York agreed to shoulder the costs of running the site during the partial federal government shutdown. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
WASHINGTON (AP) — As congressional leaders raced to seal a deal that would reopen the government, lawmakers from both parties jabbed at one another Wednesday over who was to blame for the most high-profile casualties of the 16-day shutdown: the national parks.
At a House hearing, members of Congress focused on the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, where veterans were initially denied access after the government closed on Oct. 1. A crowd that included Republican lawmakers converged on the memorial Sunday, pushing past barriers to protest the site's closure.
The memorial and other national park units have become a political symbol as lawmakers bicker over blame for the park closings.
Republicans say many parks and open-air monuments did not need to be closed, but Democrats said the GOP had only itself to blame for the shutdown, after Republicans demanded that measures to defund the new health care law be included in bills to keep the government open.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., held up a mirror at the hearing and invited Republicans to look at it to find the cause of the shutdown.
Governors in at least five states have reopened national parks such as the Grand Canyon and Statue of Liberty in recent days, but Republicans say the measures were too little, too late.
Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said the National Park Service appears to have intentionally made the shutdown "as painful and visible as possible."
Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis denied that, saying that turning away visitors "is not in our DNA."
Jarvis called the agreements with governors that have allowed some parks to reopen "a practical and temporary solution that will lessen the pain for some businesses and communities — a Band-Aid until Congress passes an appropriations bill."
Jarvis, who appeared at the hearing only after being issued a subpoena, urged Congress to reopen the government so his agency can reopen all 401 national park units.
Republicans, including Hastings and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said the Park Service acted in a political and provocative manner when it set up barricades at open-air monuments such as the World War II Memorial and placed traffic cones along highway viewing areas outside Mount Rushmore and other parks.
Hastings heads the House Natural Resources Committee, while Issa leads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The committees held the joint hearing.
Jarvis defended placement of barricades at the World War II Memorial and other sites, saying that all but a dozen park service employees who work at the National Mall have been furloughed. Given the limited staff resources during the shutdown, "prudent and practical steps were taken to secure life and property at these national icons where security has become increasingly complex in a post-9/11 world," he said.
Contrary to the assertion of several Republican lawmakers, Jarvis said the Park Service allowed veterans and their families to visit the World War II Memorial.
"We know that visits of America's World War II veterans to the memorial are pilgrimages that many of them will only make once," he said. "Throughout the shutdown, we have worked diligently to try and ensure that no Honor Flight group, veteran, or their family has been turned away from visiting the veterans' memorials."
An organization called the Honor Flight Network brings World War II veterans to Washington.
Other visitors also are allowed at the memorial under an exception that allows First Amendment activities, Jarvis said.
Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., was not impressed. He said Jarvis's decision to set up barricades at the Lincoln and World War II memorials was "wrong" and mean-spirited.
"You besmirched (the Park Service's) reputation and soured relations with Congress," Lamborn told Jarvis. "In my opinion you have failed."
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., denounced Lamborn's comment and called Jarvis an "exemplary" public servant. Connolly called the hearing a "theater of the absurd" and "an audacious attempt by the majority to deflect responsibility and blame for the real-world consequences of a government shutdown."
GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, along with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, were among those at the World War II Memorial on Sunday. Cruz, Lee and other tea party-backed lawmakers refused to keep the government operating unless President Barack Obama agreed to defund the nation's health care overhaul.
___
Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-16-Shutdown-National%20Parks/id-5573dd33bc4c4d9387da516034ae0486WARSAW – The Polish film Ida, directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, was awarded the Grand Prix of the 29th Warsaw International Film Festival, which drew to a close in the Polish capital on Saturday.
The movie was awarded for “the superb combination of script, directing, cinematography, acting and music,” from which “comes a beautiful and delicate film that portrays a post-war Polish society, trying to get past its demons,” said the international jury, which named Zaza Urushadze best director for the Estonian/Georgian co-production Mandariinid (Tangerines).
Uljana Kim and Roberts Vinovskis, the producers of the Lithuanian/Latvian film Losejas (The Gambler), directed by Ignas Jonynas, picked up the Special Jury Prize.
The jury of the 1-2 competition, in which directors’ first and second features competed, gave ex-aequo awards to the Romanian film Cainele Japonez (The Japanese Dog), directed by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu, and Otchuzhdenie (Alienation) by Bulgarian director Milko Lazarov.
Soy Mucho Mejor Que Vos (Much Better Than You) by Chilean director Ché Sandoval won in the Free Spirit competition.
The U.S. film Dirty Wars, directed by Richard Rowley, was awarded as the best documentary, and the animated film Pandy (Pandas) by Czech director Matúš Vizár collected the best short film award.
The 9th edition of CentEast Market, which showcased recently completed films and works in progress from Central and Eastern Europe, ran as part of the festival on Oct. 18-19.
