The news at a glance ... United States

San Francisco

Gay marriage appeal: Opponents of same-sex marriage may not have standing to appeal last August’s court decision allowing such marriages in California, an appeals court panel suggested this week. Judge Vaughn Walker ruled in August that Prop 8, a 2008 ballot initiative that amended California’s constitution to bar same-sex marriage, violated the U.S. Constitution. But Prop 8 supporters are seeking to overturn that ruling. At a hearing this week in San Francisco, two of the three judges on the appeals panel cited previous U.S. Supreme Court decisions stating that only a state’s governor or attorney general—not advocacy groups—has the required legal standing to defend ballot initiatives in court. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General (and now Governor-elect) Jerry Brown have both declined to appeal Walker’s ruling. The court gave no indication of when a final decision might be reached.

Austin

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Tea Party urges Christian speaker: The Texas Tea Party has launched a campaign to oust Republican Joe Straus from his post as speaker of the Texas House, citing his Jewish faith. Tea Party conservatives, who won a score of victories in state legislative races in November, have circulated e-mails opposing Straus’ re-election as speaker on the grounds that he is a Jew whose rabbi is affiliated with Planned Parenthood. John Cook, a leader of the anti-Straus campaign, told an interviewer, “I got into politics to put Christian conservatives into office.” Straus, a veteran legislator, has not commented on the campaign, but analysts say he has the votes to keep his post.

Ransom, Ill.

Mysterious disappearance: Baffled police this week are seeking a woman who walked away from a late-night, one-car crash that left her husband dead. The only clues were footprints in the snow and a slipper. Tanya Shannon, 40, and her husband, Dale Shannon, 41, were returning to their home in Ransom from a weekend party when their car slid off the road into a telephone pole. When police discovered the car, only Dale Shannon’s body was inside. They suspect that Tanya Shannon, wearing a red party dress and hooded fleece jacket, climbed back onto the road after the accident. But police lost her trail, and search dogs have failed to pick it up. “Dressed only as she was, it’s very doubtful that you can survive terribly long,” said local Sheriff Tom Templeton.

Williamstown, Ky.

Noah’s tax break: Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear is promising almost $38 million in tax breaks to developers planning a theme park anchored by a giant Noah’s Ark. The developers of Ark Encounter say the $150 million project will create 900 jobs and draw 1.6 million visitors in its first year. Beshear, a Democrat, has proposed allowing Ark Encounter to recover 25 percent of its development costs, or $37.5 million, from state sales tax receipts. He said the tax break was not a state endorsement of the developers’ beliefs, including their contention that the Earth is 6,000 years old and that creatures like giraffes and dinosaurs cohabited on the ark. “The people of Kentucky didn’t elect me governor to debate religion,” Beshear said. “They elected me governor to create jobs.”

Washington, D.C.

Attack on Ethics Committee: California Rep. Maxine Waters, facing House Ethics Committee charges, this week demanded an investigation into why two committee lawyers were suspended without explanation. Lawyers Morgan Kim and Stacy Sovereign were suspended by Ethics Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren of California last month, around the same time that Waters’ case was sent back to a subcommittee for further investigation. Waters has been accused of improperly intervening with regulators on behalf of a bank on whose board her husband served. She said suspension of the two lawyers raised doubt that the committee can “properly conduct its investigative duties.” Last week the House voted, 333-79, to censure New York Democrat Charles Rangel for 11 ethics violations.

Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Private orbiter launched: The SpaceX Dragon, the first privately funded orbital space capsule, was successfully launched this week, reaching orbit about 10 minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral atop an Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX is one of several private ventures seeking federal backing to continue manned space flight after the space shuttle is mothballed next year. NASA in 2008 signed a $1.6 billion contract with SpaceX to conduct 12 missions to resupply the International Space Station. The gumdrop-shaped capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after it completed nearly two orbits.