Police raid New York funeral home, find drugs

GLOVERSVILLE, N.Y. -- Police raided a funeral home they say doubled as a crack house. Several of those inside the funeral home frantically tossed crack into caskets when officers burst in Thursday night and arrested 16 people, including the owner and his girlfriend, who were suspected of running a drug ring out of the business. Neighbors had complained of finding partly nude corpses in plain view or discovering people sleeping in some of the rooms, District Attorney Louise Sira said. As police led the suspects out, a crowd that had gathered chanted the refrain from the TV show "Cops."

Democrats set schedule for 2008 convention

WASHINGTON -- The 2008 Democratic National Convention will be held from Aug. 25 through Aug. 28 after the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Democratic chairman Howard Dean announced Friday. Democrats will decide where they will hold the the convention sometime after the 2006 midterm elections, party spokesman Josh Earnest said. Dean will appoint a committee to consider bids from various cities and come up with a recommendation, Earnest said. Republicans have not yet announced the dates of their 2008 national convention.

Oregon judge upholds gay marriage ban

SALEM, Ore. -- A judge on Friday upheld a gay marriage ban adopted last year by Oregon voters, sweeping aside arguments by gay rights supporters that the measure was flawed. In his ruling, Marion County Circuit Judge Joseph Guimond rejected opponents' arguments that Measure 36 contained too many changes that should have been voted on as separate amendments. Critics also said it interfered with local governments' home rule rights.

-- From wire reports

Friday's ruling was the latest setback for gay rights backers in Oregon, where more than 3,000 marriage licenses were granted to same-sex couples in Multnomah County in the spring of 2004 before a judge halted the practice. The constitutional ban on gay marriage was overwhelmingly approved by Oregon voters in the November 2004 election.

Vt. high court backs Dean on decision to seal papers

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that Howard Dean acted legally when he placed some of his gubernatorial papers under seal, a decision that drew fire when he ran for president. The court, which overturned a ruling by a state trial judge last year, cited an archives law that access to certain documents to be restricted under "special terms or conditions of law." Dean and the secretary of state agreed when Dean left office in 2003 to seal until 2013 roughly 93 boxes of papers that he considered sensitive. Past Vermont governors have also sealed portions of their papers, though not for so many years.