U.S. Supreme Court adds same-sex marriage cases to Sept. 29 agenda

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has formally added same-sex marriage cases to the justices’ agenda for their closed-door conference on Sept. 29.

The action Wednesday does not mean that the court will decide that day to hear state appeals of lower court rulings that struck down bans on same-sex marriage. But the late September conference will be the first time the justices have the issue before them. The meeting will be the justices’ first since late June.

Appeals have been filed from Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. The gay couples who won in each case in the lower courts also favor Supreme Court review.

The justices could put off deciding whether to take up the issue of marriage equality until January and still be able to issue a decision by late June.

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Clinton adviser: LGBT rights a defining achievement of Obama’s presidency

While many liberal policy goals have proved elusive during Barack Obama’s presidency, there have been dramatic advances on the issue that once seemed quixotic — the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Marriage equality was not a cause embraced by Obama until late in his first term, yet he is now a fervent supporter.

For gay rights activists, the pace of change has been striking, and one former Democratic adviser boldly proclaims LGBT rights could be a defining achievement of Obama’s presidency.

There are now 19 states that allow same-sex marriage, compared to two in 2008. Bans in the remaining states are being struck down by federal judges at a rapid rate that could presage a Supreme Court ruling legalizing it nationwide.

What’s distinctive about the marriage campaign is that it has been able to proceed at the state level, unencumbered by the paralyzing gridlock in Congress. In contrast, efforts by Obama and his Democratic allies to overhaul the immigration system, tighten gun control laws, raise the federal minimum wage and combat climate change have run aground in the partisan divides on Capitol Hill.

The paramount Obama initiative that did clear Congress — his health care overhaul — remains entangled in various controversies and its long-term legacy is uncertain. On immigration and many of the other issues, he’s resorting to unilateral executive action, often angering his critics on the right while failing to fully satisfy activists on the left.

Given those realities, Richard Socarides, a former Clinton White House adviser on gay rights, makes a case that same-sex marriage and other gay rights advances represent a singular achievement for progressives during the Obama presidency.

“Barack Obama has accomplished more progressive social change on gay rights than anything else,” Socarides said.

During his first term, Obama helped change military policy so gays could serve openly, but said his views on same-sex marriage were still “evolving.” Under constant pressure from gay-rights activists, he endorsed it in 2012, and since then his administration has moved aggressively to maximize federal recognition of married gay couples even in states that ban same-sex marriage.

“The reason why he has that record now is because, publicly and privately, we really held his feet to the fire,” said Socarides, referring to the activists’ pressure.

Neera Tanden of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, said the changes unfolding at the state level on marriage equality reflects evolving public opinion and the growing influence of 18-to-29-year-olds. Among millennials, support for gay marriage is stronger than for other age groups.

“You have a country that is diversifying, and at same time you have a House of Representatives that is kind of a block against the wishes of the rising majority,” said Tanden, the CAP’s president.

Obama’s stance on same-sex marriage and LGBT rights will guarantee him “a very strong progressive legacy,” said Ethan Geto, a gay rights lobbyist and Democratic political consultant in New York.

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Will the U.S. Supreme Court finally settle the issue of marriage equality?

Mark Shermin, AP

WASHINGTON — Both sides in the same-sex marriage debate agree on one thing: It’s time for the Supreme Court to settle the matter.

Even a justice recently said she thinks so, too.

The emerging consensus makes it likely that the justices soon will agree to take up the question of whether the Constitution forbids states from defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. A final ruling isn’t likely before June 2015, but a decision to get involved could come as soon as the end of this month.

“I don’t see a lot of reasons for them to wait,” says Dale Carpenter, a gay rights expert at the University of Minnesota law school. “You have almost no one at this point opposed to certiorari,” the legal term for high court review.

Officials in five states in which marriage bans were struck down by federal courts have rushed their appeals to the Supreme Court, in time for consideration by the justices when they meet in private on Sept. 29. Moving at breakneck speed, at least for the legal system, Indiana and Wisconsin filed appeals on Tuesday, just five days after the federal appeals court in Chicago struck down their state bans.

