Around ten o'clock on the night of January 4, 1993, Timothy Kaufman-Osborn stood outside the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. A little after midnight on January 5, Westley Allan Dodd would face the death penalty on three counts of aggravated first-degree murder. Not only would Dodd's execution be the first in Washington State in 27 years, but it would also be the first legal hanging in the US since 1965.
Having declared education a top priority for the 2013 term, Washington state legislators are opening the new legislative session by discussing a variety of higher education issues including tuition, financial aid programs and student debt.
Walsh spoke to the Whitman community on the evening of Wednesday, March 28.Her lecture addressed the state of politics in Olympia, as well as her personal support for same-sex marriage. As a member of the Republican caucus, Walsh was one of the few in her party to vote for marriage equality in Washington State, a move which drew criticism from some of her constituents. Walsh said that in 2009, voters in her district voted 71 percent in favor of repealing domestic partnership benefits for same-sex couples.
Gay and civil rights activists celebrated a massive victory in Washington State as Governor Christine Gregoire signed the bill to legalize same-sex marriage into law last Monday, Feb. 13. The bill, which appeared to slide through the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives with ease, was in fact met with some opposition.
