ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A state report says the cases of infectious diseases are dropping in Alaska, with some exceptions.

One of those is the number of food-borne infections, such as botulism, that are increasing in the Bush.

The report by the state Department of Health and Social Services says cases of sexually transmitted disease mostly fell last year in Alaska. It was led by a 35 percent decline in new AIDS cases. Also down were new HIV infections.

Also down significantly were new cases of tuberculosis.

However, researchers say the declines mostly reflect a statistical spike in 2006 when new reporting methods were adopted.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The sponsors of a fall ballot measure seeking to ban same-sex marriage in California say they won’t ask the state’s highest court to throw out the revised title and summary Attorney General Jerry Brown prepared for the initiative.

ProtectMarriage.com had argued that Brown’s amended version would prejudice voters against Proposition 8.

Earlier this month, Brown’s office rewrote the measure’s title to say the proposition would “eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry.” It had been called “Limit on Marriage.”

If approved, Proposition 8 would overrule the California Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage.

A spokeswoman for the Yes on 8 campaign says they “will let the ultimate judge – the voters – decide” rather than keep fighting in court.

Monday’s decision came after both a Sacramento-based judge and appeals court refused to order Brown to restore the original ballot language.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – California’s Roman Catholic bishops are urging parishioners to support a fall ballot measure that seeks to overturn the court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the state.

The California Catholic Conference issued a statement Aug. 1 strongly encouraging members of the faith “to provide both the financial support and the volunteer efforts needed for the passage of Proposition 8.”

In the statement, the bishops say their position is based partly on the presumption that while all people deserve to be treated with dignity, being raised by a married mother and father is “the ideal for the well being of children.”

The conference’s executive director says the bishops plan to develop materials that parish priests can use to address the topic between now and election day.

The conference represents the archdioceses of Los Angeles and San Francisco and the dioceses of Fresno, Monterey, Oakland, Orange, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Rosa and Stockton.

DENVER (AP) – A Democratic group says a record 358 gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered delegates will attend the party’s national convention in Denver this month.

The National Stonewall Democrats said Aug. 5 the number represents a 27 percent increase from the 2004 convention.

Natalie Wyeth, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Convention Committee, says she can’t yet confirm the numbers because the committee is still compiling demographic data on delegates.

The Stonewall Democrats say their count is based on numbers reported by state party officials to the Democratic National Committee.

The Stonewall group describes itself as a grass-roots organization working to elect “pro-equality” Democrats regardless of sexual orientation.

SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) – Three volunteer firefighters in Secaucus have resigned after a gay couple they were accused of harassing was awarded $4.8 million in damages by a Hudson County jury.

Mayor Dennis Elwell said Monday that firefighters Charles Snyder Sr., Charles Snyder Jr. and Charles Mutschler turned in their resignations on Aug. 1.

The gay couple, who lived next door to the firehouse, claimed in a lawsuit that unruly and drunken volunteer firefighters repeatedly threatened and harassed them after they complained about a raucous party at the firehouse.

The couple, Peter de Vries and Timothy Carter, have since moved to Jersey City.

They won their suit in June and were awarded $2.84 million in damages and $2 million in legal fees and other costs.

SANTA FE (AP) – AIDS cases and the number of people testing positive for the human immunodeficiency virus that causes the disease are on the rise for Hispanics in New Mexico.

The state Health Department said Aug. 5 in a news release that Hispanics made up 45 percent, Caucasians 33 percent and blacks 5 percent of AIDS and HIV cases statewide in 2007.

The department says that at the end of last year 2,155 people were living with AIDS and 1,322 people were living with HIV.

The department says New Mexico has seen a steady rise among new Hispanic cases since 2003.

Health Secretary Dr. Alfredo Vigil says the state needs to expand prevention efforts for at-risk Hispanics.

The department spends about $3 million a year in federal and state funds to prevent HIV.

CINCINNATI (AP) – A man who has been on death row nearly 23 years received ineffective legal counsel in the sentencing phase of his trial, a federal appeals court panel ruled Aug. 4.

The three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Robert Van Hook’s death sentence thrown out unless the state conducts a new penalty phase within 180 days.

Van Hook, 48, was convicted of murdering a man he met in a gay bar. He never denied strangling and repeatedly stabbing David Self in Self’s apartment in Cincinnati in 1985, but claimed temporary insanity.

“We think it is the correct decision under the circumstances, and we think there is even more evidence than they discussed that will support their decision,” Keith Yeazel, the Columbus attorney who has represented Van Hook in his federal appeals, said of the Aug. 4 ruling.

Jim Gravelle, a spokesman for the Ohio attorney general’s office, said options open to prosecutors include asking the panel to review its decision, asking the full court to review it or appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. He said a decision could be made in about two weeks.

