NATIONAL BRIEFING

Hearings on gay marriage

More than 200 same-sex- marriage opponents, cheering and wearing buttons that read, "Marriage -- A Mother & Father for Every Child," converged on Montpelier's Statehouse as lawmakers began hearings on a bill that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. If approved, Vermont would join Massachusetts and Connecticut as the only U.S. states that allow gay marriage.

The measure would replace Vermont's first-in-the-nation civil unions law with one that allows marriage of same-sex partners beginning Sept. 1. Civil unions, which confer some rights similar to marriage, would still be recognized but no longer granted after Sept. 1.

FLORIDA

Space station out of debris danger

NASA gave the all-clear to the International Space Station, telling astronauts they would not need to steer away from a piece of satellite junk.

Cape Canaveral experts had at one point believed that the debris might pass within a half-mile of the station today, just ahead of the shuttle Discovery's arrival. But as they studied the path of the small debris from an old Soviet satellite, engineers ascertained it would remain at a safe distance.

A maneuver by the station would have forced Discovery to adjust its course for docking.

On Thursday, the three space station residents had to flee to their emergency getaway capsule because another piece of space junk came uncomfortably close. In that case, the astronauts did not have enough time to steer out of the way.

-- times wire reports