FERNDALE (AP) – Craig Covey thinks Ferndale is setting a positive example by being so accepting of the sizable gay population in the city and its growing role in government.

“We are showing the region a new way,” Covey said. “This city embraces diversity, smart growth, efficiency, bipartisan compromise and eco-friendly policies.”

This was evident Nov. 6, when residents voted Covey, a longtime City Council member, to be Ferndale’s first openly gay mayor.

Covey, 50, said that sexual orientation is no longer a primary factor in Ferndale, the city he moved to 18 years ago.

“We in Ferndale have embraced diversity,” said Covey. “I’ve really seen the integration of the gay community with the rest of the community here.”

Covey received 54 percent of about 3,500 ballots cast in the mayoral race against challenger Thomas Gagne.

While Covey has long supported and worked on many of the progressive issues for which the city is known – a vibrant Downtown, green policies, reduced parking fees for hybrid cars and support of mass transit – he has also been a fiscal conservative opposed to tax increases.

Covey estimates that about 3,000 of the roughly 20,000 residents in the city are gay and have been part of the changes that have put Ferndale on the map.

“Gay folks have been serving on boards and commissions here for two decades,” he said. “I probably had 30 people who volunteered to work on my campaign, and I’d say about three-quarters of them are straight.”

His time in the city has coincided with the arc of the city’s resurgence and the eventual acceptance of its gay population.

“I adopted the city as my home in 1989,” said Covey, a native of Columbus, Ohio. “I think it took another 10 years for Ferndale to adopt me as one of its sons.”

Covey is also the CEO of the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project. Aside from his work as a city official, he is well known around town for organizing the city’s annual pub crawl and blues festival, both of which benefit nonprofit groups in Ferndale.

At the polls, Covey’s sexual orientation was not a major factor with many voters, even some of those who cast ballots for Covey’s opponent.

“I don’t have any issue with Covey being gay,” said David Chess, 54, a Gagne supporter.

Others, like Hannah McCollum, 31, saw the fact that Covey is gay as a plus.

“I think the fact that this is a vibrant community depended a lot on gay people moving here, opening businesses and patronizing businesses that are here,” she said.

Julie Sevakis, 50, said things in Ferndale are going well, and she sees Covey as being part of that effort during his time on City Council.

“I like the direction the city has taken,” Sevakis said. “His (sexual orientation) had no effect on how I voted, because we all are human.”

Still, the fact that Covey is gay rubbed at least one voter the wrong way.

“I’m a Republican, and I live my life according to the Bible,” said Brian Tweedle, 40. “His sexual orientation bothers me.”

Fellow City Council member Mike Lennon said he expects Covey will do well as Ferndale’s mayor.

“Craig is fair and open-minded,” Lennon said. “He has quite a following, and he’ll work well with all members of council.”

Covey said that while his election shows the gay issue is not a significant factor, it doesn’t mean everyone is pro-gay; rather they are accepting of diversity and enjoy living in Ferndale.

“Like most people, I want to live in a city that is accepting and interesting,” he said. “With 3,000 gay people here, I think that acceptance simply comes from neighbors getting to know other neighbors. That’s the most important thing.”

TOLEDO (AP) – The City Council has approved an ordinance to allow same-sex or other unmarried couples to register their domestic partnerships as proof of eligibility for benefits such as health care.

Those who sign an affidavit at City Hall would receive a certificate and cards to provide employers as proof of an unmarried but committed relationship.

Supporters say the ordinance, which passed on a 10-2 vote Tuesday, does not violate Ohio’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. It is modeled after the only other one in the state, which voters in Cleveland Heights approved in 2003.

The registry also could provide a basis for people to visit domestic partners in the hospital and pick up children at schools, supporters said, noting that the city has a domestic partnership registry for police officers and firefighters who have negotiated benefits in their collective bargaining agreements.

Councilmember Rob Ludeman said he voted to reject the ordinance because of the cost to employers and because he saw it as “one more attempt to tear down the institution of marriage between a man and a woman.”

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A 62-year-old Edmond man whose body was found in a McClain County ditch earlier this month may have been the victim of a hate crime, according to investigators.

Police have not named a suspect in the death of Steven Domer, who was last seen alive near several gay bars. But police have searched the home of a McClain County man, whom authorities have said belongs to a white supremacist gang that may be connected with the killing.

Domer was last seen leaving what an investigator called a “gay neighborhood” of northwest Oklahoma City on Oct. 26, according to an affidavit filed by Joe Lahue, an agent for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

A witness told investigators he and Domer approached two men in an area where several gay bars are located. The man Domer was with said he left because he felt uncomfortable with the situation.”

The man told police he thinks Domer returned to the area to meet the two men after Domer dropped him off, Lahue wrote.

Domer’s body was found Nov. 4 dumped in a ditch in McClain County. His body was bound with duct tape, and a wire hanger was wrapped around his neck, according to the affidavit. Domer’s car was found burned on Oct. 30.

The affidavit filed by Lahue was used to obtain a search warrant in McClain County for the home of Darrell Madden.

Police searched Madden’s home Nov. 6 in connection with Domer’s death, seizing a computer, disks and a spiral notebook labeled as a “Hitler letter.” They also took burned wires and clothes hangers with duct tape on them and three hand-operated winches with duct tape on them, according to a warrant return filed in McClain County.

A cooperating witness led investigators to a page on MySpace.com that the witness said Madden created. That MySpace page promotes a white supremacy gang.

A blog entry, dated Oct. 28, on the MySpace page reads: “Well if you only (k)new the things we have done these past few days it would blow your...mind!!!.”

The page lists Adolf Hitler as a personal hero and interests including “securing our white race.”

Madden was arrested last week in Ardmore and charged with murder Friday in the death of Bradley Qualls.

Ardmore police identified Madden and Qualls as members of the same white supremacist gang.

Both men were recently released convicts. An Ardmore police investigator said they were members of the United Aryan Brotherhood, a gang that actively recruits white inmates.

Madden, 37, served time at the Jess Dunn Correctional Center in Taft for impersonating a police officer and obtaining money by false pretense.

Qualls, 26, was released from the Dick Conner Correctional Center in Hominy in 2006 on a 2001 burglary conviction in Carter County.

Police found Qualls shot multiple times Nov. 7 outside an Ardmore apartment complex. He died at the scene.

Madden was arrested in an attempted carjack of vehicles at a busy intersection later.

HOUSTON (AP) – Coach Phil Jackson said he deserved the reprimand he got from the NBA last week for making a sexual reference in a comment following the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss in San Antonio.

The Spurs made 13 three-pointers in their 107-92 victory on Tuesday night, and Jackson was asked if too much penetration was leading to open outside shooters.

“We call this a ‘Brokeback Mountain’ game, because there’s so much penetration and kickouts,” Jackson said. “It was one of those games.”

The 2005 film, which won three Oscars, depicts two cowboys who conceal their homosexual affair.

“But in retrospect, it wasn’t really funny,” Jackson said before the Lakers played Houston last night. “When you take it out of context, it wasn’t funny. It was a poor attempt at humor and I deserved to be reprimanded by the NBA.”

Still, Jackson couldn’t resist making another joke as he apologized.

“If I’ve offended any horses, Texans, cowboys or gays, I apologize,” Jackson said.

Jackson thanked beat writers and other journalists who covered Tuesday’s game for dismissing the comment as an innocent joke.