Grand Canyon National Park will begin banning the sale of bottled water inside the park within 30 days.

The decision could cost the park’s concessionaire, Xanterra Parks and Resorts, a pretty penny.

But the company is applauding the park’s decision.

Chris Lane, vice president of sustainability at Xanterra, says the company lobbied for the ban.

“Our foremost goal is to reduce waste and the impacts associated with bottled water," he said.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has joined the chorus criticizing President Obama over a controversial policy that would require most employers, including Catholic hospitals and universities, to include birth control in their employees' health insurance.

Catholic opinion leaders have denounced the policy as an assault on their religious freedom.

In the escalating fight over voter identification laws, South Carolina has filed a federal lawsuit to overturn a Justice Department decision blocking the state's new photo ID requirement.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, representing his state in the case, said in the complaint filed Tuesday that the law "will not disenfranchise any potential South Carolina voter," as the Justice Department contends.

The lawsuit further argues:

South Carolina's suit against the Department of Justice over the state's new voter ID law comes amid a big to-do in the state over whether hundreds of "dead" voters cast ballots in past elections.

The issue has been used by ID supporters as evidence that voter fraud in the state is a serious problem. But it looks as though that's not going to turn out to be the case.

The 9th Circuit Court's 2-1 decision Tuesday to strike down California's ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional could propel the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It also promises to inject marriage politics into an election year during which states from New Jersey to Minnesota to Washington will grapple with the issue of gay citizens' right to legally marry.

One of the driving forces behind the now-reversed decision to cancel funding to Planned Parenthood has stepped down from her executive position at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

But the resignation of Karen Handel, an outspoken opponent of the reproductive health group, hasn't slowed down foes of Planned Parenthood.

A federal court ruling today voiding California's ban on same-sex marriage could eventually affect a similar law here. 

In a divided ruling a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the 2008 California initiative banning same sex marriage runs afoul of the equal protection provision of the U.S. Constitution. The court's rulings hold precedent for all Western states, including Arizona, where voters approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage also in 2008. 

The New York Times is reporting that the United States is planning to cut its staff by as much as half at its 16,000-person strong embassy in Baghdad.

The $750 million embassy building is the largest of its kind in the world and the Times adds that a major cut in staffing just two months after American troops withdrew from the country signals a "declining American influence."