Thursday stuff

• New Jersey ruling on gay marriage rights round-up
  
  
  
  1. Inquirer's explication, which appears to boil down to this:

     Lawmakers have six months to expand the definition of marriage to include gay and lesbian couples or to come up with another term that carries the same weight.

     Cheers and boos from the expected quarters.
     
     
  2. Daily News overview, in Q&A format (giving history of the case and the issue too).
     
     
  3. Excerpts from the ruling, also at the Inky. [Note that the only dissension was about whether gays should be umbrellaed under the term "marriage," rather than an equivalent's being acceptable.]
     
     
  4. A broader look at the NJ court's history of boldness on the social issues front.
  
  
• Politicians and election races
  
  
  
  • This time it's really over: the PA State Supreme Court ruled Tony Payton the winner of the May primary in the 175th state House district. Onward and upward!
    
    
  • Philly's suburban House races are a huge money vortex, outstripping any others in the nation, with the Congressional Campaign Committees at the forefront of the frenzy. I love me some Murphies and Sestaks, but couldn't the same money elect 6 people elsewhere? A majority's a majority...
    
    
  • The DN offers their take on the ads and substance of the Gerlach-Murphy race.
    
    
  • The Inquirer makes an endorsement in the New Jersey 3rd District, saying good things about both candidates.
    
    
  • AAJane offers for your perusal a handful of endorsements in state legislative races.
  
  
• There's other news? (apparently)
  
  
  
  • The current state of city v. state in casino planning powers. Will the city make the most of its possibilities?
    
    
  • Stu Bykofsky summarizes some proposals for safening Roosevelt Boulevard, but wants action at higher levels.
    
    
  • Phila School District to stop bussing for desegregation purposes. Perhaps inevitable in today's climate, but good?
    
    
  • DN opinion page chides Harrisburg for failing to get casino legislation sorted out before it broke for the elections. In a separate piece (which wins Headline Zinger of the Day), it calls for improvements to Goode's campaign regulation bill (while noting developments in Harrisburg that may grant Philly rights to oversee its local races).
    
    
  • Two interesting pieces in the new CityPaper: one (the cover story) profiles the funeral industry via a trip to its annual convention, and the second profiles the life of one homeless man on the streets of Philadelphia.
    
    
  • Dan at YPP takes amused note of a spat going on in Chestnut Hill. The snark made more sense to me than the story!