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ByAmandaLeeMyers The Associated Press CINCINNATI A federal ap- peals court was set to hear arguments Wednesday in six gay marriage fights from four states — Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Ten- nessee — in the biggest such session on the issue so far, and hundreds of supporters rallied near the courthouse. Three judges of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap- peals in Cincinnati were to consider arguments that pit states' rights and tradi- tional, conservative values against what plaintiffs' at- torneys say is a fundamen- tal right to marry under the U.S. Constitution. Michigan's and Ken- tucky's cases stem from rulings striking down each state's gay marriage bans. Ohio's case deals only with the state's recognition of out-of-state gay marriages, while Tennessee's is nar- rowly focused on the rights of three same-sex couples. Attorneys on both sides in the Michigan and Ohio cases will go first and get a half-hour each to make their cases. Kentucky and Tennessee will follow, with 15 minutes for each side from both states. In nearby Fountain Square, advocates held up banners and signs urging freedom to marry or other messages in favor of the le- gal challenges to the bans. The crowd included cou- ples who married in states where same-sex marriages are legal and other long- time couples who said they are waiting for it to become legal in their home states. Jon Bradford, 26, of Cov- ington, Kentucky, wore a wedding dress, and his partner, Matt Morris, also of Covington, wore a top hat and formal shirt. "It's to make a statement, really," Bradford said. "We want to be married." He said they were hope- ful the court will rule in fa- vor of same-sex marriage. "One day, it's going to happen," he said. "You can't stop love." There was little sign of public opposition near the courthouse; opponents said they planned to pray that the judges uphold "tradi- tional marriage." Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the federal Defense of Mar- riage Act last year, gay mar- riage advocates have won more than 20 victories in federal courts. No decision has gone the other way in that time. Constitutional law pro- fessors and court observers say the 6th Circuit could de- liver the first victory to gay marriage opponents. The three judges hearing the case are Jeffrey S. Sut- ton and Deborah L. Cook, both nominees of President George W. Bush, and Mar- tha Craig Daughtrey, a pick of President Bill Clinton. Sutton is considered the least predictable, shocking Republicans in 2011 when he became the deciding vote in a 6th Circuit rul- ing that upheld President Barack Obama's landmark health care overhaul. If the 6th Circuit de- cides against gay marriage, that would create a divide among federal appeals courts and put pressure on the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the issue for good in its 2015 session. The court is not expected to issue a rul- ing for some time. FOUR STATES Courthearinggaymarriagearguments ALBEHRMAN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Gay marriage supporters follow an opponent driving his truck around Fountain Square on Wednesday where several hundred supporters held a rally in Cincinnati. The Associated Press MIAMI Patient advocates say some insurance com- panies are making HIV and AIDS drugs unafford- able in plans issued through the Affordable Care Act by shifting much of the cost to customers. While the issue applies broadly to all patients with chronic illnesses that re- quire expensive medica- tion, HIV and AIDS advo- cates say they were the first to file a formal complaint with the government about pricing. Under President Obama's health law, insurance com- panies are forbidden from turning away consumers with pre-existing condi- tions. But advocacy groups allege insurance companies are discouraging HIV and AIDS patients, who are ex- pensive to cover, by requir- ing them to pay a percent- age of costly medications instead of a flat co-pay, es- sentially pricing the medi- cations out of reach. Several insurance com- panies are also impeding access to services by re- quiring re-authorization for drugs consumers have been taking for years or making the claims pro- cess difficult, says Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of The AIDS In- stitute. The group filed a complaint with U.S. Health and Human Services offi- cials this summer against four Florida insurance companies, and advocates in other states are consid- ering similar action. The complaint filed with federal health officials al- leges Humana, Coventry- One, Cigna and Preferred Medical are violating the federal health law by dis- couraging consumers with HIV and AIDS from choos- ing those plans because they wouldn't be able to afford the high co-insurance