Granite High Speaks Up about Closure

By Amy K. Stewart
Deseret News
Published: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 5:08 p.m. MDT
Granite High School students are letting their voices be heard — loudly — about the potential closure of their school.
"If we do go out, we're going out with a bang," said Granite High student body president Arisbee Romero, 17.
Hundreds of teens gathered on the northwest corner of the Granite High campus, 3305 S. 500 East, to chant, cheer and display their protest signs as passersby honked and waved.
A public hearing to collect comments on the proposal to close Granite High begins at 7 tonight at the Granite School District office, 2500 S. State Street.
The Granite district must cut $28 million from its 2009-2010 budget. The district has already slashed $25 million but still needs to pare $3.4 million from the budget.
Closing Granite High would save $1.3 million in annual operation costs.
Granite High is a magnet program with 12 teachers instructing 295 students from all over the district.
Seventy-five percent of Granite High students are on free or reduced lunch; 53 percent are minority students; 37 percent are English-language learners; and 33 percent don't have parents or siblings who graduated from high school. There is a 47 percent student mobility rate, according to data collected by the school.
Protest signs Tuesday said: "Go Granite! Another 100 Years!" and "Granite is not just a school. It is also a home."
Other signs touted drawings of a farmer, the school's mascot. The students held up red and blue letters spelling "GO GRANITE!"
The teens built a human pyramid, shook their signs and painted each other's faces with a red or blue "G."
Lina Hall, 17, Granite High's junior vice president who helped make the protest signs, said she and her classmates have been learning about the civil-rights marches in their history classes. "We wanted to do something similar," she said.
Others went a more peppy direction.
Dressed as a farmer, junior Chelsea Lucero, 16, hopped around waving red and white pompoms. The school doesn't have sports teams, so there are no official cheerleaders. "It's up to us to convince the school board," she said.
Teachers distributed white T-shirts that read: "Rock Solid, For Another 100 Years." They were left over from the school's centennial celebration.
If Granite High is closed, students in the school boundaries will go to Cottonwood High.
Granite freshman Jerah Perez, 15, said he doesn't want to go to Cottonwood High. "It's too big," he said.
Junior Carley Johnson, 17, said she believes students will simply drop out, "because we chose to be here."
Granite High school counselor Julie Wallace said the protest rally was a good way to focus the teens' energy.
"They need to be able to say something and make sure the people who make decisions know how they feel," Wallace said.
"They want to be heard," said Beverly Shelley, a Granite High science teacher. "This is their school. It belongs to them."
The rally originally called for students to march from the school to the district office, but school administrators decided it was safer to keep the kids on campus. Further, the school board wasn't at the district office in the afternoon, so there was no audience, said Granite principal Carole Harris.

