Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/6281
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gay people in Cal- ifornia enjoy substantial political power as a result of nearly unanimous support from high-ranking elected officials, labor unions, newspapers, corporations and progressive religious groups, a political scientist testified Monday in a feder- al trial on the state's same- sex marriage ban. Kenneth Miller, a pro- fessor at Claremont McKenna College who teaches California politics and researches ballot initia- tives, was the first defense witness in the trial over the constitutionality of Propo- sition 8, the voter-approved ban. Last week, a Stanford University political scien- tist testified that gays do not have a meaningful level of political power. Miller said perhaps the largest single indication of the strength of the gay rights movement was the $43 million amassed to defeat the gay marriage ban in 2008. That was $3.4 mil- lion more than initiative backers raised. ''It's exceptionally rare'' for ballot measures on social issues to generate that kind of cash, Miller said. Lawyers for the two same-sex couples challeng- ing Proposition 8 rested their case earlier in the day after showing videotape of a simulcast in which sup- porters of the ban said gay marriage would lead to polygamy and bestiality. The footage was shown as an example of the work of San Diego pastor Jim Garlow, who helped orga- nize evangelical Christian support for the Proposition 8 ballot measure in 2008. In one video rally led by Garlow, an unidentified pastor warned ''the polyga- mists are waiting in the wings, because if a man can marry a man and a woman can marry a woman, the polygamists are going to use that exact same argu- ment and they probably are going to win.'' An unidentified woman later said ''a man wanting to marry a horse, brothers and sisters, any combina- tion would have to be allowed.'' It appeared the lawyers were introducing the mater- ial to demonstrate the cam- paign for the ban appealed to religious-based, anti-gay bias to scare voters into supporting the measure. Proposition 8 sponsors objected to the video, say- ing the content of the simul- cast was not controlled by campaign managers or leaders. However, Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker allowed the material to be put into the record because the coalition of religious and conservative groups behind Proposition 8 paid for Garlow's work. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California sent in the heavy machinery Monday to clean up beaches and clear catch basins fouled with tons of urban trash during last week's storms. The storm also caused chaos in Northern California. In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin New- som declared a state of emer- gency after erosion along a storm-battered bluff forced the city to close a section of heav- ily traveled coastal highway. In snowy Siskiyou County, about 1,300 customers were without power — some for a fifth day — as crews struggled to repair power lines. Another snowstorm was expected Mon- day night. The county estimated storm damage to buildings in the town of Mt. Shasta alone at $2 million, mostly from falling trees. The county also saw 11 peo- ple treated for carbon monox- ide poisoning from improperly using electric generators, said Rob Rowley, deputy director of the county Office of Emer- gency Services. In Southern California, bull- dozers and backhoes shoveled muck and trash that was swept down to the sea through flood control channels. ''I'm really shocked about the amount,'' Andie Kunkel of Seal Beach told KCAL-TV as bulldozers collected tree limbs, broken shopping carts and assorted urban leavings. ''It's just been going on nonstop since 7 a.m.'' Several beaches remained closed because of high bacteria counts from the polluted storm runoff. Mark Gold, president of the nonprofit environmental group Heal the Bay, said crews could only clean up a portion of the mess. ''We only see the debris that washes back ashore and the vast majority of the debris goes to the ocean,'' he said. ''The impact of a major storm like this is felt in the ocean for lit- erally centuries.'' Birds, sea turtles and other wildlife can eat or get tangled in plastic packaging and other garbage that doesn't degrade, he said. Northeast of downtown Los Angeles, crews were working 12-hour shifts to remove tons of debris from the basins that channel storm runoff away from homes in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, where a wildfire denuded 250 square miles last year. The job could take weeks, said Bob Spencer, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. Last week's downpours dumped 6 inches of rain or more in mountain areas, prompting the precautionary evacuation of more than 2,000 homes. The storms knocked down trees that killed two people and spawned brief tornadoes. To the east of Los Angeles, mountain resort towns around Big Bear Lake remained cut off from visitors. The three roads to Big Bear Valley in San Bernardino County were closed Sunday to everyone except residents and supply trucks because of icy condi- tions. California declared states of emergency for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Francisco and Siskiyou counties. Most of the counties were still tallying storm damage and costs. Long Beach city officials gave a preliminary estimate of $3 million, and San Bernardino County estimated there was $13.5 million in damage but that figure was expected to rise. 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