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ers, the Obama administration is considering urging the Supreme Court to overturn California's ban on gay marriage -- a move that could have a far-reaching impact on same-sex couples across the country.
• The administration has one week to file a friend-of-the-court brief with the jus

tices outlining its opinion on the California ban, known as Proposition 8. While an administration brief alone is unlikely to sway the high court, the government's opinion does carry weight with the justices.
• Opponents of the Proposition 8 ban believe the president signaled his intention to file a brief when he declared in last month's inaugural address that gays and lesbians must be "treated like anyone else under the law." An administration official said Obama -- a former constitutional law professor -- was not foreshadowing any legal action in his remarks and was simply restating his personal belief in the right of gays and lesbians to marry, though the official said the administration was considering filing a brief.

• The Proposition 8 ballot initiative was approved by California voters in 2008 in response to a state Supreme Court decision that had allowed gay marriage. Twenty-nine other states have constitutional amendments banning gay marriage, while nine states and Washington, D.C., recognize same-sex marriage.
• Solicitor General Donald Verrilli is consulting with the White House on the matter, according to a senior administration official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to address the private deliberations publicly.
• ___

• ST. LOUIS (AP) -- An armada of snow plows and salt spreaders deployed Wednesday on highways across the nation's heartland working to stay ahead of a powerful winter storm that already is blamed for one road death.
• Winter storm warnings were issued from Colorado through Illinois, with as much as a foot of snow expected in several areas.
• Kelly Sugden, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Dodge City, Kan., said early Thursday morning that the storm was moving a bit slower than was previously forecast but that it was "starting to get back together."
• "It's very active," Sugden said, noting the snowfall was mixed with lightning and sleet showers.

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