Activists contest Disney’s Segway use settlement

Activists contest Disney’s Segway use settlement

ORLANDO, Fla. — Activists for the disabled brought their Segways into a federal court Wednesday to urge a judge to reject a settlement between Walt Disney World and three visitors restricting the use of the personal transporters at the resort.

Two-dozen activists parked Segways in the back of the courtroom where U.S. District Judge George Presnell is considering whether to approve the settlement between Disney and three visitors who were prohibited from bringing the vehicles into the theme parks.

The agreement allows Disney to continue placing restrictions on the use of Segways at its theme parks. The resort prohibits the unsupervised use of Segways for safety reasons, even though employees use them and Disney operates supervised tours for guests using the the two-wheel, upright scooters. Under the January settlement, Disney patrons can rent electric standup vehicles but can’t bring their own Segways.

New Hampshire governor signs gay marriage law

CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire’s governor has signed legislation making the state the sixth to allow gay marriage.

Gov. John Lynch was surrounded by cheering supporters of the move as he signed the three bills about an hour after the key vote on the legislation in the House.

The law will take effect in January, exactly two years after the state legalized civil unions. New Hampshire joins Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont and Iowa in recognizing same-sex marriages, though opponents hope to overturn Maine’s law with a public vote.

Lynch demanded — and got — language protecting the rights of religious opponents of gay marriage before signing the bills.

Ariz. suspect dies when car crashes into DPS cruiser

TUCSON, Ariz. — A woman who had been arrested and placed in the back of a police cruiser was fatally burned Wednesday when a car slammed into the parked cruiser, igniting both vehicles and another cruiser in front, authorities said. It was the latest death in the past decade attributed to a fuel tank rupture in a Ford Motor Co.-made Crown Victoria during a rear-end collision.

Lt. James Warriner, an Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman, said investigators are looking into why the gas tank exploded this time since both Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors at the scene were equipped with fire suppression systems that deployed.

An officer stopped the 45-year-old motorist at about 1:15 a.m., arrested her and put her in the back of a cruiser along Interstate 10 northwest of Tucson, Warriner said. Another westbound car traveling at least 65 mph then drifted into the emergency lane and plowed into the back of that vehicle, Warriner said.

Bond sought for suspect in Kan. doctor’s killing

WICHITA, Kan. — An attorney for Scott Roeder has asked a judge to set bond for the suspect in the slaying of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller. In his filing Wednesday, attorney Steve Osburn cites a Kansas law saying bond should be granted for defendants charged with non-capital crimes.

The 51-year-old Roeder was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday, and the prosecutor said the case doesn’t qualify for the death penalty. Sedgwick County District Judge Ben Burgess told The Wichita Eagle he took public safety into account when he ordered Roeder held without bail.

A hearing on the defense motion is scheduled Friday.

Fight against foreign nuke waste in Utah continues

SALT LAKE CITY — An eight-state radioactive-waste-management entity plans to appeal a federal court ruling that said a company can dispose of foreign nuclear waste at its facility in the western Utah desert.

A judge last month ruled against the Northwest Compact, which includes Utah and seven other states. The compact’s executive director, Mike Garner, said officials decided Monday to take the case to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions Inc. wants to import up to 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy. After processing in Tennessee, about 1,600 tons would be disposed of in Utah. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman had used the state’s veto power on the compact to try to keep the foreign waste out. Congress established compacts in the 1980s so states would band together to dispose of their own radioactive waste in an effort to ensure that no single state would become a national dumping ground.

Associated Press