ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A federal judge on Sunday struck down Alaska's first-in-the-nation ban on gay marriages, the latest court decision in a busy week for the issue.

The state of Alaska will begin accepting those applications today, Phillip Mitchell, with the state Department of Vital Statistics, told The Associated Press in an e-mail. Alaska has a three-day waiting period between applications and marriage ceremonies.

The late Sunday afternoon decision caught many people off guard.

Earlier in the week, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear appeals from several states that were seeking to retain their bans on same-sex marriage.

The move on Oct. 6 means that gay marriage is now effectively legal in about 30 states.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Authorities say a patient wanting out of an Arizona hospital used an ambulance as his getaway vehicle.Police said Michael Lopez hijacked a parked ambulance Sunday outside West Valley Hospital.Kutis says a firefighter sitting in the back was able to jump out safely.Police pursued Lopez, who failed to pull over.Authorities used GPS to locate the vehicle and Lopez at his home in the suburb of Avondale.Lopez was arrested on charges of theft of means of transportation, felony flight, failure to yield to police and disorderly conduct.The ambulance was returned to firefighters.