The Chicago decision itself came just nine days after judges heard arguments, extremely fast for a process that usually is measured in months. Officials in Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia also have appealed to the Supreme Court.

Adding to the momentum, the winners in all those cases – who typically want to preserve their lower court victories and would normally oppose Supreme Court review – want the justices to weigh in. As expected, so do the losers.

In all, 36 states, encompassing both those that allow same-sex marriage and those that don’t, want the justices to join the fray. Thirty businesses, including Alcoa, Amazon, eBay, General Electric, Intel, NIKE, Pfizer and Target, say the Supreme Court should extend same-sex marriage nationwide because the “current patchwork of state laws causes employees justifiable uncertainty about how their employers and governments will treat their familial relationships.”

The range of cases seems to meet the standard set by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she predicted in an interview with The Associated Press in July that the court would not look for ways to avoid ruling on same-sex marriage, as it did for many years on interracial marriage bans.

“I think the court will not do what they did in the old days when they continually ducked the issue of miscegenation,” Ginsburg said. “If a case is properly before the court, they will take it.”

The speed at which same-sex marriage has moved through the courts stems from the Supreme Court’s decision less than 15 months ago in U.S. v. Windsor to strike down a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that denied a range of tax, health and veterans benefits to legally married gay couples.

Since that decision, nearly two dozen judges have relied on Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion for the court to extend the Windsor decision to strike down state same-sex marriage bans in every region of the country. Only one federal trial judge, Martin Feldman in Louisiana, has upheld a state anti-gay marriage law. Elsewhere, two appellate judges have dissented from rulings in favor of same-sex marriage.

“We all know this is going to be decided one step up,” attorney Monte Stewart said Monday in his court presentation in support of gay marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada.
“And we all know by whom,” said appellate Judge Stephen Reinhardt.

Reinhardt was referring to Kennedy, the deciding vote in the Windsor case and the author of all three major gay rights decisions at the Supreme Court stretching back to 1996.

“Justice Kennedy has built himself quite a legacy on gay rights issues,” said the University of Minnesota’s Carpenter, doubting that Kennedy would repudiate that legacy by casting a likely decisive vote against the right to marry.

The Windsor decision expressly left open the question of whether states could limit marriage to a man and a woman, yet “courts are all looking to the Supreme Court’s Windsor precedent as the rule of decision for challenges to state marriage laws,” Colorado and 16 other states that do not allow same-sex marriage told the court in support of the state appeals.

Gay and lesbian couples can now get married in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Judges in an additional 14 states have struck down prohibitions but put the rulings on hold pending appeals. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati could issue a decision at any time affecting Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. Appellate judges in San Francisco heard arguments Monday over bans in Idaho and Nevada.

The situation is strikingly different from the last time a state’s same-sex marriage ban came to the Supreme Court – and that was only two years ago. Same-sex marriage then was legal in just six states.

“Talk about a journey. It’s a movement that took a long time to get going, but it has really snowballed in the last two years,” said James Esseks of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents gay couples seeking to marry in Indiana, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Then, supporters and opponents of gay marriage squared off over whether the justices should even hear the case. Opponents urged Supreme Court review, while supporters pleaded with the justices to stay out of it. After all, they had won what they wanted in the lower courts, the invalidation of California’s Proposition 8.

The court eventually agreed to hear the California case as well as the federal Defense of Marriage Act case. The justices issued a technical ruling in the California case that eliminated Prop 8 but left for another day whether same-sex couples elsewhere have a constitutional right to marry.

The prevailing view is that day will soon arrive.

FLORIDA AG Pam Bondi Appeals Gay Marriage Rulings in Florida

MIAMI — Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi filed appeals late Friday on several rulings overturning the state’s ban on gay marriage.

The motion argues the sole legal issue is the constitutional validity of the state ban and any changes should come from voters, not the courts. Florida voters approved the ban in 2008.

