LITTLE ROCK (AP) – The former head of an Arkansas grant program to help people with the virus that causes AIDS has admitted she helped steal money from the program to purchase a $5,038 diamond ring and for other expenses.

Lola Thrower, 45, of North Little Rock pleaded guilty to a federal charge of aiding and abetting the theft of government property. The former HIV services program administrator at the state Department of Health and Human Services is to be sentenced June 30.

The charge involves more than $10,559 in funds for HIV and AIDS services. In exchange for her plea, federal prosecutors dropped three similar charges against her.

The federal indictment alleged that Thrower and her husband, Malik Blackmon, were involved in a scheme in December 2003 involving a nonprofit organization called BMON that they created.

The indictment said Thrower directed that a check from the account of Positive Voices, an Arkansas HIV/AIDS policy group that Thrower set up, be used to pay a $10,000 invoice owed by BMON for promotional items.

The indictment said $3,085 of the money transferred into the BMON account from the Positive Voices account went toward paying the invoice, and $5,038 of the money was used to buy a diamond ring with a debit card on the BMON account.

According to the indictment, Thrower also directed Lamar Wright, president and chief executive of the Save Our Children Community Project, to transfer grant money to her from a project subsidiary, People United for Change. The subsidiary administered a $90,000 AIDS awareness grant awarded by Thrower through the Arkansas Health Department.

Thrower also was accused of telling Lee Langston, executive director of Positive Voices, in May 2003 that she needed $2,000, and then presenting him with a false invoice for payment. The indictment said Langston gave Thrower the money from cash withdrawals from the Positive Voices bank account.

Langston, 46, of Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty Oct. 4 to theft. In entering the plea, he admitted he falsely claimed $1,000 from his agency as reimbursement for costs associated with training that he had not actually conducted.

Thrower’s husband, 41, faces a May 22 trial on two counts of aiding and abetting the theft of government property. He was the minority-group AIDS coordinator for Positive Voices, which was funded by the Health Department through federal grants.

Wright, 53, of Searcy faces a May 22 trial on a count of aiding and abetting the theft of government property. His nonprofit organization received funding from grants supplied by the Health Department.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – An international humanitarian group accused the biotechnology company Gilead Sciences Inc. of breaking its promise to make its effective AIDS drug widely available throughout the Third World.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, said the California-based company’s vow to make the virus-fighting pill Viread widely available has turned out to be an “empty promise.”

The company has touted its Gilead Access Program in several press releases since it was unveiled nearly three years ago.

In April 2003, Gilead announced it would make the drug available in all of Africa plus 15 other developing nations “at no profit.”

The company has since announced it has expanded its access program to a total of 97 countries. In August, Gilead slashed the price of Viread in those countries to $208 per patient annually, compared to the nearly $5,000 annually the drug costs in the industrialized world.

Gilead chief executive John Martin said in April 2003 that because the drug had fewer side effects than most AIDS treatments and needed to be taken only once a day that “Viread will be a particularly important treatment option for physicians and patients in these regions.”

But the humanitarian group said Gilead has yet to garner regulatory approval in 91 of those countries, making it nearly impossible to widely distribute the drug in those regions. The group alleged that company inaction is making it difficult for doctors to supply their patients with the drug, which is used in two popular “cocktails” to treat AIDS infections.

Gilead spokesperson Amy Flood said the company has applied for regulatory approval in about half the covered countries and expects to apply for the rest sometime this year.

“The process for approval has been more time-consuming than we had anticipated,” Flood said. “This is a commitment that Gilead takes very seriously.”

Flood said Gilead had initially hoped to ship the drugs without winning regulatory approval to the developing world on a “temporary import” basis, but found that process too difficult.

“Gilead has been extremely disingenuous,” said Daniel Berman of Doctors Without Borders in Paris. “Gilead’s access program is a lie.”

BOISE (AP) – A proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Idaho passed the state Senate on Feb. 15 and will go to voters this November.

If approved, it would mean that in Idaho “a marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized.”

