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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Landmark Ruling Could Legalize Same-Sex Marriage in MI

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Wednesday, October 16, 2013   

DETROIT - Same-sex couples in Michigan could legally tie the knot as early as this afternoon, pending a federal judge's decision that could lift the ban on same-sex marriage.

The case before Judge Bernard Friedman involves two Michigan women. April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse are asking to overturn a 2004 law that prohibits same-sex couples from marrying and to declare unconstitutional Michigan's Adoption Code, which prohibits joint adoption by gay or lesbian couples.

DeBoer and Rowse have three adopted children, all with special needs, but because the two cannot legally marry in Michigan, attorney Dana Nessel said, they are denied the same rights as other parents.

"Medical decisions, any type of legal rights at all - you have absolutely none to that child, even though that child calls you their parent and has only known you to be their parent since, literally, the day they were born," Nessel said.

A spokesperson for Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said Schuette will be in court to argue to uphold the marriage ban.

If the judge lifts the ban and declines to issue a stay, Nessel said, same-sex couples could legally marry in Michigan immediately. Even if the case is appealed, it could lead to a rush later today at county clerks' offices around the state. Nessel said that's understandable.

"When you have gone so long without enjoying equality and the same rights as other citizens, you kind of want to start enjoying your equal rights right away," Nessel said.

Several county clerks have said they will waive the three-day waiting period for a marriage license should Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage be lifted.


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Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

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