QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I guess we were naive in thinking the government would be on our side.”
Lisa Ulrey, who was married last weekend in Michigan, responding to the state’s decision not to recognize
the more than 300 same-sex marriages performed before a court halted the nuptials Article, this page
Secret Service agents’ actions worry 2
WASHINGTON - The Democratic chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee and a senior Republican senator expressed concern Wednesday over a purported incident involving a drunken Secret Service agent in connection with President Barack Obama’s overseas trip to the Netherlands.
On Sunday, the agency called three agents home from the Netherlands just before Obama’s arrival for talks with foreign leaders in The Hague. One agent had been found inebriated inside a hotel, according to reports.
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., the Homeland Security Committee chairman, said Wednesday that he is “troubled by the reports regarding the behavior of a few Secret Service agents serving on the president’s detail in the Netherlands,” according to a statement. His office said he’s asked the Secret Service for more information about the episode.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that the incident “shows that the agency has to deal with some in its ranks who fail to respect the important job the agency is tasked with.”Oklahoma execution law ruled unlawful
OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma judge ruled the state’s execution law unconstitutional Wednesday because its privacy provision is so strict that it prevents inmates from finding out the source of drugs used in executions, even through the courts.
After condemned inmates gasped or complained that they were “burning” during executions in January, inmates Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner asked Oklahoma prison officials who was making the drugs that would kill them and whether the materials were pure.
However, under state law, no one is allowed to disclose the source of drugs used in a lethal injection - even if an inmate sues and seeks the information as part of the discovery process. Oklahoma County District Judge Patricia Parrish said that prevents the inmates from exercising rights under the Constitution.
N.C. mayor resigns after bribery arrest
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Less than six months on the job, the mayor of Charlotte resigned Wednesday after being arrested and accused of accepting more than $48,000 in bribes from FBI agents posing as businessmen who wanted to do work with North Carolina’s largest city.
Mayor Patrick Cannon, a 47-year-old Democrat who rose from the city’s public-housing projects to become a successful businessman and politician, faces federal theft and bribery charges. Cannon solicited and accepted more than $48,000 in cash, airline tickets, a hotel room and the use of a luxury apartment as bribes, according to a criminal complaint.
If convicted on all of the charges, he faces 20 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines.
Cannon, a longtime radio show host and the founder of E-Z parking, a parking management company, was elected mayor in November, replacing Anthony Foxx, who was named transportation secretary by President Barack Obama.Battered spouses join health-subsidy list
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama’s administration has decided to rewrite federal tax rules to allow battered spouses who are living separately from their abusers to claim government subsidies to help pay for health plans through new insurance marketplaces.
The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act created tax credits for people buying coverage through federal and state insurance exchanges, but the law says married people may get such help only if they file their taxes jointly.
This affects several groups of people who file their taxes separately, including those whose spouses are in prison or have abandoned them, or divorcing couples.
Battered spouses are the only ones the Treasury Department is now helping.
“For victims of domestic abuse, contacting a spouse for purposes of filing a joint return may pose a risk of injury or trauma or, if the spouse is subject to a restraining order, may be legally prohibited,” department officials wrote in guidance that outlines the change.
Treasury Department officials said battered spouses who file their taxes separately may take advantage of the rule change immediately, even though the government has not yet completed a new regulation to support it.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 03/27/2014