American Scene

CALIFORNIA

Judge says military can’t ban gays

RIVERSIDE — A federal judge in Southern California on Thursday declared the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips granted a request for an injunction halting the government’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays in the military.

Judge Phillips said the policy doesn’t help military readiness and instead has a “direct and deleterious effect” on the armed services.

The lawsuit was the biggest legal test of the law in recent years and came amid promises by President Obama that he will work to repeal the policy.

Government lawyers argued that Judge Phillips lacked the authority to issue a nationwide injunction and the issue should be decided by Congress.

GEORGIA

Adults eating less fruit, insufficient veggies

ATLANTA — An apple a day? Apparently not in the U.S.

Most Americans still don’t eat enough vegetables, and fruit consumption is actually dropping a little, according to a government report released Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that last year about one-third of U.S. adults had two or more servings of fruit or fruit juice a day. That’s down slightly from more than 34 percent in 2000.

Only about 26 percent ate vegetables three or more times a day, the same as in 2000. The statistics come from a national telephone survey of hundreds of thousands of Americans.

No state met federal goals of three-quarters of Americans eating enough fruit, and half eating enough vegetables. Californians ate the most fruit, and Tennessee was best with vegetables. Oklahoma was at the bottom for fruit, and South Dakota had the lowest vegetable consumption.

MASSACHUSETTS

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