Opponents argued that a constitutional amendment isn’t necessary because state law already defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. Supporters say the amendment would prevent judges from overturning that law.

The measure passed the House 53-17. The Senate vote was 26-9.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – A teachers union is asking the Dubuque school district to provide health coverage for same-sex couples.

The Dubuque Education Association, which is negotiating its annual contract with the district, cites a gay rights movement in the city as reason to expand the coverage.

On Feb. 6, the City Council passed an ordinance that protects gays and lesbians from discrimination when seeking housing, employment, credit, education or service.

“We were looking at it from the standpoint of just being proactive,” said Joe Tollari, DEA’s chief negotiator and a science teacher at Dubuque High School.

“We knew it might come up for us in the future.”

District officials said the request raises several issues. For example, the DEA wants coverage for “domestic partners” – a term officials said can be interpreted different ways.

“They are talking about same-sex partners, but what if that also means a man and woman who are unmarried but live together?” said Stan Rheingans, the district’s human resource director. “This is the very first time it’s been asked for, so we haven’t had time to discuss it at length.”

The district’s insurance company would have to review the proposal before it’s accepted, Rheingans said. If granted, the request would force the company to cover more people, which would also likely increase insurance costs, he said.

Two other districts in Iowa’s Urban Education Network – the state’s eight largest public school districts – offer health insurance for same-sex couples: Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.

The DEA proposal would require that the couples live together, are single and don’t qualify for coverage as common-law spouses. The couples would also be required to notify the district if they break up.

Tollari said the DEA had not taken a poll of its membership and was unsure whether it supported the proposal.

“We’re just thinking ahead,” Tollari said. “This issue is going to come up sooner or later, but there was no impetus from the membership.”

BOSTON (AP) – The state’s highest court has waived a self-imposed deadline for ruling whether same-sex couples from other states can marry in Massachusetts.

The Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments on Oct. 6 about a 1913 state law that says that out-of-state couples cannot get married in Massachusetts if their home states do not recognize such unions.

The court notified lawyers that it would not issue a decision within the 130-day window, according to the court’s Web site.

Lawyers noted that the court also went past its deadline in its historic 4-3 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in 2003.

“It could be due to a multiplicity of issues, including the court’s own backlog,” Mark D. Mason, president-elect of the Massachusetts Bar Association, told The Republican of Springfield.

Eight gay and lesbian couples from surrounding states, all of whom were denied marriage licenses in Massachusetts, are challenging the 1913 law. If the court strikes it down, same-sex couples from across the country could come here to wed and demand marriage rights at home.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Mayor Anthony A. Williams signed a bill elevating the director of the office of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender affairs to his cabinet.

“We’re now recognizing the importance of this vital and vibrant community to our city,” Williams said during a signing ceremony.

The mayor established the office in 2004 to advise him on policy issues. It grew out of the work of Wanda Alston, who advised Williams during his first term.

Alston was murdered last March during a robbery at her home.

Council members who pushed for the office’s cabinet-level status said that despite several laws barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, there is still a need for a position that will address the community’s concerns.

The legislation ensures the office will survive Williams’ tenure in office, which ends next January.

“We haven’t resolved the issues of homophobia in our society,” said Councilmember Jim Graham, D-Ward 1, one of two openly gay council members.

Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco have similar offices, said Darlene Nipper, the office’s director.

Nipper said it’s unclear how many gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people live in the district.

Alston was appointed the office’s director in 2004. Her neighbor, William Parrott Jr., 38, pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing Alston last March and stealing her car and credit cards. He is now serving a 24-year prison sentence.

“We need data and crime statistics to show whether gay and lesbian people are victimized more than other populations,” said Cornelius Baker, a member of a committee appointed by the mayor to help steer the office’s agenda.

Baker said possible projects could include determining whether domestic violence intervention programs or health services should be expanded.

The Department of Employment Services also should be encouraged to come up with job opportunities for transgender youth “so that their only job of choice is not prostitution,” Baker said.

The office formerly functioned as part of the mayor’s community affairs operation.