Federal judge blocks postal changes
SEATTLE -- A U.S. judge on Thursday blocked controversial Postal Service changes that have slowed mail nationwide, calling them "a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service" before the November election.
Judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima, Wash., said he was issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction sought by 14 states that sued the Trump administration and the U.S. Postal Service.
The states challenged the Postal Service's "leave behind" policy, where trucks have been leaving postal facilities on time regardless of whether there is more mail to load. They also sought to force the Postal Service to treat election mail as First Class mail.
The judge noted after a hearing that President Donald Trump had repeatedly attacked voting by mail by making unfounded claims that it is rife with fraud. Many more voters are expected to vote by mail this November because of the covid-19 pandemic, and the states have expressed concern that delays might result in voters not receiving ballots or registration forms in time.
"The states have demonstrated the defendants are involved in a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service," Bastian said.
He also said the changes created "a substantial possibility many voters will be disenfranchised."
Bastian said he planned to issue a written order later in the day, but that it would be substantially the same as that sought by the states.
Deputy hurt, gunman dead in standoff
SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A man accused of shooting a Michigan sheriff's deputy killed himself inside his home, ending an hourslong standoff with police, authorities said.
The incident in Superior Township ended shortly before midnight, the Washtenaw County sheriff's office said Thursday.
"Early indications are that the gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound," the department said.
Officers were called to a Superior Township neighborhood, 40 miles west of Detroit, because of a feud between neighbors that involved gunshots.
A deputy was shot as he approached the property.
"We are thankful that the deputy who was shot during the initial response has been released from the hospital and will begin his road to recovery," the sheriff's office said.
Michigan witness holds slaying suspect
ADRIAN, Mich. -- An 85-year-old man was stabbed to death inside a southern Michigan supermarket, but his attacker was unable to flee because a witness held him at gunpoint until the police arrived.
The victim was stabbed multiple times in the head and neck Wednesday afternoon at a Meijer store in Adrian, The Daily Telegram of Adrian reported. He died at the scene.
Adrian Police Chief Vincent Emrick said a woman with a handgun ordered the 29-year-old suspect to the floor and held him there until officers took him into custody. Emrick said the woman has a concealed pistol license.
A knife believed used in the stabbing was found on a store shelf. The victim and the attacker entered the store separately and apparently didn't know each other.
Alarik Guajardo of Adrian was charged with murder and other crimes. It wasn't immediately known whether he has a lawyer who could comment.
Married, same-sex couples top 500,000
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Five years after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages around the U.S., more than a half million households are made up of married same-sex couples, according to figures the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday.
Since 2014, the year before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same sex marriages, the number of married same-sex households has increased by almost 70%, rising to 568,110 couples in 2019, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
Of the 980,000 same-sex couple households reported in 2019, 58% were married couples and 42% were unmarried partners, the survey showed.
There were slightly more female couple households than male couple households.
"Opponents of marriage equality frequently argued that same-sex couples really weren't all that interested in marriage. But the large increase in marriages among same-sex couples since marriage equality became legal nationwide offers evidence of the clear desire for marriage among same-sex couples," said Gary Gates, a demographer specializing in LGBT issues.
The survey revealed noticeable economic differences between male couples and female couples, as well as same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples.
Same-sex married couples had a higher median income than opposite-sex married couples, $107,210 compared with $96,932. In same-sex marriages, though, male couples earned more than female couples, $123,646 versus $87,690.
According to the survey, same-sex married households were more likely to be in the workforce than opposite-sex married households, 84.6% compared with 80.4%.