rates. Georgia advocates are planning to file a similar complaint with federal of- ficials, said Dr. Melanie Thompson, who has several patients unable to afford the medicines under their new insurance plans. Advocacy groups say they are finding similar problems with some exchange plans in Ohio, Cal- ifornia and Illinois. HHS said it's reviewing the complaint in Florida but declined further comment. AFFORDABLE CARE ACT Medicines overpriced, HIV/AIDS patients contend By Martha Mendoza The Associated Press LAS VEGAS The hackers are a tight knit group, 10 or 11. They live in a Russian town, and have real jobs. But in their down time, the cybercriminals have spent the past seven months gath- ering a hoard of personal data, stealing 1.2 billion user names and passwords in a series of Internet heists affecting 420,000 websites, according to Alex Holden, Chief Information Security Officer for Hold Security, whose firm uncovered the breach. The Russian hackers had been collecting databases of personal information for years, but Holden told The Associated Press Wednes- day that in April the group began deploying a new on- line attack technique that quickly shot from computer system to computer system as unwitting infected users visited random websites. "Their cache of stolen goods grew quite quickly," said Holden, who has not re- vealed details about the web- sites that were breached or the names of other victims. A native of Kiev who now lives in Milwaukee, Holden has conducted research that contributed to other expo- sures of major hacks, includ- ing a breach at Adobe that exposed tens of millions of customer records. He said he had been tracking the Russian criminals for seven months, but only was able to begin reviewing their mas- sive cache of databases dur- ing the past few weeks. He timed his announcement to coincide with the annual Black Hat USA cybersecurity conference this week in Las Vegas, where it created quite a buzz. Brian Krebs, who inves- tigates online cybercrime and blogs about it, said his phone and email were inun- dated while he was at the conference Wednesday with people asking about Hold- en's announcement. "Alex isn't keen on dis- closing his methods, but I have seen his research and data firsthand and can say it's definitely for real," said Krebs. "Without spilling his secrets or methods, it is clear that he has a first- hand view on the day-to- day activities of some very active organized cyber- crime networks and actors." CYBERCRIMINALS Ex pe rt w an ts t o he lp n ab Russian password thieves DAVID BECKER ‑ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Chief Information Security Officer Alex Holden of Hold Security, LLC appears during the Black Hat USA 2014cyber security conference on Wednesday in Las Vegas. By Bruce Schreiner The Associated Press GLENDALE, KY. A mother and her son, both firefight- ers, were in the "mop up" phase of putting out a van fire along a busy interstate when semitrailer slammed into their fire engine early Wednesday, killing the son and injuring his mother, po- lice said. Jonathan French, 25, was killed and his mother, Lisa French, was taken to a hos- pital where she was in se- rious condition, Kentucky State Police Trooper Jeff Gregory said. Firefighting ran in the family. Jonathan French had volunteered for the Glendale Fire Department for about five years. Lisa French had been there for about seven years. Her brother, Richard Peters, is the agency's fire chief. "It's just something that gets in the family blood," Peters said. Jonathan French was a third-generation firefighter whose parents met while volunteering for the depart- ment, Peters said. French also has a brother and a sister who volunteer for the Glendale's fire department. Peters said he also re- sponded to the fire and was in front of the department's tanker truck when the en- gine was hit. He said he did not see the semi coming. "We didn't see anything but flying debris," he said. The crash occurred in central Kentucky along In- terstate 65 about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, about 1 mile north of Glendale, a town 50 miles south of Louisville. The mother and son were getting equipment off the fire truck when it was hit. "The semi struck both of them and also clipped the front end of the fire engine," Gregory said. Gregory said the fire truck's emergency lights were on at the time of the crash. He identified the truck driver as John M. Hatton of Covington. Gregory also didn't know if any people were in the burning van. The Glendale Fire De- partment has about two dozen firefighters. "It hurts us all because we are a brotherhood. The Glendale Fire Department is immensely devastated at this time," said Elizabeth- town Fire Chief Michael Hulsey, whose department is nearby. 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