Washington State

Any week now. That's what the Rev. Peter Ilgenfritz has been hearing for a year as he and his longtime partner, David Shull, await a decision by Washington state's highest court on whether they can get married. In 2004, two lower-court judges ruled in favor of Ilgenfritz and Shull and 18 other gay and lesbian couples, who all sued for the right to marry. The judges struck down the state's Defense of Marriage Act -- which defines marriage as between a man and a woman -- as unconstitutional.

Stevan Dozier was 25 when he punched a woman in the face to snatch her purse, another episode in the cash-for-crack crime wave that plagued America's big cities during the 1980s. Over the next eight years, he would be arrested three more times for the same thing. But just before his last conviction, Washington in 1993 became the first state to pass a law requiring criminals with three serious felony convictions to spend the rest of their lives in prison. California followed suit the next year, and 24 other states now have similar laws.

Washington state investigators say five children 7 to 16 years old have been found dead in a Graham-area home and they may have been killed by their father. Pierce County sheriff's investigators told the News Tribune that the children apparently were homicide victims. Spokesman Ed Troyer said the father, 35, was discovered dead Saturday afternoon in neighboring King County. Deputies were called to check on the welfare of the children at a mobile home park after the father's body was found.

Pete Carroll will begin searching today for clues, reasons for why California seemingly imploded a week before a showdown with the Trojans. Cal's 42-3 meltdown at Oregon dropped the Golden Bears from sixth to 24th in the Associated Press media poll. "It was so far out of character and out of line with that they'd done up until this point," Carroll said Sunday. Cal's fall makes Saturday's matchup between the Trojans and Golden Bears a game between top-25 rather than top-10 teams.

This time, Pete Carroll chose not to wait. A week after failing to announce a starting quarterback, and then watching Aaron Corp struggle in a loss at Washington, Carroll said Wednesday that freshman Matt Barkley would return to the lineup Saturday night against Washington State. "He's going to give us the best chance to win right now," Carroll said after practice. Barkley was sidelined last week because of a bone bruise in his right shoulder, an injury suffered against Ohio State on Sept.

USC quarterback Matt Barkley is not completely healed. Neither is safety Taylor Mays . But a day after announcing that Barkley would start Saturday night against Washington State despite a sore shoulder, Coach Pete Carroll on Thursday made a similar call regarding Mays, who is recovering from a knee sprain. "He's ready to go," Carroll said. Mays, though, said it was "50-50," and that it might be a game-time decision. "I think I'm going to play unless something goes wrong," he said.

Jake Harfman finally started doing double duty and it paid off for USC on Saturday night in its 27-6 victory over Washington State at the Coliseum. Harfman, a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College, has handled kickoffs all season, but Coach Pete Carroll installed him at punter in place of Billy O'Malley , who was averaging 37.3 yards a punt. Harfman punted three times and averaged 46.3 yards a kick. But his biggest play came in the first quarter after the Trojans took a 13-0 lead on Matt Barkley 's 29-yard touchdown pass to Brice Butler . Instead of kicking it deep, Harfman rolled an onside kick and recovered the ball before it hit a Washington State player.

The long, winding road cuts through lush forest and eventually leads to a curving driveway that leads to the doorstep of Mike and Kate Sharadin, makers of fine wine. He worked as a swim coach most of his life; she was a business consultant. In midlife, the California couple moved to this semirural suburb northeast of Seattle and, soon after, started Northwest Totem Cellars out of their home.

If you thought you knew the Pacific 10 Conference, look again. The scene has changed, and it isn't only the sight of Washington State -- one of six remaining unbeaten Division I teams -- at No. 4 in the polls, with UCLA looking up at the Cougars from No. 5. There's also the sight of Arizona State at 10-2, with two more wins than the Sun Devils had all last season -- and an upset of then-No. 17 Xavier in their pockets.

Winning conference road games at Stanford and California to start the Pacific 10 Conference season did not move UCLA up in the weekly college basketball polls released Monday. The Bruins (14-1, 2-0) remained fifth in both the Associated Press media and ESPN/USA Today coaches' polls, though they gained ground on fourth-ranked Washington State. Last week in the AP poll, UCLA trailed Washington State by 35 points -- 1,534 to 1,499. This week, UCLA had 1,522 points, only 10 behind Washington State.