We judge like Andrew Cuomo who closes Nassau OTB on his holy days in preference to those of others?
Andrew Eqaulity? joke joke?

U.S.

Same-Sex Couples Line Up to Wed, and Courts Regroup After Decisions

By THE NEW YORK TIMESOCT. 10, 2014

Dayvin Bartolome, right, kissed his husband, Daniel Carroll, after they got married in Las Vegas on Thursday. They were among the first gay couples to wed once licenses began to be issued. Credit John Locher/Associated Press

Here are the latest developments around the country regarding same-sex marriage after two significant rulings this week.

A Supreme Court order on Monday let stand appeals court rulings allowing same-sex marriage in five states. The order cleared the way for same-sex marriages in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Weddings began within hours for gay and lesbian couples in those states.

And on Tuesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, struck down same-sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada.

Idaho

At least one county clerk in Idaho has allowed gay weddings to begin, issuing same-sex marriage licenses Friday after the United States Supreme Court said the unions could proceed.

The Supreme Court issued the order Friday, lifting a stay that had been ordered this week by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

Other county clerks were waiting to hear from the state attorney general. The attorney general’s office said a final order was needed from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. That order would formally implement the appellate court’s ruling earlier this week, which found Idaho’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional.

Wade Honey, left, and his partner Dan Barnes were turned away by the county clerk's office in Topeka, Kan., when they sought a marriage license on Monday. Credit Chris Neal/The Capital Journal, via Associated Press

“We are in communication with county clerks across the state and will advise them how to proceed when we get an indication from the 9th,” a spokesman for Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, Todd Dvorak, said.

Dan Chadwick, the executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties, said that as soon as the Ninth Circuit issues a mandate, county clerks would begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. (AP)

North Carolina

A federal judge in North Carolina struck down the state’s gay marriage ban as unconstitutional, opening the way for the first same-sex weddings to begin immediately.

Federal District Court Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr., in Asheville issued a ruling Friday shortly after 5 p.m. declaring the ban approved by state voters in 2012 unconstitutional.

Judge Cogburn’s ruling followed Monday’s Supreme Court announcement that it would not hear any appeal of a July ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond striking down Virginia’s ban. That court has jurisdiction over North Carolina.

Though Judge Cogburn’s federal judicial district only covers the western third of the state, Attorney General Roy Cooper said through a spokeswoman that the Asheville judge’s order applied statewide.

Judge Cogburn ruled moments after a different federal judge in Greensboro delayed movement in two cases he oversees until Monday. (AP)

Kansas

Hours after the state’s most populous county issued a same-sex marriage license to a couple who quickly wed, the state Supreme Court on Friday blocked the granting of any more such licenses.

But the victory for supporters of the Kansas Constitution’s ban on gay marriage could be short-lived. The state’s highest court signaled in its brief order that it had questions about whether the ban was permissible under recent federal court rulings, and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn it.

The state’s Supreme Court acted on a petition filed by Attorney General Derek Schmidt to stop the Johnson County District Court clerk’s office from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The first such license — believed to be the only one — was issued Friday morning under an order from Chief Judge Kevin Moriarty.

Judge Moriarty concluded that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage would not stand after the United States Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from five states seeking to save their prohibitions on same-sex marriages. (AP)

Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia will preside at a same-sex wedding on Friday. Credit Steve Helber/Associated Press

West Virginia

More same-sex couples arrived at West Virginia courthouses Friday to apply for marriage licenses.

A couple in Fairmont, W.Va, received the first marriage license issued to a same-sex couple in Monongalia County.

The couple, Tom Hill and Zach Milligan, arrived at the courthouse in Morgantown on Friday to apply for a marriage license. The two met while attending West Virginia University eight years ago.

Mr. Hill said it was their “duty to legally marry” and to support the nationwide movement for marriage equality. He also said the fight was not over, referring to states that have not yet made same-sex marriage legal. Same-sex couples in West Virginia are receiving marriage licenses after the state attorney general dropped his fight to uphold a ban. (AP)

Alaska

A federal judge in Alaska promised a quick decision after hearing arguments Friday to overturn the first-in-the-nation ban on same-sex marriages.

Five same-sex couples sued the state to strike down the constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1998 that defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. They say it violates their constitutional guarantee of due process and equal protection.

Each side in the Alaska case was given 30 minutes to present its case. The lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Allison Mendel, said she anticipated using only a little bit of that time and would save the remainder for rebuttal.

“Are you anticipating the landscape is going to change while we’re talking?” joked Federal District Judge Timothy M. Burgess.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Ms. Mendel responded. (AP)

Virginia

Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Friday was set to join the list of high-ranking American officials presiding at a same-sex wedding. Gay marriage has been legal in Virginia for only five days.

Mr. McAuliffe, who campaigned in support of same-sex marriage last fall, was scheduled to officiate at the marriage of Katherine Bradley-Black, 44, and Renée Bradley, 50, at their home in Northern Virginia.

The women, both education administrators whom Mr. McAuliffe met through a mutual friend, have been together for 18 years and have two children, ages 12 and 8. They are among the scores of couples who have snapped up marriages certificates since the Supreme Court order on Monday. (NYT)

Arizona

The federal judge considering challenges to Arizona’s same-sex marriage ban says the outcome appears to be dictated by the Ninth Circuit ruling overturning bans in Nevada and Idaho.

An order issued Thursday by Federal District Judge John W. Sedwick said the sides in one of the Arizona cases could submit briefs discussing the ruling. Arizona is part of the Ninth Circuit, and Judge Sedwick said the appellate court’s ruling in the other states apparently “controls the outcome” of the Arizona case.

In a September ruling involving the death of one Arizona plaintiff, Judge Sedwick said Arizona’s ban probably conflicted with the United States Constitution. He allowed the surviving spouse to be listed on the death certificate. (AP)

Nevada

Daniel Carroll and Dayvin Bartolome stood on the steps of the marriage license bureau in Las Vegas, researching where they might tie the knot after 14 years together.

They ran through the options and joked about whether an Elvis Presley or Celine Dion impersonator would be available to perform the ceremony.

In the end, they settled on a location up the street whose quickie wedding offerings include drive-up, chapel and terrace ceremonies. Less than three hours later, they held hands in front of a lighted gazebo at the Vegas Weddings chapel as the officiant declared, “I hereby pronounce you husband and husband.”

Mr. Carroll and Mr. Bartolome were among the first gay couples to wed in Las Vegas on Thursday as same-sex marriages arrived in the self-described wedding capital of the world. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down Nevada’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on Tuesday.

About 10 same-sex couples were waiting in line at the Clark County clerk’s office as the announcement came shortly after 5 p.m. that gay-marriage licenses would be issued, eliciting cheers and tears of joy from the crowd. Officials said the county issued 40 licenses to same-sex couples on Thursday.

HI-

Thanks for the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy, if you give me a mailing address.

Claude Solnik

(631) 913-4244

Long Island Business News

2150 Smithtown Ave.

Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348

Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays

Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012

Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.

thisisNOTnassauotb

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Who are we to Judge?

U.S.