Alaska

Same-sex marriage ban is overturned

A federal judge has struck down Alaska’s first-in-the-nation ban on same-sex marriage.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess said Sunday that the ban violates the Constitution’s guarantee of due process and equal protection.

The state could appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, where chances of it winning would be slim because the court ­already has ruled against Idaho and Nevada, which made similar arguments.

Five gay couples sued the state of Alaska to overturn a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1998 that defined marriage as being between one man and one woman.

— Associated Press

California

Health agency skips bidding on contracts

California’s health insurance exchange has awarded $184 million in contracts without the competitive bidding and oversight that is standard practice across state government, including deals that sent millions of dollars to a firm whose employees have long-standing ties to the agency’s executive director.

Covered California’s no-bid contracts were for a variety of services, including public relations as well as paying for ergonomic adjustments to work stations, according to an Associated Press review of contracting records obtained through the state Public Records Act.

Several of those contracts worth a total of $4.2 million went to a consulting firm, The Tori Group, whose founder has strong professional ties to agency Executive Director Peter Lee, while others were awarded to a subsidiary of a health care company he once headed.

Awarding no-bid contracts is unusual in state government, where rules promote “open and fair competition” to give taxpayers the best deal and avoid ethical conflicts. The practice is generally reserved for emergencies or when no known competition exists.

— Associated Press

Georgia

Jimmy Carter backs grandson’s campaign

Democrat Jason Carter’s campaign for Georgia governor has unleashed a weapon that has long been waiting in the wings: Jimmy Carter.

The 90-year-old former president has helped his grandson raise millions of dollars and provided him behind-the-scenes counsel. But his appearance Sunday morning at a black church in Albany, Ga., was his debut on the campaign trail for his grandson’s bid to oust Gov. Nathan Deal.

The elder Carter urged congregants to cast their ballots — early voting starts Monday — to help his grandson “make Martin Luther King’s dream come true.” He accused Republicans of seeking to deny them voting rights.

“Twelve years ago in Georgia, we had a change in governmental attitude toward the Voting Rights Act, and the right of all people to vote,” Carter said. He noted that when he was Georgia governor in the 1970s, he signed a law that designated all high school principals as voter registrars.

— Associated Press

New Jersey town rallies against bullying: Hundreds of people participated in an anti-bullying rally in a central New Jersey town that has been rocked by allegations of sex-related hazing on its football team that prompted the cancellation of the rest of the season. Sunday night’s gathering was staged in a park across the street from Sayreville War Memorial High School. Organizers said the event was to promote unity and healing and to show support for the victims of bullying. Seven students face sex-crime charges stemming from the alleged hazing.

One dead, 20 hurt in hayride crash: A Halloween-themed hayride loaded with passengers crashed down a hill in the Maine woods and slammed into a tree, fatally injuring a teenage girl and leaving more than 20 other people hurt, police said Sunday. Cassidy Charette, 17, of Oakland died of her injuries after the Gauntlet Haunted Night Ride wagon overturned Saturday at a rural farm in Mechanic Falls, authorities said. The crash “threw everyone off the trailer and into each other and into trees,” said Sgt. Joel Davis of the state fire marshal’s office. He said a mechanical problem prevented the sport-utility vehicle pulling the wagon from stopping. About half a dozen of those hurt remained hospitalized Sunday, but their injuries did not appear life-threatening, Davis said.

— From news services