New York Times Confirms Apple-Verizon Talks: Media Pad

Well, looks like something's definitely up between Apple and Verizon Wireless. First came Monday's piece from USA Today claiming that Verizon could get an iPhone as early as next year, and now both BusinessWeek and the New York Times are reporting that Apple and Verzion are in talks—possibly about an "iPhone lite" and a touchscreen "media pad." What gives?
I admit, I was highly skeptical of yesterday's report from USA Today claiming that Verizon and Apple are in "high-level" talks about bringing the iPhone to "America's most reliable network." But later on Monday, BusinessWeek published a post detailing the talks, which (it claims) involve "two new iPhone-like devices," including "a smaller, less expensive calling device"—an "iPhone lite," according to an anonymous source—and a "media pad" with the potential to "shake up the tech industry."A few hours later, the New York Times chimed in, confirming that Apple and Verizon execs were in "high-level" discussions to "sell a version of the iPhone" (they key word is "version," I'm guessing) that "would work on Verizon's network." Even more interesting, the Times' (anonymous, again) source said it "is not out of the question" that the device would work on Verizon's "current" CDMA network, which acting Apple CEO Tim Cook recently noted "doesn't really have a life to it after a certain point in time." (Verizon is slated to migrate to a new, faster network—known as LTE—starting next year, as is GSM-based AT&T, although it'll take years for the carriers to fully roll out the new networks.)As for the mystery devices (only in prototype stages, apparently), BusinessWeek had the best (though still unconfirmed) details. The "iPhone lite" would be a "less expensive device" that's "thinner and smaller" than the current iPhone BW reports. Under the hood would be a new, integrated "system on a chip" that would lower manufacturing costs.More exciting would be the "media pad," a device that's smaller than the Kindle but armed with a larger touchscreen "that would let users listen to music, view photos, and watch high-definition videos" and would "place calls over a Wi-Fi connection," BW claims, adding that at least one of the devices could arrive "as early as this summer."That's pretty much the "what" of the reported Verizon-Apple talks. Then there's the question of "why?"Possible reasons (as culled from the BW and NYT stories): Apple is using the Verizon discussions merely as a plot to wring better terms out of AT&T, which is reportedly in talks to extend its iPhone exclusivity deal with Apple to 2011. Another possibility: Apple would give the new iPhone-type devices to Verizon in exchange for Verizon not taking on the widely anticipated Palm Pre, which (for now) will only be available on Sprint.Both the Times and BusinessWeek caution that while talks between Apple and Verizon have "heated up" in the past few weeks, "no deal is imminent" and talks could easily break down. Verizon, of course, famously passed on the iPhone before AT&T made its deal with Apple. Personally, I'm still trying to make sense of all the news. Apple's strategy all along has been to make "one phone for the entire world," and most of the world (including AT&T and T-Mobile) uses GSM networks. Verizon (along with Sprint) is using CDMA, a wireless technology that's facing obsolescence as Verizon preps for LTE and Sprint toys with WiMax (a 4G technology based on Wi-Fi).And while Verizon will have its first few LTE markets ready by 2010, I have a hard time believing that Apple would release a device either this year or next that would only work in a few select areas of the country. (Once LTE takes off, it'll be a different story, but that won't happen until at least 2011.)And if the rumored "media pad" (which sounds a lot like the Apple tablet everyone's been buzzing about) makes calls through Wi-Fi, well … why wouldn't Apple just sell it directly, rather than going through a cellular carrier?In any case, based on all the stories cropping up, it's clear that something's afoot—and while bringing the iPhone (or "iPhone-like" devices) to Verizon now might be a strange strategic move for Apple, it would be great for U.S. consumers, who would finally have another option for getting the iPhone. Stay tuned.

Verizon & Apple Discussing iPhone

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Verizon Communications Inc. and Apple are discussing the possible development of an iPhone for the US telecom giant to be introduced next year, USA Today reported on Monday.
The newspaper, citing "people familiar with the situation," said Verizon entered into "high-level" discussions with Apple a few months ago when chief executive Steve Jobs was still running the day-to-day affairs of the company.
Jobs is on a leave of absence for health reasons until June but the discussions are continuing, USA Today said.
AT&T is currently the exclusive service provider for the iPhone in the United States, and The Wall Street Journal reported last week that it is seeking to extend the deal, which expires next year, until 2011.
USA Today noted that if Apple produces a version of the iPhone for Verizon it would be the first version of the hot-selling smartphone for a CDMA wireless network, which is different from AT&T's GSM technology.
Vodafone, co-owner of Verizon Wireless, sells the iPhone in Europe.
Roger Entner, head of telecom research for Nielsen, told USA Today that should Verizon succeed, it would be a big loss for AT&T.
"Breaking the (iPhone) exclusivity with AT&T is a huge thing," he said. "That would send shivers into AT&T's stock and senior leadership."
The biggest winners would be consumers, he added. "They could pick the network they wanted to use: AT&T's or Verizon's," Entner told USA Today. "It would finally give consumers choice, and choice is a good thing."
Verizon on Monday reported a net profit of 3.21 billion dollars in the first quarter of the year, up 5.3 percent from the same period last year.
With its purchase of Alltel in January, Verizon also became the largest US carrier with 86.6 million wireless customers at the end of the quarter ahead of AT&T's 78.2 million.
Revenue grew 11.6 percent in the quarter to 26.6 billion dollars.

