American Scene: Court says N.Y. can’t scare smokers with gruesome images

At the Episcopal General Convention, which is divided into two voting bodies, about 80 percent of the House of Deputies voted to authorize a provisional rite for same-sex unions for the next three years. A day earlier, the House of Bishops approved the rites 111-41 with three abstentions during the church meeting in Indianapolis.

Other mainline Protestant churches have struck down barriers to gay ordination in recent years or allowed individual congregations to celebrate gay or lesbian unions. However, only one major U.S. Protestant group, the United Church of Christ, has endorsed same-sex marriage outright.

Under the new Episcopal measure, each bishop will decide whether to allow the ceremonies in his or her local diocese. The new policy bars any penalty for Episcopalians who oppose its use.

Six states and the District of Columbia have legalized gay marriage, while 30 states have passed constitutional amendments limiting marriage to unions between a man and a woman.

MONTANA

2 boys rescue struggling swimmer

GREAT FALLS — Two Montana boys on paddle boards rescued a man who was struggling in the current of the Missouri River near Great Falls.

Daniel Chapman, 20, said he and a female friend were wading in the river Sunday when he entered deep water and was pulled down by an undercurrent.

On the shore, Henry Vidal, his 14-year-old-son Jacob and 10-year-old J.T. Whitaker spotted Mr. Chapman struggling. He was yelling that he couldn’t swim, Henry Vidal said.

“I looked at Jake and said: ‘Go out and get them,’” Henry Vidal told the Great Falls Tribune.

Jacob and J.T. were wearing life vests and grabbed their stand-up paddle boards, which look like heavy surf boards and are propelled by a long paddle. They reached Mr. Chapman, who by then was floating face down in the water.

With the help of Mr. Chapman’s friend, the boys lifted him up onto one of the boards and took him to shore.

“If he hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have made it,” Mr. Chapman said of Jacob.

CALIFORNIA

School district sued in molestation case

LOS ANGELES — A lawsuit claims Los Angeles Unified School District officials did nothing to protect students from a teacher who is charged with molesting 23 youngsters in his classroom.

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