The same panel earlier ruled the murder conviction invalid, but the full appeals court, which consistently splits on death penalty issues, overturned that decision last year. This time, the panel reviewed aspects in the trial that it did not address a year ago.

Van Hook was convicted by a three-judge panel in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – E-mails at the South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department show agency leaders didn’t know about an ad campaign that promoted the state as a destination for gay and lesbian tourists.

The campaign was being run in London during a Pride festival. Agency officials have said it was approved by a single employee who resigned once publicity over the campaign turned negative.

The e-mails made public through the Freedom of Information Act revealed higher ups in the agency do not appear to have been clued in to the ads until after they were public.

South Carolina has said it won’t pay for the ad campaign. Tourism industry experts say the state is losing out on lucrative business.

ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) – Getting HIV test results will take as little as 15 to 20 minutes in Brown County.

Nurses at the Brown County Community Health Center begin training this month for the rapid test method of HIV testing. Testing is expected to begin in September.

In the past, test results took days to come back to the health center, said Deanna Kyburz, community health nurse. Currently, test samples must be packaged and sent to a state lab in Pierre.

Though the rapid testing is widely available, offering it is a matter of training employees, establishing protocols for testing assurance and buying the test, said April Ivey, state program manager for HIV prevention.

Rapid testing is ideal for rural counties because returning to health clinics for test results is burdensome for many patients, said Ivey. Patients will only need to make one visit to health centers for complete testing.

Some workers at the Aberdeen Volunteers of America have been trained and the office is now writing test protocols.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Knoxville’s police chief says the man accused of a shooting that killed two people at a Tennessee church targeted the congregation because of its liberal social stance.

Chief Sterling Owen IV said Aug. 4 that police found a letter in Jim D. Adkisson’s car. Owen said Adkisson was apparently frustrated over being out of work and had a “stated hatred of the liberal movement.”

Adkisson is charged with first-degree murder. Police say a gunman entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church during a children’s performance Sunday. No children were hurt.

The church is known for advocating women’s and gay rights and founding an American Civil Liberties Union chapter.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A gay Mormon support group wants The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to become a safe, supportive place for its gay members.

Directors of Affirmation said Monday that the church’s lay leaders need better training so that the treatment of gays is more consistent.

Affirmation leaders substituted a news conference at the Utah Pride Center for a planned meeting with Fred C. Riley, outgoing commissioner of the church social service agency, LDS Family Services.

In a letter last month, Riley said the meeting needed to be postponed until his successor is chosen. That might not happen until next year.

Mormons are taught that gay sex is a sin and that traditional marriage is ordained by God. Gays can remain active in the church and hold church callings if they remain celibate.

Affirmation leaders say they had six priority topics and requests on their agenda, including asking for a meeting with church President Thomas S. Monson or another senior church leader. Other requests include a speech to women in the church during the faith’s twice-yearly conference that clears mothers of blame for gay children and the development of better church publications addressing the issues that affect gay families.

Affirmation also wants a senior church leader to speak at Affirmation’s annual conference when the event comes to Salt Lake City next year.

In a statement Monday, church spokeswoman Kim Farah said the church is sincere in its desire to have an open and honest discussion with Affirmation. Farah said the church had proposed an earlier meeting date, but deferred to Affirmation’s request for an Aug. 11 meeting.

“The Church asked for the same courtesy as it hires a new director of Family Services, a position crucial to this conversation,” Farah said. “The issues surrounding same-gender attraction deserve careful attention not public posturing. It appears from Affirmation’s actions today that it has opted for a public rather than a private exchange.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) – The global AIDS bill signed by President George W. Bush on July 25 sets a goal of treating more than the 2 million-patient target set in 2003, but how much more is not clear.

In signing the bill, Bush said, “With this funding, we will support treatment for at least 3 million people.” However, the bill itself does not set a specific target.

Early versions of the bill that passed the House of Representatives specified a target of treating at least 3 million people by 2013, but that number was removed in the final version that Bush signed. Instead, the bill now says U.S. policy is to increase the number of people receiving anti-retroviral treatment beyond the original goal of 2 million.

The $48 billion measure renews the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which is set to expire in September. The program has been credited by Republicans and Democrats alike with saving millions of lives in Africa alone.

The State Department said 1.7 million people had received treatment as of March 31 and the original bill’s 2 million-person goal will be reached by December.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court will not revisit a case in which an attorney was ordered to pay more than $87,000 for bringing a frivolous lawsuit against a gay rights group.

The court unanimously rejected Milwaukee attorney James Donohoo’s argument that Justice Louis Butler should not have participated in the June ruling because he accepted campaign donations from board members of the group being sued.

The Supreme Court said in its ruling last week that the law did not require Butler to step aside in the 4-3 opinion. Butler ruled in the majority against Donohoo and did not participate in the latest ruling.

Donohoo represented New Orleans preacher and gay rights opponent Grant E. Storms in the case against Action Wisconsin.