Watercooler Stories

N.J. Gov. McGreevey steps down

TRENTON, N.J., Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Democratic New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey resigned Thursday after admitting to an extramarital gay affair that may lead to a sexual-harassment lawsuit.

McGreevey, who has been dogged by corruption scandals involving fundraisers and advisers close to him, announced in a televised news conference he will step down Nov. 15.

Provisions of the New Jersey Constitution instruct that state Senate President Richard Codey will serve the remainder of McGreevey's term, which ends at the end of 2005.

WNBC-TV, New York, reported McGreevey expects former aide Golan Cipel, who resigned in 2002 as his security adviser, to file the lawsuit against him.

McGreevey has been governor for 2 1/2 years.

Calif. court voids S.F. gay marriage

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Nearly 4,000 same-sex marriages performed in San Francisco were voided Thursday by the California Supreme Court.

The court declared the mayor of the city had overstepped his authority when he gave the green light to the issuance of marriage licenses to homosexual and lesbian couples last winter.

The ruling did not address the constitutionality of a state law limiting marriage to heterosexual couples; however on a 5-2 vote, it did nullify the nuptials performed during an unprecedented marriage spree at City Hall.

Mayor Gavin Newsome had authorized gay marriages on the grounds the state law violated constitutional guarantees of equal access under the law.

Sex, drugs, booze un-cool in school

NEW YORK, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Despite myriad federal and state laws, the New York City Education Department plans to ban sex, drugs, alcohol and gender harassment from its properties.

In a 26-page discipline code book, students as young as 5 would be punished for "possessing controlled substances without appropriate authorization, illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia, and/or alcohol," the New York Daily News said Thursday.

The code also says students in grades six to 12 cannot engage in "sexual conduct on school premises or at school-related functions."

And based on recommendations by the Manhattan-based Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, name-calling about someone's sexual identity has been ruled out too.

"Transgender students face bullying and harassment on a daily basis. It's important that they be protected," network's spokeswoman Riley Snorton said.

The report did not specify what punishments the department would apply for the various misdemeanors and felonies.

Family says Pakistani man was a tourist

DALLAS, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- The family of a Pakistani man arrested with suspicious videotapes says he was simply a tourist taking pictures, not a terrorist.

Relatives of Kamran Akhtar charges federal authorities are trying to turn him into a terrorist, The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.

Federal authorities found homemade videotape of buildings in Dallas and other cities across the South when he was taken into custody July 20 in Charlotte, N.C. He was charged this week with immigration violations.

Akhtar, who lists Elmhurst, N.Y., as his home, was on a cross-country bus trip to visit a cousin in the Austin area and took the pictures as remembrances, the family said.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday federal authorities have not found any links to terrorism, but he said the investigation is ongoing.

Videotapes were found of the state Capitol in Austin, a nearby dam, and various other buildings in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta and Charlotte.