Same-Sex Couples Across Iowa Apply to Marry

By AMY LORENTZEN, Associated Press Writer Amy Lorentzen, Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa – Same-sex couples began applying for marriage licenses at government offices across Iowa on Monday, and at least one lesbian couple tied the knot in a ceremony in Des Moines.
Melisa Keeton and Shelley Wolfe were declared "legally married" by pastor Pat Esperanaza during a ceremony in front of Polk County administrative offices in Des Moines. It didn't take long before they were referring to one another as "wife."
"It's not very romantic is it?" Melisa Keeton joked about the location and media attention at the ceremony.
They will share the last name Keeton.
The couple believes they were the first same-sex couple married in Polk County, and possibly the state, since an April 3 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage.
"I didn't think it would be us," said Shelley Keeton, whose twin brother was served as one of the witnesses to the ceremony.
Earlier, the couple was able to get a judge to waive the state's three-day waiting period before marriages are considered final.
Grant Lan, 35, and his partner Andrew Mahoney-Lan, 32, were first in line at the Polk County office. The Windsor Heights couple planned to seek a waiver that would let them marry Monday.
"It's huge to be here first," Mahoney-Lan said.
Alicia Zacher, 24, and her 22-year-old fiance Jessica Roach, both of Des Moines, said they have a 4 p.m. appointment to get married if they can get a waiver. They said they wanted to get married as soon as possible after seeing how California voters reinstated a ban on same-sex marriage.
"You just never know when they'll try to take it away," Roach said.
A handful of Iowa's largest counties were seeing a rush right away, but foot traffic from same-sex couples began to slow toward midmorning.
At the Pottawattamie County recorder's office in western Iowa, Marilyn Hebing said about 10 couples filed their applications after the office opened, and more were slowly trickling in.
"It was pretty exciting, they were cheering out there," she said of the early morning crowd.
Dubuque County Recorder Kathy Flynn Thurlow said three couples had come into her office within the first few hours of opening. Her county, which borders Wisconsin, had gotten many telephone calls inquiring about the licenses.
"I expected even more (applications), already but we just don't know," she said.
In eastern Iowa, Johnson County Recorder Kim Painter, Iowa's only openly gay recorder, said when she saw the court's declaration, "We rolled open our windows and we've been busy."
She said that within the first half hour they had accepted about a half dozen applications and had about 10 more couples waiting to file. Some waited outside on the street under a tent and sipped coffee in what Painter called a "festive atmosphere."
Painter said she and her partner plan to apply to be married this week.
Rumors surfaced over the past week that some recorders would refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples over conflicts with their personal beliefs. Some conservative groups and lawmakers were accused of trying to recruit recorders to refuse the licenses.
State agencies sent out information to recorders statewide last week saying they could be removed from their positions if they don't follow the law and issue the licenses.
"There's a lot of people fishing around out there, but we'll see," said Painter. "I am quite optimistic that all 99 recorders will follow the rule of law and issue licenses."
Marilyn Dopheide, the Carroll County recorder and president of the Iowa County Recorder's Association, said that within about an hour of the recorders' offices opening there had been no problems with licenses being issued.
The Iowa Supreme Court's unanimous and emphatic decision on April 3 made Iowa the third state to allow same-sex marriage, joining Massachusetts and Connecticut. For six months last year, California's high court allowed gay marriage before voters banned it in November. Vermont passed a law that will take effect in September.
In its decision, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld an August 2007 decision by a Polk County District Court judge who found that a state law limiting marriage to a man and a woman violates the constitutional rights of equal protection. One couple was married in 2007 before the Polk County judge ordered a stay on his decision.
The court issued an order Monday confirming that the appeals process in the case has officially concluded.
Gay marriage opponents have no other legal options to appeal the case to the state or federal level because they were not parties to the lawsuit, and there is no federal issue raised in the case.
Their only recourse appears to be a constitutional amendment, which couldn't get on the ballot until 2012 at the earliest. A constitutional convention could be called earlier, but is unlikely.
Iowa's same-sex marriage case had worked its way through the courts since 2005, when Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights organization, filed a lawsuit on behalf of six gay and lesbian couples in Iowa.
Iowa has a history of being in the forefront on social issues. It was among the first states to legalize interracial marriage and to allow married women to own property. It was also the first state to admit a woman to the bar to practice law and was a leader in school desegregation.

Worst Catholic Logo Ever!

What were they thinking?

Gavin Newsome Announces Candidacy for California Governor

It's official. Today, I became a candidate for governor because California needs a new direction.