Bondi’s office said the agency joined the appeals to promote an orderly and consistent resolution after several judges around the state recently overturned Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage. Bondi has asked judges to stop ruling on same-sex marriage cases until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether states can ban gay marriage. A number of similar rulings around the country have been put on hold while appeals are pursued.

The Supreme Court is the ultimate authority and “that court has held that a traditional definition of marriage does not implicate federal due process or equal protection,” according to the motion.

Judges in four Florida counties — Palm Beach, Monroe, Miami-Dade and Broward — have overturned the ban. A federal judge has also overturned the ban. U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle in Tallahassee ruled on Aug. 21 that the ban violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantees of equal protection and due process. Hinkle issued a stay delaying the effect of his order, pending possible appeals.

The latest Florida ruling came in a pair of lawsuits brought by gay couples seeking to marry in Florida and others who want to force Florida to recognize gay marriages performed legally in other states.

Bondi’s motion argues that the question is not whether the gay marriage ban is a good policy, but whether the ban rationally relates to a legitimate state interest.

The issue “is whether a challenger can demonstrate that there is not even a conceivable reason for Florida voters to define marriage as they have.” Bondi, a Republican, has appealed previous rulings striking down the ban. Hinkle’s ruling allows time for appeals in the federal case. Bondi wants the Florida cases to remain on hold pending a definitive national ruling on gay marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court.

No marriage licenses have been issued so far as the cases have either been appealed or judges have issued a stay to delay the effect of the ruling.

The Florida Supreme Court recently declined an appellate court’s request to consider the constitutionality of the state’s gay-marriage ban.

Jacksonville Landing Redo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Demolish and rebuild is what's being proposed to give The Jacksonville Landing a new lease on life.

Mayor Alvin Brown and Landing owner Tony Sleiman are behind proposed changes to the 26 year-old Downtown attracttion that borders the St. Johns River.

Renderings of the project released Saturday afternoon by Bergmann Associates feature over 950 parking spaces, 300 apartment units and up to 60,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space.

The plans include a high-end boutique hotel along the southwest corner of the site.
Landing owner Toney Sleiman is asking for an initial investment of $11.8 million, a request the City Council was slated to discuss Friday but rescheduled for next week.

The Landing could be opened up for more events and entertainment in the future and possibly economic growth, if the plan presented Wednesday to the Downtown Investment Authority is put into action.

The plans also include improvements under the Main Street bridge to create more pedestrian access between the Landing, the Hyatt and the City’s Riverwalk.

Laura Street will be extended down to the river and a new plaza will be created from the Hogan Street cul-de-sac, integrating the Northbank Riverwalk, the Landing and the adjacent Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts.

Sleiman said the redevelopment of the Landing would help Jacksonville compete on a national scale.

“It will allow our businesses to compete with other cities for young professional talent," he said. "I can’t tell you how much we appreciate the hard work of the City and community leaders to get the project to this point, but there is still a lot of work ahead."

Alan Wilson of The Haskell Company presented the redevelopment plan, saying the city needs anidentifier.

Haskell wants to tearthe Landing down and rebuild it, Wilson said. Parking, hotels, restaurants and workforcehousing would be included in the new Landing structure, which would be severalstories tall.

The idea is to connect Downtown and the Riverfront, Wilson said.

"Our goal should be to make it iconic," said Brown. "To make sure it becomes a destination.To make sure it's user friendly. I want people to use the landing not just from nine to five, but seven days a week."

The redevelopment is still in the planning stages. There is no cost estimate for the construction of the design as yet.

Sleiman said it will be a public-private partnership and the city and mayor are on board to move forward

Hard to Swallow? Burger King May Move to Canada

NEW YORK — Aug 25, 2014, 4:54 PM ET

By CANDICE CHOI and MICHELLE CHAPMAN Associated Press

 

 

Some Burger King customers are finding it hard to swallow that the home of the Whopper could move to Canada.

