In the news

President Barack Obama took his election-year campaign to raise the minimum wage to Connecticut and noted that congressional Republicans are opposed to an increase, adding, “Maybe I should say I oppose raising the minimum wage. They’d be for it.”

Mathew Knowles, the father of singer Beyonce Knowles, saw a judge in Los Angeles approve a cut in the amount of child support he pays to actress Alexsandra Wright, with whom Mathew Knowles has a son, because his income dropped after his superstar daughter fired him as her manager in 2011.

Steve Gallardo, 45, a veteran Democratic state lawmaker in Arizona who fought a bill, later vetoed, that would have allowed businesses to refuse service to homosexuals on the basis of religious beliefs, announced that he is gay, saying, “I wanted to let everyone know I am gay, I’m a Latino and I’m a state senator and it’s OK.”

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who previously refused to endorse state colleague John Cornyn for re-election to the U.S. Senate, formally offered his support after Cornyn’s resounding win in the primary.

Lisa Madigan, the Democratic attorney general of Illinois, issued guidance that says county clerks statewide can immediately begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples even though the state law legalizing gay marriage doesn’t take effect until June.

Santos Elena Ruiz Solano, a suburban New York housekeeper who entered the U.S. illegally from Honduras, pleaded innocent in the death of her newborn and is accused of putting the baby in a bag and asking her unknowing husband to throw the bag away.

Alec Eugene Taylor, 27, a Baltimore police officer, was charged with aggravated animal cruelty and abuse or neglect of an animal, accused of beating and choking his girlfriend’s 7-monthold puppy and texting her a photo of the dog’s body.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who is viewed as a 2016 presidential prospect, is planning his second trip to the early-voting state of Iowa since running as the Republicans’ 2012 vice-presidential nominee.

Mark Johnston, a Southern California retiree who during Super Bowl weekend lost $500,000 playing table games at the Downtown Grand casino in Las Vegas, is suing to get his money back, saying the casino allowed him to gamble when he was visibly drunk, which is against Nevada law.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 03/06/2014

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