Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/399187
OTTOKITSINGER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Rachael Beierle, le , and Boise City Council President Maryanne Jordan, center, laugh at a joke in Amber Beierle's wedding vows at City Hall in Boise, Idaho, on Wednesday. ByKimberleeKruesi The Associated Press BOISE, IDAHO Gay mar- riage arrived in one of the most conservative states in the nation Wednesday as more than 100 same- sex couples gathered early at the Boise courthouse and counted down the sec- onds before the clerk's office opened to issue marriage li- censes. The couples cheered and streamed inside at 9 a.m. as Idaho became the latest state to recognize gay mar- riage in a burst of court rul- ings nationwide. "It's been such a long time coming," Council- woman Maryanne Jordan said. "It's a historic day for Boise and Idaho." Jordan officiated the marriages of four of the eight women who sued over Idaho's gay marriage ban and were the first to get li- censes in the state's most- populous county. A crowd sang out "here comes the brides" as Ra- chael and Amber Beierle and Shelia Robertson and Andrea Altmayer headed toward City Hall. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and Attorney General Law- rence Wasden didn't im- mediately issue new state- ments, but both Republi- cans had fought to maintain the state's gay marriage ban, saying it was a matter of state's rights and the will of voters. The marriages came a day after Otter and Wasden ended their opposition to a ruling from the 9th U.S. Cir- cuit Court of Appeals that ordered the state to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. They said they had done all they could to fight the case in court, but Otter reaf- firmed his support late Tues- day for Idaho's 2006 consti- tutional amendment defin- ing marriage as between one man and one woman. "I'm not going to give up on it," he said. "I'm going to keep on defending it." Idaho has become known for its conservative politics as Republicans control ev- ery statewide and congres- sional elected office and have an overwhelming ma- jority in the state Legisla- ture. This year's Republican gubernatorial field featured ultra-conservative candi- dates, including one who legally changed his name to "Pro-Life." Gay marriage hits conservative Idaho COURT FILINGS By David Espo The Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Demo- crats claimed a big success after former President Bill Clinton campaigned across several college campuses in Arkansas recently. They de- clared they had signed up enough partisans to fill more than 4,000 volunteer shifts in their drive to re- elect Sen. Mark Pryor and help other candidates. Now the concern is the "flake rate" — the people who fail to show up. Welcome to the final stages of a costly voter turnout operation in Ar- kansas and other states that have competitive Sen- ate races. These efforts loom as the Democrats' possible last line of de- fense in a year when Presi- dent Barack Obama is a po- litical drag and turnout al- ready would be far lower than in a presidential elec- tion year. "We have to expand the electorate," said Robert McLarty, in charge of the party's effort to increase Arkansas' turnout. Dem- ocrats say they have had dozens of offices across the state for months, a staff of about 100 and many more volunteers in a drive largely focused on African-Americans, young voters and women, partic- ularly those who are un- married. There are a lot of poten- tial voters to reach out to. Official figures show an overall increase of more than 8 percent in the state's electorate this year. Republicans counter that they haven't been sit- ting back idly in a state where Obama was routed both times he ran for the White House. "It's not like the Dem- ocrats get to operate in a vacuum. We get to run a campaign, too," said Jus- tin Brasell, campaign man- ager for Rep. Tom Cotton, who Republicans say leads Pryor very narrowly in the final weeks of their race. Democrats "want to get as close to presidential election turnout among Democrats as they can. We want to do the same thing among Republicans," he said. "Let's see who gets closer." There are numerous in- dications of intensive voter registration efforts in other states, too. Democrats in particular are trying to in- crease participation from so-called fall-off voters — those who sit home in non- presidential years. In Wake County in North Carolina, a state where Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan is in a close re-election race, officials have 5,000 voter registra- tion applications yet to process. Overall, the flood is "comparable to what we get in a presidential year," said Cherie Poucher, the director of elections in the county, which includes Ra- leigh. Given the competing and overlapping voter registra- tion drives, she said an un- known number of applica- tions are duplicates. The registration surge has spawned a lawsuit in Georgia. There, the New Georgia Project, which em- phasizes registering