Parades revel in gay-marriage victories
NEW YORK -- Gay pride parades stepped off across the nation Sunday, in cities large and small, with gay, bisexual and transgender people and their supporters celebrating a year of same-sex marriage victories.
New York's Fifth Avenue became one giant rainbow as thousands of participants waved multicolored flags while making their way down the street. Politicians including Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo were among those walking along a lavender line painted on the avenue from midtown Manhattan to the West Village.
The parade marked the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the 1969 uprising against police raids that were a catalyst for the gay-rights movement.
In Chicago, as many as 1 million people were expected to pack the streets of the city's North Side for the first gay pride parade since Illinois legalized gay marriage last month.
In San Francisco, hundreds of motorcyclists of a lesbian group took their traditional spot at the head of the 44th annual parade and loudly kicked off the festivities with a combined roar. Apple Inc. had one of the largest corporate presences, and Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook greeted the estimated 4,000 employees and family members who participated.
Bombing suspect's friend set to go on trial
BOSTON -- The first of four friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is set to go on trial on charges he impeded the investigation into the deadly attack.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in Azamat Tazhayakov's trial on obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges. Opening statements are scheduled for next Monday.
Authorities say Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev admitted they removed Tsarnaev's backpack from his dorm room three nights after the bombing after they saw photographs of Tsarnaev on the news identifying him as one of the suspects. The backpack contained fireworks that had the black powder scooped out.
Kadyrbayev told authorities they threw the backpack and fireworks in the trash "because they did not want Tsarnaev to get into trouble," FBI Agent Scott Cieplik wrote in an affidavit.
Kadyrbayev, who is scheduled to go on trial in September, is accused of putting the backpack and fireworks into a trash bag and throwing it into a trash bin.
Tazhayakov is accused of agreeing with the plan to get rid of the items.
N.Y. vows to combat HIV infection rates
ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York state can end its three-decade HIV crisis by the year 2020, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday as he announced a plan to deliver a knockout blow to the epidemic by boosting testing, reducing new infections and expanding treatment.
The governor said the state is aiming to reduce new HIV diagnoses to 750 by the end of the decade -- about the same number of tuberculosis cases seen in New York City each year -- down from 3,000 expected this year and 14,000 new cases of the disease in 1993.
To expand treatment, the state's Department of Health has negotiated bulk rebates with three companies producing HIV drugs. The state is also taking steps to make it easier to get tested, changing how HIV cases are tracked to ensure patients continue to receive treatment, and boosting access to "pre-exposure" drugs that can help high-risk people avoid infection.
Cuomo did not offer an estimate of the cost of the plan, but said it would end up saving the state more than $300 million per year by 2020 by reducing the amount the state pays for medical care for those with HIV.
Arizona fire crews battle hot, dry weather
VERNON, Ariz. -- Hundreds of firefighters dealt with hot and dry conditions Sunday as they tried to build containment lines along portions of a wildfire that has charred nearly 8 square miles in eastern Arizona's White Mountains.
Crews did get a break from the winds that had whipped the flames in recent days. With the fire holding steady, the crews were able to make headway with more burnout operations along the fire's western flank, said Margaret Hangan, a spokesman with the Southwest Area Incident Management Team.
Fire managers working a 2-week-old blaze on the Navajo Nation near the Arizona-New Mexico state line said Sunday that smoke from pockets of unburned fuel within the interior of that fire likely will continue until the area gets significant rain.
Crews were being released Sunday from the fire on the Navajo Nation, while the team battling the San Juan Fire in Arizona was growing. More than 550 firefighters and other personnel were assigned to the blaze along with two dozen engines, five helicopters, bulldozers and water tenders.
-- COMPILED BY DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS
A Section on 06/30/2014