National

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force recognizes as a step forward today’s unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court decision holding that denying rights and benefits to same-sex couples that are statutorily given to heterosexual couples violates the state’s constitution.

CARPENTERSVILLE, Illinois – Cuando casi tres mil residentes hicieron acto de presencia en la reunión de la Junta de la Aldea de Carpentersville cuando esta estaba programada a discutir una ley contra los inmigrantes indocumentados el 3 de octubre, los dirigentes de la aldea decidieron posponer el debate. Según ellos, esto fue para buscar un sitio más grande para vistas públicas.

SAN ANTONIO — El día 12 de octubre, Día de la Raza, gente se congregaron en la Plaza Guadalupe para asistir a una manifestación auspiciadas por el Concilio Laboral para el Avance Latinoamericano (conocido por sus siglas en inglés LCLAA) y por La Liga Unida de Ciudadanos Latinoamericanos.

A year after hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, I thought I’d take a look back (like everyone else) and see how we as a country and as an industry have fared since. In doing so I came across a recent study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research titled “The Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast: Disadvantages and Key Assets for Recovery, Part II. Gender, Race and Class in the Labor Market,” which confirmed some of my apprehensions.

They are smiling in Hell these days. White-collar criminals just got another free ride from the Reagan/Bush U.S. judicial system. “Kenny Boy” Lay, the recently deceased close friend and supporter of President George W. Bush, has been exonerated by U.S. District Judge Sim Lake. The millions of Californians and Texans who realized during the Enron scandal that they had been robbed are going to find it even harder to collect any damages.

Today a mighty groundswell of senior fightback is underway. Its effect will be felt in the November elections. Retiree leader George Kourpias recently went so far as to say, “Retirees will determine who wins the 2006 elections.” Kourpias, president of ARA (Alliance for Retired Americans) added, “To us, Nov. 7 is not just Election Day, it’s Judgment Day.”

MIAMI (PAI) — Saying three years is too long to wait, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Florida union leaders are demanding the state’s GOP Attorney General Charlie Crist move against Miami’s police chief and other officers responsible for the violence during the demonstrations against the Free Trade Area of the Americas in November 2003.

TUCSON, Ariz. — In a victory for democratic elections, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has granted an injunction that bars enforcement of Arizona’s oppressive voter identification requirements during the Nov. 7 election.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Tensions are running high in Connecticut, with all three Republican House seats in hot contention, along with a high-stakes Senate race.

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. — When nearly 3,000 demonstrators showed up outside a village board meeting here on Oct. 3, mostly to oppose the “Illegal Alien Immigration Relief Act,” town leaders tabled the measure in order to facilitate the discussion in a larger location for public hearings.