The ACN Morning Report Friday March 22 2013

GOOD MORNING! TODAY IS FRIDAY MARCH 22, 2013. HERE ARE TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES AND MOST INTERESTING STORIES FROM ACN: 

Colorado Shooting Suspect Shot -- U.S. Pediatricians And Gay Marriage -- New York Budget Deal Could Set Mold For Nation -- Pro Assad Preacher Killed -- Shooting At Virginia Base -- NRA Joins Lawsuit Challenging NY Gun Law -- Colorado Legalizes Civil Unions

COLORADO SHOOTING SUSPECT SHOT AND KILLED IN TEXAS

Associated Press

DENVER — A paroled Colorado inmate grievously wounded after a gun battle and high-speed chase with Texas law-enforcement officers on Thursday is suspected of being tied to the killing of the head of Colorado’s prison system.

Sheriff David Walker of Wise County, Tex., said the authorities had tentatively identified the suspect as Evan Spencer Ebel, 28. Court records in Colorado show that Mr. Ebel has a criminal history dating to 2003, including convictions for robbery, weapons charges and assault. He was on parole in the Denver area.

U.S. Pediatricians Back Gay Marriage, Adoption Rights

Reuters

(Reuters) - Gay and lesbian couples should be able to get married for the health and well-being of their children and families, the nation's leading group for pediatricians said on Thursday in a policy statement that also backs adoption rights.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, in calling on the legal right for same-sex couples to marry, said children's well-being is affected far more by other factors such as their parents' health and economic security than their sexual orientation.

NEW YORK BUDGET DEAL INCLUDES MINIMUM WAGE HIKE, TAX BREAKS

Reuters

(Reuters) - New York state's leaders have agreed to a tentative $135 billion budget deal that raises the minimum wage, gives tax breaks to middle-class families and businesses, and extends a tax on high earners.

The deal for fiscal year 2013-14 was announced in Albany, the state capital, late Wednesday after days of closed-door wrangling as lawmakers sought to reconcile three separate proposals.

BOMBING KILLS TOP PRO ASSAD SUNNI PREACHER IN SYRIA

A suicide bomb ripped through a mosque in the heart of the Syrian capital Thursday, killing a top Sunni Muslim preacher and outspoken supporter of President Bashar Assad in one of the most stunning assassinations of Syria's 2-year-old civil war. 

The slaying of Sheikh Mohammad Said Ramadan al-Buti removes one of the few remaining pillars of support for Assad among the majority Sunni sect that has risen up against him.

VIRGINIA MARINE CORPS BASE ON LOCKDOWN AFTER SHOOTING

The Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., was on lockdown early Friday after an isolated shooting at the Officer Candidate School, the base said. The gunman was at large but surrounded.

Base residents were ordered to stay inside and lock their doors. The threat level was boosted to FPCON Delta, the base said on its website and Facebook page. That threat level can describe an active shooter or a terrorist attack.

The suspect, believed to be a male Marine, had barricaded himself at the base and was surrounded by police, the Marines said. Prince William County and military police had responded.

First Lt. Agustin Solivan told local TV station WUSA9 that the shooting happened about 11 p.m. The victim's condition was not known.

NRA JOINS LAWSUIT CHALLENGING NEW YORK'S GUN CONTROL LAW

AP

ALBANY, N.Y. –  The National Rifle Association on Thursday joined the the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, other sportsmen's groups, firearms businesses and individual gun owners in a lawsuit challenging the state's strict new gun control law.

The federal suit, filed in Buffalo, said the law violates the constitutional rights of "law-abiding citizens to keep commonly possessed firearms in the home for defense of self and family and for other lawful purposes."

COLORADO LAW ALLOWS SAME-SEX CIVIL UNIONS IN "HATE STATE"

Governor John Hickenlooper made same-sex civil unions legal in Colorado, where two decades ago voters passed a constitutional amendment banning local ordinances to protect gay rights.

The Colorado Civil Union Act, which the Democrat-controlled legislature moved to Hickenlooper earlier this month, provides gays with rights similar to those of married couples. Applications for the licenses can be filed starting May 1.

“The gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual community is part of all of us,” Hickenlooper, 61, told scores of cheering same- sex couples after he signed the bill at History Colorado, a museum in Denver. “There’s no excuse that people shouldn’t have the same rights,” the first-term Democrat said.