I hope you will join me as we set out to build a campaign that does more than win an election. Together we can create the kind of campaign that changes California.
If you want to help us get off to a strong start, please contribute here.In San Francisco, we're showing what can be accomplished when we stop looking back and start looking for solutions.
We are the first, and still the only, city in America implementing universal health care. We're proving what you already knew - it is less expensive to keep people well than it is to treat their sicknesses.
Join us and you can help take the fight for excellent and affordable health care to all of California.
Across California, teachers are facing layoff notices; but we are protecting teachers from layoffs, raising test scores and breaking down the barriers to a college education.Contribute today and we'll build the kind of campaign that can force Sacramento to stop arguing about better schools and start creating them.
The unemployment rate in California is soaring. But in San Francisco, the local economy is doing better because we helped attract new industries and new high-wage jobs. We are working together to grow our economy with a local stimulus plan that will put people back to work, starting with environmental initiatives and green-collar job training programs.
In San Francisco, we've done all of this while balancing our budgets - and our bond rating has gone up, thanks to sound fiscal management and a rainy day reserve.
Join us, and we'll create the kind of state government that stops searching for someone to blame and starts finding solutions.
The truth is, we can't keep returning to the same old, tired ideas and expect a different result. If we take a new approach, and recognize that we are all in this together, I believe we can put California on a new path toward a better future.
Join us in a new kind of campaign that gives all of us the tools we need to make change. Join us on Facebook, Twitter or at http://www.gavinnewsom.com/. Make your voice heard and help us make real change.
Some of you already know me. You know I am not afraid to stand up and fight for what's right. From quality health care for everyone to equal rights for all Californians, I will do more than talk about problems - I will work with you to solve them.
We all know California can do better.Let's work together to set a new direction for California.

Third Annual RIFF Was A Blast!

Britain's Got Talent's Susan Boyle

You MUST watch this whole thing!!!!!!

Susan Boyle is her name. She's competing on Britain's Got Talent.

She's 47 years old, and she wants to be a singer. She attempts to do I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables. It is something to be seen!

Six Passover Facts: Things You Didn't Know About Passover

For most Americans, Passover is that time once a year when their Jewish friends can't eat pizza. But there's actually a lot more to the holiday than what Jews can and cannot eat, and whose firstborn was killed or not killed (sorry Pharaoh!). For a good overview of the actual holiday, I suggest checking out these two sites. But if you want to impress your Jewish friends with some cool Passover facts, or if you need some good lines to break the ice with at your Seder, read on:

1. The World's Largest Passover Seder Takes Place in Nepal, of All Places. Each year members of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement hold their "Seder on Top of the World" in Kathmandu for Jewish locals and travelers alike (I'm gonna guess more the latter than the former). Last year they had around 2,000 people attend the festivities, and you can bet your tuchus that between the flowing wine and the thin air, it was quite the party.

2. Abraham Lincoln Was Assassinated During Passover. According to the American Jewish Historical Society, many Jews were in synagogue for the holiday when news of Lincoln's assassination broke. Altars in temples "were quickly draped in black and, instead of Passover melodies, the congregations chanted Yom Kippur hymns. Rabbis set aside their sermons and wept openly at their pulpits, as did their congregants." Sadly, a time that was supposed to be full of celebration became one of mourning.

3. Coca-Cola Makes a Special Batch of Kosher Coke for Passover. While Coke is generally a kosher product, the dietary laws tighten during the Passover holiday making high-fructose corn syrup a no-no for observant Jews (it really should be a no-no for everybody all the time, but that's neither here nor there). In response, Coca-Cola pumps out a batch of limited edition Coke that uses (gasp) real sugar instead of the kitniyot corn. Look for bottles with yellow caps on them to be sure you're getting the right one, baby! (I know, that was Pepsi's old jingle, but close enough.)

4. The First American Edition of the Haggadah Was Published in 1837. The Haggadah is the book or text Jews read from during Passover. It tells the origins of the holiday and explains how the Seder is supposed to proceed. Solomon Henry Jackson, an English-born American Jew, published the first American edition of the Haggadah in 1837 in New York. Jackson had moved to the city in the 1820s to establish the first Hebrew printing press, and The Jew, a monthly newspaper and the first Jewish periodical in the United States. One could say Jackson was the original member of the Jewish media elite.

