In brief: Court orders official to issue marriage licenses to gays

MOREHEAD, Ky. – A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling ordering a Kentucky county clerk to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis objects to same-sex marriage for religious reasons. She stopped issuing marriage licenses the day after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned state bans on same-sex marriage.

Two straight couples and two gay couples sued her. A U.S. district judge ordered Davis to issue the marriage licenses, but later delayed his order so Davis could have time to appeal to the 6th circuit. Wednesday, the appeals court denied Davis’ request for a stay.

“It cannot be defensibly argued that the holder of the Rowan County Clerk’s office, apart from who personally occupies that office, may decline to act in conformity with the United States Constitution as interpreted by a dispositive holding of the United States Supreme Court,” judges Damon J. Keith, John M. Rogers and Bernice B. Donald wrote for the court. “There is thus little or no likelihood that the Clerk in her official capacity will prevail on appeal.”

Davis continued to refuse to issue marriage licenses after other judges’ rulings. And they suspect she will continue to refuse after this one.

Mat Staver, an attorney for Davis, said he plans to discuss options with Davis, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Study finds ACT exam scores have not improved since 2011

WASHINGTON – U.S. high schools haven’t shown much improvement in the past four years when it comes to preparing college-ready graduates, according to the Iowa-based nonprofit group that administers the ACT college entrance exam.

The group said only about 40 percent of graduating high school students who took the ACT exam this year show a “strong readiness” for college in most subject areas. Meanwhile, 31 percent of these students aren’t meeting readiness levels in any core subject areas.

These levels are about the same as four years ago. The data also shows negligible changes among ethnic groups since 2011, with white and Asian American students still dramatically outperforming other ethnicities.

The study looked at the 1.9 million students in the 2015 graduating class who took the ACT. This represents about 59 percent of all graduating students. The ACT said the test can help predict how well a student will do in college. This year, the nation’s average score was 21 out of a maximum of 36.

Man’s death this week caused by 1965 injuries, coroner says

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Authorities say a man died this week of injuries he sustained when he was hit by a vehicle in eastern Pennsylvania a half-century ago.

The Lehigh County coroner’s office said Richard Albright, 58, died Monday night at the Good Shepherd Home-Raker Center in Allentown.

Officials said he was one of two young boys injured in a July 1965 accident in Allentown. The other boy had only minor injuries.

The (Allentown) Morning Call said its reports at the time indicated that Albright suffered head injuries and two broken legs.

First Deputy Coroner Eric Minnich said Albright’s case is unusual but not unprecedented in terms of the time between the injuries and the person’s death.

“We looked back pretty far to see the chain of events,” he told the Morning Call. “He was a quadriplegic secondary to this pedestrian accident. He was still receiving treatment for injuries received 50 years earlier.