Thousands of gay couples kissed each other in Rome this Valentine’s Day, and Boulder Weekly salutes them. Gone are the days when same-sex couples can be denied rights based on the "gross" factor alone. Queer folk are steppin’ out and smooching in public places just like the rest of us, so get over it. Hooray for public displays of affection!

This weekend also proved romantic for gay couples in San Francisco, where nearly 2,500 same-sex couples——some from Colorado——were married. Let’s not forget the 2,000 Denver folks, including Mayor Hickenlooper, who rallied this weekend against federal efforts led by U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Colorado Republican, to pass a Constitutional ammendment banning same-sex marriage. We’re surprised Laura Bush didn’t attend the rally. After, all, if this strange amendment does pass, what will she do? She’s certainly not married to a man.

Virgil Rosenberger turns 100 years old on March 2. To celebrate this long life, his friends and family are hosting a birthday bash for all Boulder County centenarians——those who are 100 years old or will reach their 100th birthday in 2004. On June 1 of last year Virgil, at 99 years old, married 93-year-old Lillian Lynch. The happy couple lives together in independent retirement at The Atrium in Boulder, where the birthday celebration will take place. The party will be held on Feb. 28, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., at the Villas at The Atrium, 3350 30th Street, Boulder. Please call 303-444-0200 or 303-444-4040 to R.S.V.P. Happy Birthday, Virgil. Here’s to the start of another century!

A lone wolf sits in a snowy Alaskan field. Her eyes turn up to the moon. She howls, a long slow piercing sound from deep down inside her that is only in harmony when other wolves join in the ghoulish chorus. Suddenly machine gun fire cuts through the air from above, gunning her down.

This year Alaska has killed more than 40 wolves by shooting them from the air, causing controversy between the forest service and hunters, who want to raise the moose population by killing the predators, and animal-rights activists, who see the wolf hunts as a barbaric return to policies that nearly wiped the wolf out 100 years ago.

In the ruggeds of Alaska, moose aren’t just part of the scenery. Humans in this icy region hunt out of a real need for food. Yet, according to the Alaskan fish and game department, more than 80 percent of the moose that die each year are hunted by predators, with humans killing less than 10 percent. It’s bears and wolves that take most of the delicious moose in Alaska, so to increase game numbers wildlife officials say they must cull some predators, adding that wolf-reduction programs occur on less than 2 percent of Alaska’s land.

Hold up, say animal-rights activists. Hunting is a recreation, a tourist attraction——not a good enough reason to shoot wolves. In fact, Defenders of Wildlife, a Washington, D.C.-based group, has submitted a 15-page petition to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, asking that she recognize that the 1971 Airborne Hunting Act does not allow for the killing of wolves to boost game populations. In addition, another animal-rights group, Friends of the Earth, has organized nearly 70 "howl-ins" across the country in support of the wolves, including some right here in Boulder, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center.

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