The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“A routine school disciplinary infraction should land a student in the principal’s office, not in a police precinct.”

Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking as the government issued new guidelines on school discipline Article, this page

No recognition for gay unions, Utah says

DENVER - The Utah governor’s office said Wednesday that the state would not recognize more than 1,000 same-sex marriages performed over the past two weeks as it appealed a legal ruling that had overturned the state’s ban on such unions.

The decision came two days after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay in the case, blocking any same-sex marriages in Utah and effectively reinstating a law that limits marriages in the state to between one man and one woman.

“The original laws governing marriage in Utah return to effect pending final resolution by the courts,” Derek Miller, the chief of staff to Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, wrote in a memorandum to state officials. “It is important to understand that those laws include not only a prohibition of performing same-sex marriages but also recognizing same-sex marriages.”

The decision could have an immediate effect on hundreds of newly married gay couples who had been planning to file joint tax returns this year, who had applied to add spouses to health insurance plans, or who had taken steps to legally adopt their children.

2 dead, 1 missing in Navy copter crash

A Navy helicopter with five people aboard went down in the Atlantic off the Virginia coast during a routine mission Wednesday, killing two crew members and injuring two, the Navy said. Rescuers were still looking for a fifth person.

One of the crew members who was hoisted with three others from the 42-degree water by a Navy helicopter died in a civilian hospital, the Navy said in a statement.

The other three were taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The Navy said later Wednesday that a second crew member had died.

Two were in stable condition Wednesday afternoon, and the other was to have surgery, the Navy said.

“Today has definitely been a tough day on all of us,” Capt. Todd Flannery, the commander of Helicopter Sea Combat Wing Atlantic, said at a news conference. “Our heartfelt prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those killed and injured in today’s crash.”

The Navy identified the aircraft as an MH-53E. The helicopter, assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 14 based at Naval Station Norfolk, was conducting routine training operations at the time of the crash, the Navy said.

Transgender-pupil-law challenge gains

SAN FRANCISCO - Opponents of a new California law that spells out the rights of transgender students in public schools have cleared the next hurdle in their effort to repeal the law at the ballot box, state elections officials said Wednesday.

A spot check of petitions circulated by backers of a proposed voter referendum on the law showed enough were valid to trigger further review of the signatures needed to qualify the measure for the November ballot, according to figures compiled by the secretary of state.

Projections based on random sampling indicated that the referendum’s backers - a coalition of conservative groups called Privacy for All - obtained 95.6 percent of the 504,760 signatures required to force a public vote on the law passed last year by the California Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.

That was only a few thousand more than needed to prompt the next step in the qualification process - a full check of all 619,244 signatures submitted, the secretary of state’s office said.

The law guarantees students in kindergarten through 12th grade the right to use school facilities such as bathrooms and locker rooms and to participate in the sex-segregated activities that correspond with their expressed genders instead of their school records.

2 disabled women killed in California fire

SANTA ANA, Calif. - Two people were killed and five others were injured, including a firefighter, in a morning fire Wednesday at a group home for women with developmental disabilities in California, authorities said.

The blaze broke out about 5:45 a.m. in a Santa Ana neighborhood, according to Orange County Fire Authority spokesman Steve Concialdi.

The caretaker, a 71-year-old woman, was in the kitchen preparing food for the day when a smoke alarm went off, Concialdi said. She found a mattress on fire in one of two front bedrooms, and the flames quickly spread to the rest of the house, he said.

The caretaker was critically injured while attempting to rescue residents, suffering burns on her face and arms, and had to be rescued from the house by firefighters, Concialdi said.

Three other women, between 30 and 60, were hospitalized with serious injuries - possibly smoke inhalation - and one firefighter was treated at a hospital for burns on his hand from flames that ate through his protective glove.

Two women, 48 and 52, were killed.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/09/2014

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