Afri- can-Americans, says it has submitted over 80,000 new applications but about half of those people are not yet on the rolls. The state is home to a pair of competitive races, including Democrat Mi- chelle Nunn's campaign against Republican David Perdue for an open Sen- ate seat now in GOP hands and Jason Carter's bid to oust Republican Gov. Na- than Deal. In Arkansas, as else- where, the "ground game" goes on relatively quietly, overshadowed by the noisy barrage of TV attack ads. Nearly two dozen po- litical entities have aired ads in the Little Rock area alone. A total of $43 mil- lion has been spent state- wide so far on television this year, according to one ad tracker, more than $25 per eligible voter. That in- cludes about $24.9 million on Cotton's side, $18.4 mil- lion to help Pryor. Far more quietly, final figures from the Arkan- sas Secretary of State's of- fice show 131,196 newly reg- istered voters since Jan. 1, an increase of about 8.4 percent. David Ray, a spokesman for Cotton, said it is too soon to analyze the infor- mation, "But we're certain it will be pretty favorable." However, Democrats say they accounted for most of the new voters. MIDTERM ELECTIONS Democrats hope for strong get-out-the-vote success DANNY JOHNSTON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., takes a selfie with former President Bill Clinton at a political rally at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Ark.. By Justin Pritchard The Associated Press LOS ANGELES What looks like a mini space shuttle, can fly itself for millions of miles and goes by the name X-37B? Must be a secret space weapon. Or something to rocket next-generation spy gear into orbit. Or maybe a decoy to keep China's military guessing. The purpose of the mil- itary's space plane is clas- sified, only fueling specula- tion about why it has been circling Earth for nearly two years on this, the pro- gram's third mission. The plane is expected to land as soon as Wednesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base, about 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Here are some questions, and a few answers, about the X-37B: Q: OK, it's all very cloak and dagger. But what do we know about it? A: The X-37B program has been an orphan of sorts, bouncing since its inception in 1999 between several fed- eral agencies, NASA among them. It now resides under the Air Force's Rapid Capa- bilities Office. There are two of these robotic planes, and the one due to land launched on the back of an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Dec. 11, 2012. It stands 9 feet tall and is just over 29 feet long, with a wingspan under 15 feet. It weighs 11,000-pounds. And it has solar panels that un- furl to charge its batteries once in orbit. Q: And what don't we know? A: Just about everything else. For starters, what it has been doing up in space. Speculation centers on the idea that its relatively small cargo bay was used to ferry sensors that can capture de- tailed images or communi- cations on Earth — for ex- ample, to track Iran's nu- clear program or suspected terrorists. That makes sense to Harvard Univer- sity astrophysicist Jona- than McDowell, who notes that any device could be re- turned, allowing scientists to build a better model based on the wear and tear it experienced from the ra- diation and debris outside the Earth's atmosphere. An- other theory, favored by vet- eran space policy analyst John Pike, is that the pro- gram is designed to "give the Chinese a brain cootie" trying to figure out what it's for. Under that think- ing, China would have to spend (and waste) time and resources trying to counter- act a range of possibilities. Q: This sounds like per- fect fodder for Internet theories. What are some of them? A: It can grab another nation's satellites. Or just sidle up and inspect them at close range. Or shadow China's space lab. McDowell and Pike say none of these is likely. X-37B Up in the sky, a mystery space plane _ but why? VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE This is an infrared view of the X-37B unmanned spacecra at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Ar- kansas' highest court on Wednesday struck down a state law that requires vot- ers to show photo identifica- tion before casting a ballot, ruling the requirement un- constitutional just days be- fore early voting begins for the Nov. 4 election. In a decision that could have major implications in the state's election, the state Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that de- termined the law unconsti- tutionally added a require- ment for voting. The high court noted that the Arkansas Consti- tution lists specific require- ments to vote: that a person be a citizen of both the U.S. and Arkansas, be at least 18 years old, and be lawfully registered. Anything beyond that amounts to a new require- ment and is therefore un- constitutional, the court ruled. STATE SUPREME COURT Voter ID law struck down in Arkansas | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2014 4 B