By Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) – The Maryland Racing Commission ruled on Tuesday that Secretariat set the Preakness Stakes record 39 years ago, meaning the 1973 Triple Crown winner now holds the record time at all three races in the trilogy.

“I didn’t know if it was appropriate to cheer but I couldn’t help myself,” Secretariat’s owner Penny Chenery said in a statement released by the commission. “This is a big day.”

By Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) – Some 2,000 former NFL players sued the league on Thursday, alleging it deliberately and fraudulently concealed the risk of brain injury from players while marketing the ferocity and brutality of the game.

The master complaint joined more than 80 lawsuits previously filed by former players on a topic that has generated increasing concern following the suicides of former players such Junior Seau in May, Ray Easterling in April and Dave Duerson last year.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – DC Comics is introducing a gay version of the Green Lantern, showing him in a romantic kiss with his partner in civilian life before donning his skin-tight unitard typically associated with straight superheroes.

Alan Scott is the gay Green Lantern in the title “Earth 2″ that goes on sale this coming Wednesday, competing for attention with the Marvel comics character Northstar who is due to marry his boyfriend in an “Astonishing X-Men” issue due on comic book shelves on June 20.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) – Alabama tomato farmer Darryl Copeland looked out over his seedlings and fretted about this year’s harvest.

He was afraid his seasonal migrant workforce might not return for the summer picking season, opting to stay away rather than risk running afoul of Alabama’s stringent immigration law. The crew he awaits is picking the Florida harvest.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has filed a $1 million countersuit against the hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault, costing him his job and any chance of being elected president of France.

New York police arrested Strauss-Kahn a year ago when hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo accused him of forcible oral sex and trying to rape her in his luxury suite at the Sofitel Hotel in Manhattan. Prosecutors later dropped charges after losing confidence in Diallo’s credibility.

By Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department sued an Arizona sheriff on Thursday for civil rights violations, alleging he and his office intentionally denied Latinos their constitutional rights.

The lawsuit cited systemic racial profiling, sloppy and indifferent police work and a disregard for minority rights by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and county officials.

By Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) – Some rejoiced in the U.S. president’s courage. Others predicted hellfire at the polls. One pastor said he would reflect on the matter in prayer.

President Barack Obama’s announcement on Wednesday that he supported same-sex marriage stirred impassioned responses at places of worship across the United States, underscoring the risk he took in coming out in favor of such a controversial measure.

NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters) – Alex Rodriguez and the New
York Yankees normally incur the wrath of fans bothered by
baseball’s enormous salaries. This year he has more company
among players with very large, very long deals worth tens of
millions of dollars.

Superstar Albert Pujols arrived at Yankee Stadium on Friday
for his first game here as a member of the Los Angeles Angels,
who signed him to a 10-year, $240 million contract this
offseason.