To help kickoff the long Fourth of July holiday weekend, a local anti-poverty group will hold a vigil to commemorate human rights.

The Contact Center will hold the vigil beginning at 11:45 a.m. July 1 in front of downtown's Federal Building, located at 550 Main St. The site is next to the Government Square bus depot and one block east of Fountain Square.

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Visitors to downtown’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will receive free admission Monday to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. People who visit are asked to bring clothing or a personal care item that will be donated to Haitian children affected by the recent earthquake there.

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It's been a long time coming, but today gays and lesbians are finally taking the fight for our rights where it belongs, through the federal justice system.

The trial before the U.S. Supreme Court on same-sex marriages in California begins today and the result of Perry v. Schwarzenegger is expected to affect gay marriage legislation nationwide.

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As part of its annual Thanksgiving Day preparations for the needy, the Freestore Foodbank distributed almost 400,000 pounds of food, its largest amount ever for the holiday.

During the past three days, the emergency food provider distributed 399,660 pounds of food to 12,204 households. That's enough to feed 34,980 people, according to a spokeswoman.

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Israel’s ambassador to the United States will speak at an event in Cincinnati on Saturday night.

Michael Oren will speak about U.S.-Israeli relations and current events affecting both nations. Time will be allowed for questions following Oren’s speech.

Several area politicians are scheduled to attend the event including U.S. Reps. Jean Schmidt (R-Miami Township) and Steve Chabot (R-Westwood); State Rep. Denise Driehaus (D-Price Hill); Hamilton County Commissioner Chris Monzel; and a representative from the office of U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Terrace Park).

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Connecticut will soon join the list of states that have ended the use of capital punishment.

In an 86-63 vote, legislators in Connecticut’s House of Representatives passed the bill Wednesday night. The state Senate approved the measure April 5, in a 20-16 vote.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat, has indicated he will sign the bill when it reaches his desk, probably sometime this week. A similar bill was vetoed by then-Gov. Jodi Rell, a Republican, in 2009.

Connecticut’s law is prospective in nature, and won’t affect the sentences of the 11 people currently on the state’s death row.

In the last five years, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Illinois have repealed the death penalty, according to CNN. California voters will decide the issue in November.

Other states that have abolished capital punishment are Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, a man who spent 21 years on Ohio’s death row until he was exonerated in 2010 will speak tonight at a forum in Clifton.

Joe D’Ambrosio will discuss his experience and why he believes the death penalty should be scrapped at 6:30 p.m. at the St. Monica-St. George Parish Newman Center, located at 328 W. McMillan St. D’Ambrosio will be joined by the Rev. Neil Kookoothe, a Roman Catholic priest who worked to get him released.

D’Ambrosio was wrongfully convicted of the 1988 murder of Anthony Klann in Cleveland. Cuyahoga County prosecutors withheld 10 pieces of evidence that would have exonerated D’Ambrosio at his trial and implicated another suspect in the crime, a judge ruled in March 2010.

D’Ambrosio is the 140th Death Row exoneration in the United States since 1973 and the sixth in Ohio.

This week’s Porkopolis column looks at a report from Amnesty International about the use of capital punishment throughout the world, and how the United States is one of the only industrialized nations that still condones the practice.

This week's issue of CityBeatfeatures an article about the grassroots effort last year to have the city of Cincinnati establish a Domestic Partnership Registry.

Ultimately, Equality Cincinnati (EC) became part of the effort, assumed responsibility for the registry and then delayed trying to have one officially enacted through City Council.

Instead, EC created its own symbolic registry, with no connection to City Hall.

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In news you've likely already heard from your favorite website, social network, radio station, print publication, TV or the guy in your neighborhood who likes to talk about current events, President Barack Obama yesterday announced his support for same-sex marriage, becoming the first-ever sitting president to do so. The news has spawned analysis from across the land, ranging from “risky but inevitable” to “matters less than you think.” The Enquirer says the decision is going to “echo in Ohio” (whatever that means).

One thing we know for sure: Hollywood celebs are preparing to pack George Clooney's house tonight and fill up Obama's briefcase with money.

The “No. 2 official at the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office” says the jail being next to the casino will be bad for business, according to an Enquirer story detailing worries over jail overcrowding leading to accused criminals to go into the casino to “get warm, panhandle customers or just give visitors a bad impression of Cincinnati.”

Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune yesterday cancelled a new truck order for Paul Brown Stadium, instead giving the vehicles to Parking Operations. Parking Operations was supposed to get the stadium's used trucks after the stadium received new ones, but Portune said the stadium doesn't need brand new stuff all the time.

Up north, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman says his city wants an NBA basketball team now that the public has purchased the arena the Columbus Blue Jackets play in.

Poll watch: Portman on GOP ticket doesn't change Ohio race

New claims for unemployment benefits dropped again last week, nearing a four-year low.

Facebook will soon launch an App Center, because it's so annoying to have to leave Facebook to get cool new apps.

Famous hairdresser Vidal Sassoon died yesterday after a bout with leukemia. He apparently played a large role in creating “wash and go” hairstyling and later revolutionizing the hair-care industry. Here's a Philadelphia Inquirer obit. And five ways Vidal Sassoon changed people's hair. Sassoon, according to the book Insider's Guide to Cincinnati, had a home in Mount Adams (his wife was a Greater Cincinnati native).

Tomorrow is International Human Rights Day and the event will be commemorated locally with a march to several local offices, urging state and federal policymakers to reduce deficits through other means than hurting the poor, the disabled, children and the elderly.

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In a fundraising e-mail sent to its supporters Thursday, Citizens for Community Values (CCV) gloated about what it termed were Election Day victories over “the homosexual agenda.”

The e-mail, entitled “A Surge of Votes for Traditional Marriage,” implies the issue of equal marriage rights was the deciding factor in numerous races.

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