Governor races in Virginia, New Jersey test Obama clout; Maine votes on same-sex marriage

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama's political clout was on the line Tuesday as Virginia and New Jersey chose governors in contests that could serve as warning signs for Democrats about the public's mood heading into an important midterm election year.

Elsewhere, Maine voters weighed in on same-sex marriage in a closely watched initiative, and New York and California picked congressmen for two vacant seats. A slew of cities selected mayors, and Ohio voted on allowing casinos.

One year after Obama won the White House in an electoral landslide and Democrats expanded their majorities in Congress, much of the focus was on Virginia and New Jersey, where Democratic control was in danger despite hefty campaigning by Obama himself.

The outcomes were sure to feed discussion about the state of the electorate, the status of the diverse coalition that sent Obama to the White House and the limits of the president's influence on the party's base of support _ as well as on moderate lawmakers he needs to advance his legislative priorities.

As if on cue, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid indicated Tuesday that lawmakers may not complete health care legislation this year, missing Obama's deadline on his signature issue and pushing debate into a congressional election year.

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Senate leader indicates timetable for completing health care may slip to next year

WASHINGTON (AP) _ In a blow to the White House, the Senate's top Democrat signaled Tuesday that Congress may fail to meet a year-end deadline for passing health care legislation, leaving the measure's fate to the uncertainties of the 2010 election season.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., spoke as Democratic officials said it could be December before Senate debate begins in earnest on the legislation atop President Barack Obama's domestic agenda, months after senior lawmakers and the White House had hoped.

House leaders, on a somewhat faster track, pointed toward a vote this weekend on a bill to extend coverage to tens of millions who lack it, ban insurance industry practices such as denying coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions and generally slow the rate of growth of medical spending nationwide. The 10-year, $1.2 trillion legislation is estimated to expand coverage to about 96 percent of eligible Americans.

The measure includes an option for consumers to purchase a government insurance plan, an attempt to put pressure on private firms.

While Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House leaders weighed final changes to their version of the bill, Reid for the first time publicly raised the possibility that lawmakers would not be able to meet their _ and Obama's _ self-imposed deadline of completing work on health care by year's end.

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Police: 4 more bodies removed from Ohio rapist's home where 6 bodies were removed last week

CLEVELAND (AP) _ Authorities say more remains have been discovered at the Cleveland home of a convicted rapist, raising to at least 10 the number of bodies that have been found there.

Police say four more bodies and a skull were found Tuesday at the home, where the remains of six women were removed last week.

Police Chief Michael McGrath says the additional bodies were found Tuesday in the backyard of the home where 50-year-old Anthony Sowell lives. The skull was found in the basement.

Last week, investigators said they found one body in a shallow grave in the backyard. The rest were inside the house.

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NKorea claims it is expanding arsenal of nuclear bombs, pressures US to agree to direct talks

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ North Korea claimed Tuesday that it has successfully weaponized more plutonium for atomic bombs, a day after warning Washington to agree quickly to direct talks or face the prospect of a growing North Korean nuclear arsenal.

The announcement underlined Pyongyang's impatience over securing one-on-one talks with Washington, as well as the difficulties in dealing with a regime that resorts to threats and provocations to get what it wants.

Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said North Korea had finished reprocessing 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods, which experts say would provide enough weapons-grade plutonium for at least one more nuclear bomb.

The claim may not mean much, since North Korea is believed to already have enough weaponized plutonium for half a dozen nuclear weapons. But the timing _ a day after Pyongyang warned it would beef up its nuclear arsenal if the U.S. refused to agree on bilateral talks _ shows the communist regime is flexing its atomic might to push Washington to act, analysts said.

"North Korea is trying to show off its nuclear might as a way to pressure the United States to agree to the talks," said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Dongguk University.

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APNewsBreak: La. justice of the peace who refused to marry interracial couple resigns

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _ A Louisiana justice of the peace who refused to marry a couple because the bride was white and groom was black resigned Tuesday.

Keith Bardwell, who is white, quit the post with a one-sentence statement to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne and no explanation of his decision: "I do hereby resign the office of Justice of the Peace for the Eighth Ward of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, effective November 3, 2009."

Bardwell refused to perform the ceremony for Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay because they are of different races.

When questioned about his refusal, Bardwell acknowledged he routinely recuses himself from marrying interracial couples because he believes such marriages cause harm to the couples' children. In interviews, he said he refers such couples to other justices of the peace, who then perform the ceremony, which happened in this case.

Humphrey has said she and McKay received their marriage license from the parish clerk of court, where they also received a list of people qualified to perform the ceremony. When she called Bardwell's office to ask about the ceremony on Oct. 6, Humphrey said Bardwell's wife told her that the justice wouldn't sign their marriage license because they were a "mixed couple."

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Pair arrested among piles of suitcases police say were stolen from Phoenix airport carousels

PHOENIX (AP) _ Two people suspected of stealing up to 1,000 pieces of luggage from baggage claim carousels at Phoenix's airport have been arrested by police who found heaps of the stolen bags strewn throughout their home.

There were so many suitcases that Phoenix police could only give a rough estimate of their number Tuesday as they pulled them out one by one and gathered them in the yard of Keith Wilson King and Stacy Lynne Legg-King's suburban residence.

"A piece of luggage here, a piece of luggage there, I would imagine gets stolen out of airports all the time," Phoenix police Detective James Holmes said Tuesday. "This is a livelihood. There's a lot of luggage and there's a lot of victims."

King, 61, and Legg-King, 38, were arrested Monday, and each was booked into jail on charges of theft of property and possession of stolen property. Legg-King also was arrested on suspicion of tampering with evidence. It was not immediately clear how the two are related.

Both denied requests to be interviewed, and it was unclear whether they had attorneys.

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