Investors seemed to welcome the announcement by Burger King late Sunday that it was in talks to buy Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain Tim Hortons and create the world's third-largest fast-food restaurant company. The news pushed shares of both companies up more than 20 percent.

But customers were already voicing their discontent with the 60-year-old hamburger chain because of its plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to Canada in a deal that could lower its taxes. By Monday afternoon, Burger King's Facebook page had more than 1,000 mostly negative comments about the potential deal.

Shawn Simpson, who hadn't heard of the talks until approached by a reporter while he was at a Burger King in New York City on Monday afternoon, said he didn't like the idea of the company paying its taxes to another country.

"For them to take their headquarters and move it across the border is a negative for me," said Simpson, 44, who was ordering a Double Whopper and onion rings. "It's an American brand."

A representative for Burger King, Miguel Piedra, said while the headquarters of the new company would be in Canada, Burger King would still continue to be run out of Miami. Piedra also said the comments on Burger King's Facebook page represent a small fraction of the company's more than 7 million followers on the social media site.

Burger King isn't the first company to face fallout over a tax inversion, which is when a company acquires a business in another country, then relocates its headquarters there. Big U.S. companies, including pharmaceutical AbbiVie and Valeant Pharmaceuticals, recently have pursued tax inversions to cut their costs. Earlier this month, Walgreen abandoned plans to pursue a tax inversion after negative publicity about the planned move.

President Barack Obama and Congress have criticized inversions because they mean a loss of tax revenue for the U.S. government.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest wouldn't comment on Burger King's announcement on Monday, but said the president generally believes it's unfair for companies to pursue a tax inversion merely to pay less in taxes. The Obama administration is considering executive steps it could take to de-incentivize inversions.

Unlike many other companies, Burger King's move also has the potential to turn off customers as well, since it's a brand people are so familiar with. It's difficult to gauge whether such fallout would hurt the fast-food chain's business in the U.S.

Some analysts say even if some Burger King customers are initially angered by the move, the feelings could quickly fade since there wouldn't be any significant changes in restaurants as a result of the deal. Besides, many Burger King customers who go to the chain for convenience may not care enough about the move to change their eating habits, said Jonathan Maze, editor of Restaurant Finance Monitor, which tracks the industry.

"It's going to irritate people, but basically it's a paper move," he said.

It's not clear exactly how much a combination with Tim Hortons would reduce Burger King's tax costs. A recent report by KPMG found that total tax costs in Canada are 46.4 percent lower than in the United States.

Both companies cautioned there was no guarantee a deal would happen. But each could benefit from the deal, which they say would create a new holding company with 18,000 restaurants in 100 countries and about $22 billion in sales.

Burger King's stock surged $5.78, or 21 percent, to $32.89 on Monday, while Tim Hortons' stock also rose 21 percent to $76. 33.

A combination with Tim Hortons would give Burger King a stronger position in the fast-growing breakfast and coffee market. Burger King, which has undergone numerous ownership changes since it was founded in 1954, has been slashing costs and increasingly looking for growth overseas under majority owner, 3G Capital, which bought the chain in 2010.

3G Capital, which has offices in Brazil and New York, would own the majority of shares of the new holding company. In the U.S., it has been revamping the menu and marketing. The efforts haven't yielded significant results, however. In its most recent quarter, sales edged up just 0.4 percent at established restaurants in the U.S. and Canada.

For Tim Hortons, an acquisition by Burger King, which has a far larger global footprint, could help the doughnut and coffee chain accelerate its international expansion. Tim Hortons has over 3,630 locations in Canada, 866 in the U.S. and 50 in the Persian Gulf area.

It wouldn't be the first time Tim Horton has paired with a U.S. fast-food chain. Tim Hortons was purchased by Wendy's International Inc. in 1995. In 2006 it completed an initial public offering and was spun off as a separate company.

