Day of confusion for gay couples

October 9, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

LAS VEGAS

County clerks in Nevada turned away gay couples eager to marry Wednesday amid a flurry of conflicting court decisions, including a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that blocked partners in Idaho moments before they would have picked up marriage licenses.

A 9th Circuit ruling late Tuesday cleared the way for Idaho and Nevada to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Couples gathered early Wednesday, but a ruling by Justice Anthony Kennedy brought such plans to a halt in both states.

Later, Kennedy clarified that the stay he approved applied only to Idaho, but Nevada officials said they wanted to wait for more clear direction.

A Supreme Court decision Monday effectively made gay marriage legal in about 30 states, but for several how and when that would happen remained in doubt. In South Carolina, for example, a judge issued a license for a handful of gay couples, but no one got married as the state’s attorney general asked the Supreme Court for a stay.

Study: DIY flu vaccine works

Do-it-yourself flu vaccine? It could happen. Military folks who squirted vaccine up their noses were as well-protected as others who got it from health workers, a study found.

There’s no reason civilians couldn’t do the same, especially for children who might be less scared if vaccine was given by mom or dad, the study leader said.

“A parent could easily administer it. You can’t go wrong,” and having a DIY option might improve vaccination rates, said Eugene Millar of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Rockville, Md.

So far, only health professionals are allowed to give MedImmune’s FluMist, the only flu vaccine sold as a nasal spray.

Mom sentenced for trying to kill girl

BEULAH, Mich.

A judge Wednesday sentenced the mother of an autistic Michigan teenager to 10-22 years in prison for what the woman described as a failed murder-suicide attempt brought on by despair after years of violent attacks by her child and failure to find affordable and effective treatment.

Kelli Rai Stapleton, 46, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree child abuse in a bargain with prosecutors who dismissed an attempted murder charge.

Militants shoot down Iraqi copter

BAGHDAD

Militants with the Islamic State group on Wednesday shot down an Iraqi military attack helicopter, killing the two pilots on board in the second such incident in a week and raising concerns about the extremists’ ability to attack aircraft amid ongoing U.S.-led airstrikes.

According to two Iraqi officials, the militants used a shoulder-fired missile to take down the Bell 407 helicopter, which crashed just north of the refinery town of Beiji, located about 130 miles north of Baghdad.

The pilot and co-pilot were both killed in the attack, a military aviation official told The Associated Press.

Chemistry Nobel

STOCKHOLM

Three researchers won a Nobel Prize on Wednesday for giving microscopes much sharper vision than was thought possible, letting scientists peer into living cells with unprecedented detail to seek the roots of disease.

The chemistry prize was awarded to U.S. researchers Eric Betzig and William Moerner and German scientist Stefan Hell. They found ways to use molecules that glow on demand to overcome what was considered a fundamental limitation for optical microscopes.

Associated Press