5. Gefilte Fish is Really Good, I Swear. I know, I know, a bottle of gefilte fish looks more like something you'd find in science class than in a supermarket, but trust me when I say this: it tastes great. Some are even calling it "the new bacon." Explaining the ingredients or the process of making it would probably only hurt my case, so I'm just going to say that if you haven't tried it, you're missing out. Just think of it as a fish hot dog, and as you can tell from Hebrew National dogs, we Jews know how to do mushy meat!

6. Manischewitz is a Brand, Not the Hebrew Word for Kosher Wine. Just as a Kleenex is really a "facial tissue," and Q-Tips are actually "cotton swabs," Manischewitz is a proprietary eponym. Founded in 1927 by Leo Star, the Manischewitz winery has basically cornered the kosher wine market here in the US with their sweet concord grape wine. Yet like Coca-Cola, Manischewitz uses corn syrup to sweeten things up a bit, so surprisingly not all Manischewitz is actually kosher for Passover.

Men's Underwear Sales, Greenspan's Economic Metric, Reveal Crisis

As chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan was known for using quirky, proletariat metrics to judge the temperature of the economy. The most famous of these, as recounted by NPR's Robert Krulwich in January 2008, were the sales of men's underwear. If the economic scales dipped even the slightest, Greenspan reasoned, it was as sure a sign as any that people were truly feeling the pinch.

"If you look at sales of male underpants it's just pretty much a flat line, it hardly ever changes," Krulwich recounted after the publishing of Greenspan's book, "The Age Of Turbulence." "But on those few occasions where it dips that means that men are so pinched that they are deciding not to replace underpants. And [Greenspan] said 'that is almost always a prescient, forward impression that here comes trouble.'"

Well, here comes trouble.

A revised survey by the leading global research company, Mintel, shows relatively large drops in the sales of men's underwear in the United States. The study, to be released April 9, projects a 2.3 percent drop in sales of all men's underwear products in 2009. Underscoring just how quickly the market has gone south, in November 2008, Mintel had forecast sales to grow by 2.6 percent in 2009. A serious downturn led to a serious revision.

Officials in the business say a variety of factors are to blame, including an influx of private label products from China. But the truth is, the psychology of the recession plays the biggest role.

"Men's basic apparel products probably have the least fluctuating sales of all [apparel products]," Matt Hall, a spokesman for Hanesbrands Inc. said in a brief interview. "But recessions impact all categories and men's underwear sales are no different... Men's underwear is a replenishment item. If you see a dip in the market it is because of the economy. But over a longer-term period it will even out. They tend to be later going into the recession and earlier coming back... Men certainly aren't wearing underwear less frequently than before."

Let's hope not.

Of course, extending the life of a pair of boxers or briefs is different than simply abandoning the undergarment all together. And here is where Greenspan's economic divination comes into play.
"[Greenspan] once told me that if you think about all the garments in the household, the garment that is most private is the male underpant, because nobody sees it except people in the locker room, but who cares," Krulwich told NPR. "Your children need clothes, your wife needs clothes that have to change, your children grow, you need clothes on the outside. But the last purchase that you don't have to make is underpants.... [men wear them until they are in] total tatters."

And yet, adjustments in the men's underwear market do show some silver linings -- room for growth, one might say. For starters, the sale of briefs (as opposed to boxers) is forecasted by Mintel to rise this year by 0.6 percent, though fall back down in 2010.
Moreover, some higher-end underwear retailers have seen their business improve even in the current slump.

"Our sales have been up this year and we are not sure exactly why. With all the bad news we were expecting sales to fall and they haven't, so we are quite pleased" said Robert Clark, of Skiviez, Inc, the self-proclaimed "men's underwear authority."

And yet, when asked why that might be the case, Clark's reply only further indicated how under duress the American consumer truly is. "My theory is that people still want to treat themselves to a luxury item," he said. "$150 or $170 jeans were pretty popular. But my theory is that sales on those jeans have fallen. People who want a luxury item are now finding it cheaper to simply buy a $20 dollar pair of deigned underwear instead."