Life's Not So Funny Curve Balls

By David Vandygriff

September 10, 2010 was the beginning of a year that would transform my whole being into yet another career and direction in life. Just 3 weeks prior I had been fired from a medical device company after the surgeons refused to work with a gay sales rep life was still going well. Even with this I quickly plotted my resumes to the all the right head hunters for medical device sales. This would be nothing but a bump in the road as I held the Top 6 with my previous employer in throughout the United States. Easy peasy! Right?

I had done my saving; bought stocks during the lows of the stock market snapping up Citi for .99, Bank of America at $1.25, Sirus in at .10, and the prize was a medical company that was trying to get its patent for a cancer test through FDA. I bought the stock on pink slips for .50. Needless to say the patent was issued and the stock quickly hit over $25 shares. The other shares we all knew bounced back to the same highs before the housing fall out. I had money in savings, 401k, and company stock bought at discount rates. I was not worried about the money.

In fact, my life was really great even though I had been fired for being gay. I had met a nice guy and we had moved in together. A few arguments and up and downs, all the natural process of any first year relationship. Laughing! I had purchased a commercial cleaning franchise and was doing medical consulting throughout the United States. Life was still good!

It was on Sept 10, 2010 I had gone to meet with a new client for the commercial cleaning business and landed the new contract. My boyfriend had asked me if I was sure I was HIV negative. I told him of course I had only been tested 30 days prior to us meeting and was HIV negative. No worries! Even so I decided I would stop by and get another test done.

I can still remember the testing person coming back into the room. I’m just chatting away waiting on the result as always prior for him to say you’re negative. Well not today. The tester said you are HIV positive. I don’t remember too much of what he said after that. My breathing became so labored, tears rolled down my face, my heart was beating out of chest, I vaguely remember or think I had to lay down on the floor. My mind was racing of what I am going to tell my boy friend. What about his health? We had been having unprotected sex.  My life changed that day in ways I am still discovering daily. 

Somehow, I gathered myself and left the testing center and sat in my car crying. I called my best friend who lived in Memphis and she cried with me for another 30 minutes. I knew I had to go home and tell my boy friend. Panic was something that doesn’t even describe the emotions I feeling. I called a friend of mine that I knew was HIV positive to meet me at my downtown condo. He meet me out front, still my tears rolled, I paced, talked without stopping, and all the time dreading the conversation of many I would have to have. 

I entered the bedroom he was napping. I woke him up and he saw the tears streaming down my cheeks and quickly sat up and said what is wrong. I could hardly breathe, let alone talk. I managed to stumble out the words I got a test and I was HIV positive. He started saying I knew I knew it and quickly got up and went into the bathroom. I knew right then I would lose him. 

He showered and dressed then we took him for his test. All the time I sat in the waiting room praying not to allow this to happen to him. I can handle myself but I do think I could handle it if I had passed this virus to him. That is burden I wish never to carry. Thank God he was HIV negative.

I recall some of the next two weeks in bits and pieces. I kept trying to get myself together for him because I had always been the strong one, the one that took care of everything. I knew was scared and never been exposed to HIV. I do remember the second night we had went to sleep I reached over to hold him. I didn’t feel his response to me holding him. I started to remove my arms from his body and he quickly grabs my arm and pulled me close. I broke down once again. I had many moments of uncontrollable crying, him being scared to leave me alone, him trying to work and worried about me.  We did our best to comfortable one another the best we knew how. 

Things quickly turned worse as some of his friends found out and told his co-workers. Then some of his friends tried to say I knew before we meet. Luckily I had saved my test results from just 30 short days before we got together. No matter the situation his friends put so much on his shoulders and the relationship was to new to endure such uncertainty and insanity. We tried for a couple of months only to end in the way I knew we would. 

I finally gathered myself and mind a couple of months later. I had been interviewed and hired by an orthopedic implant company out of Orlando. I had been recruited for my expertise in robotic surgery. I was offered and accepted the position as Vice President of Sales for North America. I felt life was finally getting back on track. I sold most of my nonperson items in prep for the move to Orlando. Hell we even done a farewell party. I was preparing everything for the move. I went to Orlando to search for an apartment and was requested to visit the corporate office and meet the new President of the company. We meet and this was when he informed me there had been a mistaken in my hiring process. He felt he needed an even more experienced person to run the sales department. He was hiring a previous person he had worked with for the Vice President of Sales. I was compensated for my trouble but needless to say the set back was just another traumatic experience in the worst year of my life.

