Knight Like – “Florida becomes the 36^th state to legalize same-sex marriage” by Madison Wiernusz

It’s official! Gay marriage is now legal in the sunshine state. A local Miami judge presided over Florida’s first legally married gay couple and many others Monday afternoon. The law was then officially enforced throughout the rest of Florida on Tuesday. Seeing yet another state legalize gay marriage, just goes to show the progress America has made on the issue of equality. One can only hope that the remaining fourteen states will follow up soon.

Knight Dislike – “Cities across US ban sledding” by Steph Krane

This week, Dubuque, Iowa became the most recent city across the nation to ban sledding on public property. Marie Ware, the manager of leisure services in Dubuque, said that the ban was put in place because “we can’t manage the risk in [all city parks].” Members of the town’s City Council pointed to past lawsuits that municipalities have faced from sledding injuries, such as the 2 million dollars that Omaha, Nebraska had to pay to the family of a five-year-old girl who was paralyzed after sledding into a tree. Despite the threat of fines for repeat offenders, Dubuque city officials admit that the ban is unlikely to deter any winter-time thrill seekers. Putting a ban on something as beloved as sledding is yet another testament to the power that a fear of lawsuits holds over our society. While nobody will argue that hurtling down an icy hill on a thin piece of plastic is safe, there is an obvious inherent risk involved with sledding that people should assume personal responsibility for. There seems to be no shortage of incidents that people won’t blame and sue the government or companies for. If kids can’t even spend their snow days playing with friends at the park, what’s the next thing that will be banned in the name of “safety?”