ALL UNDERWEAR

2007 retail sales: $4.73 billion (up 3.7 percent from year before)

2008 retail sales: $4.87 billion (up 2.9 percent from the prior year)

2009 forecast: $4.76 billion (down 2.3 percent)

BRIEFS

2007 sales: $1.21 billion (down 3.6 percent)

2008 estimated: $1.17 billion (down 3.0 percent)

2009 forecast: $1.18 billion (up 0.6 percent)

2010 forecast: $1.17 billion (down 1.0 percent)

BOXERS

2007 sales $1.16 billion (up 9.7 percent)

2008 estimates: $1.25 billion (up 7.1 percent)

2009 forecast $1.09 billion (down 3.5 percent)

Same-Sex Marriage Legalization Inevitable?

(CBS) Vermont this week became the fourth state to allow same-sex marriage when its legislature overturned a veto by its governor. In legalizing same-sex marriage, Vermont joins its neighbors, Massachusetts and Connecticut, which are also traditionally liberal states. New Hampshire and New Jersey permit civil unions. California, Oregon and Washington allow domestic partnerships, which extend many of the benefits of marriage. And now, reports CBS News correspondent Priya David, same-sex marriage advocates say it's even gaining traction in the nation's heartland. Iowa's state supreme court last week declared unconstitutional a law denying marriage for same-sex couples. Mary Evans and Stephanie McFarland are celebrating. "Iowa, and Iowans," says Evans, "have always come down on the side of fairness. Justice is alive and well in Iowa." New York-based advocacy group Lambda Legal filed the Iowa lawsuit. "It's very important for people across the country,' says Lambda's Kevin Cathcart, "to realize this is not something that only happens on the East Coast or the West Coast, but that actually gay people actually have and deserve equal rights across the country." A recent CBS News poll found that 33 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage, up from 22 percent back in 2004. Younger people increasingly support it: Forty-one percent of those under 45, compared to just 18 percent of those over 65 years of age. So, will same sex marriage ever be recognized by all 50 states? "Even if public opinion keeps moving in the direction, it's sort of slowing-moving," says Joe Matthews of the New America Foundation. "It's not something that's going to happen in a couple of years. It's gonna take 10 years or 20 years before you see broad recognition of same-sex marriage." Still, David points out, many people believe marriage is strictly between a man and a woman. "It's really clear," asserts Maggie Gallagher, of the National Organization for Marriage, "that, if you leave it up to the American people, they would say, to make a marriage, you need a husband and a wife, and we don't want politicians messing with it." The day when the whole country embraces same-sex marriage may indeed be may be a long way off, David observes: Twenty-nine states have voted for a constitutional ban. And Californians recently voted to eliminate same sex marriages, though that vote is being contested in the courts.

April Pug

April's here. I sing 'bow wow.'
The trees are filled with blossoms now.
So as along the roads we ride,
I get to keep my head outside.
-Jack Prelutsky

Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage with Veto Override

By DAVE GRAM

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Vermont on Tuesday became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage - and the first to do so with a legislature's vote.
The House recorded a dramatic 100-49 vote - the minimum needed - to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto. Its vote followed a much easier override vote in the Senate, which rebuffed the Republican governor with a vote of 23-5.
Vermont was the first state to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples and joins Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa in giving gays the right to marry. Their approval of gay marriage came from the courts.
Tuesday morning's legislative action came less than a day after Douglas issued a veto message saying the bill would not improve the lot of gay and lesbian couples because it still would not provide them rights under federal and other states' laws.
House Speaker Shap Smith's announcement of the vote brought an ouburst of jubilation from some of the hundreds packed into the gallery and the lobby outside the House chamber, despite the speaker's admonishment against such displays.
Among the celebrants in the lobby were former Rep. Robert Dostis, D-Waterbury, and his longtime partner, Chuck Kletecka. Dostis recalled efforts to expand gay rights dating to an anti-discrimination law passed in 1992.
"It's been a very long battle. It's been almost 20 years to get to this point," Dostis said. "It think finally, most people in Vermont understand that we're a couple like any other couple. We're as good and as bad as any other group of people. And now I think we have a chance to prove ourselves here on foreward that we're good members of our community."
Dostis said he and Kletecka will celebrate their 25th year together in September.
"Is that a proposal?" Kletecka asked.
"Yeah," Dostis replied. "Twenty-five years together, I think it's time we finally got married."
The House initially passed the bill last week with a 95-52 vote.