The year was full of stripping away the things I once held as priorities in my life. My successes in a career that I once held as my purpose of life were now gone. I somehow unknowingly felt a burden of relief. Crazy I know but somehow it was freeing me from the restrictions of my perfect organized and categorized inventory of life. Something was happening as I walked into a life of the unknowing, the unplanned, the world of not knowing what would happen next, but through it all I was gaining a greater understanding of myself. My true limits, my true desires, my ever increasing need to help others not to ever experience the things I had. A life to where things finally meant more than a paycheck or level of achievement measured in the dollars. I felt as if my life had turned into something with a purpose. 

It was at this point the inception of River City News Magazine (cityXtra Magazine) was born. I had never thought nor dreamed of being a publisher. I knew nothing about graphics, advertising, journalism, or the expertise about operating a publication. All I knew was that I felt the Jacksonville LGBT Community needed a way to community, unite, and promote its self.  It has been an interesting journey with many newly learned expertise at a rather accelerated pace. I finished my Master Degree during this process and have become a community activist. Something I never had thought of myself being. Now that I am in my new role, I make mistakes but I don’t hold them against myself. Instead I look at the mistakes as a real life class room full of new lessons in life. My life is now more fulfilling than I ever thought possible. I have meaning, true meaning with a higher purpose that take precedent over my own self. A purpose of giving back to a community that has given me life once again. A community that accepts me with my flaws and perfectly imperfect self. 

I am NOT a man that is HIV positive; I’m simply a man attempting to make a change. However small or large, I just want to know I have made a difference. A difference that may make someone’s life just a little bit better. I enjoy making doing with less, but with more passion and drive than ever before. The money, career, etc. never made me happy, I always felt empty. Now I feel complete, content, happy, and for the first time in my life I’m okay with being alone with Miss Penny (my doggy). My life is rich with friends & family! I’m truly blessed!

Fla. AG defends fight against same-sex marriage: ‘I’m just getting started’

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is defending her fight against five state and federal court rulings declaring the state’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional.

Attorney General Pam Bondi (R-Fla.)

Appearing before a group of Republican supporters Thursday — just hours after a federal judge ruled against the ban — Bondi said she took an oath “to defend the Constitution of the state of Florida” and vowed to continue to defend the ban, approved by voters in 2008.

Judges in four Florida counties – Palm Beach, Monroe, Miami-Dade and Broward – have overturned the ban, but no marriage licenses have been issued because Bondi has appealed. A fifth ruling on Thursday, this time by a federal judge, has also been stayed pedning appeal.

Bondi says judges should stop ruling on same-sex marriage cases until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether states can ban gay marriage, the state’s attorney general said Friday.

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s going to hear this. They are going to make this determination.” Bondi said Thursday. “This is me doing my job as attorney general. And I will continue to do that and if anybody wants me to moderate my message or stand for less I have a message for them: I am just getting started.”

Bondi is up for re-election this year; her two rivals competing for the Democratic nomination for attorney general have both said they’d stop defending the same-sex marriage ban.

Bondi has said in court documents that same-sex marriage would “impose significant public harm.”

Today's in History

On August 22, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war against Belgium.

On this date:

In 1485, England's King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, effectively ending the War of the Roses.

In 1787, inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

In 1846, Gen. Stephen W. Kearny proclaimed all of New Mexico a territory of the United States.

In 1851, the schooner America outraced more than a dozen British vessels off the English coast to win a trophy that came to be known as the America's Cup.

In 1910, Japan annexed Korea, which remained under Japanese control until the end of World War II.

In 1922, Irish revolutionary Michael Collins was shot to death, apparently by Irish Republican Army members opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that Collins had co-signed.

