WASHINGTON STATE – 5-9-09 – A Seattle man became the third person in the U.S. to die as a result of the H1N1 virus. Worldwide the swine flu virus has led to the deaths of 53 people, most of them in Mexico, and sickened more than 4,100 others.
IOWA – 4-28-09 – Same-sex couples wasted no time in tying the knot in the nation’s heartland after Iowa became the third state to allow same-sex marriages. Iowa, through a unanimous state Supreme Court decision, became the third state to allow same-sex marriages. A Vermont law permitting same-sex marriages will take effect in September.
CALIFORNIA – 5-8-09 – A new study has recorded a 12-fold increase over the past two decades in the number of autistic people who are receiving services through regional centers in the state. Autism, the cause for which is unknown, is a severe developmental disorder characterized by communication difficulties and a lack of socializing with others. Nearly five boys have the disease for every one girl.
UNITED STATES – 5-9-09 – Job losses declined to the lowest level in six months amid signs that perhaps the worst part of the recession has ended. The jobless rate rose to 8.9 percent, and 13.7 million Americans are out of work.
OAKLAND – 5-8-09 – Devaughndre Broussard, 21, has admitted to being the triggerman in the 2007 killing of Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey. In exchange for a sentence of 25 years in prison, Broussard plead guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter and agreed to testify against Yusuf Bey IV, the man who allegedly ordered the slayings.
TEXAS – 5-11-09 – U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent received nearly three years in prison after pleading guilty to lying to investigators about sexually abusing two female employees at his Galveston, Texas courthouse.