Iowa Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa's Supreme Court legalized gay marriage Friday in a unanimous and emphatic decision that makes Iowa the third state, and first in the nation's heartland, to allow same-sex couples to wed.
Iowa joins only Massachusetts and Connecticut in permitting same-sex marriage. For six months last year, California's high court allowed gay marriage before voters banned it in November.
The Iowa justices upheld a lower-court ruling that rejected a state law restricting marriage to a union between a man and woman.
The county attorney who defended the law said he would not seek a rehearing. The only recourse for opponents appeared to be a constitutional amendment, which could take years to ratify.
"We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective," the Supreme Court wrote.
Iowa lawmakers have "excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification."
To issue any other decision, the justices said, "would be an abdication of our constitutional duty."
The Iowa attorney general's office said gay and lesbian couples can seek marriage licenses starting April 24, once the ruling is considered final.
Des Moines attorney Dennis Johnson, who represented gay and lesbian couples, said "this is a great day for civil rights in Iowa."
At a news conference announcing the decision, he thanked the plaintiffs and said, "Go get married, live happily ever after, live the American dream."
Plaintiff Kate Varnum, 34, introduced her partner, Trish Varnum, as "my fiance."
"I never thought I'd be able to say that," she said, fighting back tears.
Jason Morgan, 38, said he and his partner, Chuck Swaggerty, adopted two sons, confronted the death of Swaggerty's mother and endured a four-year legal battle as plaintiffs.
"If being together though all of that isn't love and commitment or isn't family or marriage, then I don't know what is," Morgan said. "We are very happy with the decision today and very proud to live in Iowa."
In its ruling, the Supreme Court upheld an August 2007 decision by a judge who found that a state law limiting marriage to a man and a woman violates the constitutional rights of equal protection.
The Polk County attorney's office claimed that Judge Robert Hanson's ruling violated the separation of powers and said the issue should be left to the Legislature.
The case had been working its way through the courts since 2005, when Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights organization, filed a lawsuit on behalf of six gay and lesbian couples in Iowa.
"Today, dreams become reality, families are protected and the Iowa Constitution's promise of equality and fairness has been fulfilled," Lambda Legal attorney Camilla Taylor said.
John Logan, a sociology professor at Brown University, said Iowa's status as a largely rural, Midwest state could enforce an argument that gay marriage is no longer a fringe issue.
"When it was only California and Massachusetts, it could be perceived as extremism on the coasts and not related to core American values.
"But as it extends to states like Iowa, and as attitudes toward gay marriage have evidently changed, then people will look at it as an example of broad acceptance," Logan said.
Polk County Attorney John Sarcone said his office will not ask for the case to be reconsidered.
"Our Supreme Court has decided it, and they make the decision as to what the law is, and we follow Supreme Court decisions," Sarcone said.
Gay marriage opponents have no other legal options to appeal the case to the state or federal level because they were not parties to the lawsuit, and there is no federal issue raised in the case, Sarcone said.
Bryan English, spokesman for the Iowa Family Policy Center, a conservative group that opposes same-sex marriage, said many Iowans are disappointed with the ruling and do not want courts to decide the issue.
"I would say the mood is one of mourning right now in a lot of ways," English said. He said the group immediately began lobbying legislators "to let the people of Iowa vote" on a constitutional amendment.
"This is an issue that will define (lawmakers') leadership. This is not a side issue."
Iowa has a history of being in the forefront on social issues. It was among the first states to legalize interracial marriage and to allow married women to own property. It was also the first state to admit a woman to the bar to practice law and was a leader in school desegregation.
Todd Pettys, a University of Iowa law professor, said the state's equal protection clause on which Friday's ruling was based is worded slightly differently than the U.S. Constitution. But Iowa's language means almost "exactly the same thing."
Still, he said, it's difficult to predict whether the U.S. Supreme Court would view the issue the same way as the Iowa justices.
Linda McClain, professor at Boston University School of Law, said she doubted Iowa's ruling would be "a realistic blueprint" for the U.S. Supreme Court," particularly considering the court's conservative leadership.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, a Democrat, said state lawmakers were unlikely to consider gay marriage legislation in this legislative session, which is expected to end within weeks.
Gronstal also said he's "not inclined" to propose a constitutional amendment during next year's session.
Iowa's Democratic governor, Chet Culver, said he would review the decision before announcing his views.