In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corp. conducted its first experimental television broadcast, using a 30-line mechanical system.

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon were nominated for second terms in office by the Republican National Convention in San Francisco.

In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle survived an attempt on his life in suburban Paris.

In 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Bogota, Colombia, for the start of the first papal visit to South America.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon was nominated for a second term of office by the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach. John Wojtowicz (WAHT'-uh-witz) and Salvatore Naturile took seven employees hostage at a Chase Manhattan Bank branch in Brooklyn, New York, during a botched robbery; the siege, which ended with Wojtowicz's arrest and Naturile's killing by the FBI, inspired the 1975 movie "Dog Day Afternoon."

In 1989, Black Panthers co-founder Huey P. Newton was shot to death in Oakland, California. (Gunman Tyrone Robinson was later sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.)

Ten years ago: As shocked spectators watched, armed thieves stole one of four versions of the Edvard Munch (moongk) masterpiece "The Scream" and a second Munch painting, "Madonna," from the Munch museum in Oslo, Norway. (The paintings, visibly damaged, were recovered in August 2006; three men were convicted in connection with the theft and sentenced to prison.)

Five years ago: Dozens of wildfires broke out across Greece, torching olive groves, cutting off villages and sending residents fleeing as one of the largest blazes swept perilously close to the capital's northern suburbs.

One year ago: Egypt's ousted leader Hosni Mubarak was released from prison and transported to a military hospital in a Cairo suburb to be held under house arrest. A day after being sentenced to up to 35 years in prison for leaking secrets, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, in a statement to NBC's "Today" show, announced he intended to live as a woman named Chelsea and undergo hormone treatment. A mysterious glitch halted trading on the Nasdaq for three hours.

Thought for Today: "Life does not give itself to one who tries to keep all its advantages at once. I have often thought morality may perhaps consist solely in the courage of making a choice." — Leon Blum, French statesman (1872-1950).

FSCJ ARTIST SERIES, SPONSORED BY CHASE PRESENTS
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE TOUR 2014

AMERICA’S FAVORITE SUMMER DANCE SERIES, EMMY AWARD-WINNING “SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE,”

HITS THE ROAD FOR ITS SEASON 11 TOUR, EXPANDING TO MORE THAN 70 MARKETS, DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND

Tickets On Sale Friday, August 15th at 10AM for November 20th Jacksonville Show at Times-Union Center

JACKSONVILLE, FL – SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, the 11-time Primetime Emmy® Award-winning show that sparked America’s fascination with dance, is set to captivate audiences again this fall – live on tour – with more stops than ever before, including Jacksonville’s Times-Union Center’s Moran Theater on Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 7:30PM for one night only. Celebrating its momentous 11th season, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE’s Top 10 finalists will make their way across North America performing in more than 70 cities as part of the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE TOUR 2014.

Tickets go on sale Friday, August 15th at 10AM through the FSCJ Artist Series, sponsored by Chase, the official presenter of the Jacksonville show. Tickets start at $50.19 and can be purchased at www.artistseriesjax.org, (904) 442-2929, and the FSCJ Artist Series Box Office between 10AM-5PM, Monday-Friday. VIP packages are available; call (904) 442-2929 for details.

The Season 11 tour lineup includes the following Top 10 finalists: Bridget Whitman, Casey Askew, Emilio Dosal, Jacque LeWarne, Jessica Richens, Ricky Ubeda, Rudy Abreu, Tanisha Belnap, Valerie Rockey and Zack Everhart. SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE airs Wednesdays (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX.

Fall’s hottest ticket will feature this season’s most popular routines, as well as original pieces created specifically for the nationwide tour. 19 Entertainment and dick clark productions will present audiences around the country with the opportunity to experience the action brought into their living rooms each week on the beloved summer series, with a variety of sizzling, one-of-a-kind dance routines they have come to expect from their favorite dancers.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE recently received seven 2014 Primetime Emmy® Award nominations, including Outstanding Reality-Competition Program and Outstanding Host In A Reality or Reality-Competition Program (Cat Deeley), in addition to Outstanding Choreography nominations. SYTYCD’s outstanding costume team of Marina Toybina and Grainne O’Sullivan also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Variety Program.

“I am thrilled with the spectacular, fresh talent we have discovered this season. I believe these dancers have inspired the choreographers to create remarkable dance numbers each week.  I am excited for your favorite dancers to bring their inspiration and routines to even more cities throughout the nation on this year’s tour,” stated Nigel Lythgoe, judge, executive producer and co-creator of the hit FOX series.

About So You Think You Can Dance

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE was created by Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and is from 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group, and dick clark productions. The series is executive-produced by Fuller, Lythgoe; Allen Shapiro, CEO of dick clark productions; Barry Adelman, Executive Vice President of dick clark productions; James Breen and Jeff Thacker. Visit the official SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE site at www.fox.com/dance to view exclusive videos, photos and contestant profiles. “Like” SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SoYouThinkYouCanDance. Follow the series on Twitter @DANCEonFOX and join the discussion using #sytycd. Follow host Cat Deeley at @catdeeley, and follow the judges Nigel Lythgoe @dizzyfeet and Mary Murphy @hottamaletrain.

About 19 Entertainment/CORE Media Group

19 Entertainment is a division of CORE Media Group. Home to legendary icons like Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali to enduring properties of the future like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, CORE Media Group, Inc. was launched in May, 2012, as a newly-branded version of the company formerly known as CKx.  CORE Media Group’s portfolio of world-class brands and properties reaches across virtually every aspect of the entertainment industry.  The company boasts an extraordinary base of existing assets and an infrastructure that makes it uniquely suited to exploit its intellectual property across all revenue streams, including licensing, merchandising and integrated marketing.  CORE Media Group is ideally situated to grow the assets it has, and cultivate new ones, as a platform agnostic producer and owner of content.  The company was acquired by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC, in 2011, and is located in New York City, with additional offices in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tenn.  For more information about CORE Media Group, Inc., visit www.coremediagroup.com

About dick clark productions dick clark productions (dcp) is among the world’s largest producers and proprietors of televised live event programming.  Dcp produces perennial hits such as the “American Music Awards,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards,” and “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.”  Weekly television programming, includes “So You Think You Can Dance” from 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group, and dick clark productions; as well as “Rising Star” and the upcoming “Boom!” from Keshet DCP, the joint venture between Keshet International (KI), the global distribution and production arm of Keshet Media Group, and DC Media, the parent company of dick clark productions (dcp).  In 2014, dcp will debut the “American Country Countdown Awards” (FOX), “Hollywood Film Awards (CBS) and “The PEOPLE MAGAZINE Awards” (NBC).  Dcp also owns one of the world’s most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries with more than 55 years of dcp’s award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances, and legendary programming.  For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.

About the FSCJ Artist Series

The FSCJ Artist Series is Jacksonville’s major presenter of national and international touring productions. Celebrating its 49th season in 2014-2015, the FSCJ Artist Series enhances the entertainment scene in Northeast Florida with Broadway productions, concerts, ballets, operas, dance productions, school performances, and variety shows. Serving as a fundraising arm of Florida State College Foundation, Inc., (501-c3), the FSCJ Artist Series supports the Scholarship Fund, which supports talented performing arts students attending Florida State College at Jacksonville. www.artistseriesjax.org

Please contact Sarah Roy at saroy@fscj.edu or (904) 442-2933 for show materials for SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE TOUR 2014 in Jacksonville.
To order by phone with Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover,
call the FSCJ Artist Series Box Office at:
(904) 442-2929
(toll-free outside of Jacksonville 1-888-860-BWAY)
Tickets are also available online with Instant Seat Selection by visiting
the FSCJ Artist Series Website at:
www.artistseriesjax.org

The FSCJ Artist Series has been recognized by the State of Florida as a Major Cultural Institution and receives funding from the State of Florida, through the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council.