Good News from Senator Mike Carrell

Yesterday Senator Mike Carrell (Republican-28th Legislative District) telephoned me with good news. Senate Bill 5456 is dead!

Senator Debbie Regala (Democrat-Tacoma) introduced Senate Bill 5456 last month. This bill would have abolished the death penalty in Washington. Ms. Regala was in favor of abolishing the death penalty, partly because the appeals are so costly. She said the money used on appeals could be spent on other things.

Senator Carrell serves Pierce County. He is a long-time advocate of victims' rights. He said that he and Senator Pam Roach (Republican-31st Legislative District) successfully argued against Senate 5456. He said they gave the bill the death penalty.

I am opposed to abolishing the death penalty because it is so useful in making plea bargains. For example, Gary Ridgway (also known as the Green River Killer) helped the police locate the remains of more than 40 of the women he killed after King County prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against him. I don't believe that law enforcement would have been able to locate all of those bodies without the plea bargain. I feel that locating victims' bodies is important. Families deserve to know what happened to their loved ones so they can give them proper burials.

Thank you, Senator Carrell and Senator Roach, for doing such a good job!

Should Josh Powell be Buried in Woodbine Cemetery?

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Joshua Powell's family would like to buy him near his sons in Woodbine Cemetery in Puyallup, WA. Crime Stoppers has purchased several burial plots located next to his sons' grave, hoping to prevent the Powells from burying next to the children.

Chuck and Judy Cox are taking legal action to prevent the Powells from burying Joshua next to their young grandsons. I fully support the Coxes about this. Even if Josh wasn't involved in Susan Cox Powell's disappearance, he murdered his two sons. The idea of burying a murderer next to his victims is deplorable to me.

This issue is a victims' rights issue. Charlie and Braden should be allowed to rest in peace. They should not be forced to spent eternity next to the man who killed them, even if he was their father.

Those of you who accuse the Coxes of promoting hate should try to look at it from the victims' point of view. These two innocent little boys had their whole lives ahead of them when their father murdered them in a most cruel and horrific way. Josh Powell took Charlie and Braden away from the Coxes, the Powells, the Graves and everyone else who loved them. Josh Powell violated his sons' trust. He stole his sons' childhood. The little boys were not permitted to finish elementary school. They won't be able to go to their senior proms. They won't attend college. They will never know the joy of falling in love, getting married or having children of their own. They missed out on so much because they were murdered by the man who was supposed to love and protect them.

Woodbine Cemetery is city-owned. Puyallup's residents might object to a child killer being buried in their cemetery. Others might object to a man who committed suicide being buried on hallowed ground. If Joshua Powell is buried in the cemetery, it might cause a decrease in plot values. Perhaps Puyallup's city council should call an emergency meeting and vote on whether the Powells should be permitted to bury Josh at Woodbine Cemetery.

I hope the Powell family will reconsider burying Josh. His family should take into consideration that Josh's grave will probably be vandalized if the public knows where it is. After all, Josh Powell is one of the most hated men in our state now. May I suggest that the Powells cremate Josh and keep his ashes in an urn in their own home?

Washington and Utah Grieve for Susan Powell's Boys

On Saturday, February 11, 2012, my husband and I attended the celebration of life honoring Susan Cox Powell's sons, seven year old Charlie and five year old Braden.

Normally, my husband and I don't go to funerals. We don't like them. But I've been following the story of Susan's disappearance in the Salt Lake Tribune since December 2009. We decided to go and show our support for the Cox famiy, Terrica Powell, and the Graves family.

Two funerals were held for Susan's boys on Saturday. More than one thousand people, including my husband and me, attended the funeral held in the morning at the Life Center Church in Tacoma. A second service was held at the LDS church in Puyallup in the afternoon.

The Westboro Baptist Church had announced that they intended to picket the service. A member of the Phelps family said that God allowed the boys to die because He is angry because our state legalized gay marriage. Why the Westboro Baptists think people are stupid enough to believe their nonsense is beyond me. Fortunately, the Phelps cancelled their plans shortly before the funeral.

About 100 bikers attended the funeral at the Life Center Church. The words "Gargoyles -- Protectors of Children" and "Bikers Against Child Abuse" blazed across the backs of their black leather jackets. I was grateful to see the bikers there. I felt that their presence helped to keep the Westboro Baptists and other troublemakers away. A small group of women and children carrying red balloons and signs which said "Love... Love... Love" stood across the street from the church.

The service itself was beautiful. Life Center Church's senior pastor, Dean Curry, welcomed the Cox and Powell families and the guests. He stated that the service would focus "two beautiful boys," and it did. Pastor Tim, who is a friend of the Cox family, led the opening prayer. Tears ran down my cheeks when a children's choir sang "Amazing Grace." A video presentation displayed photos of Charlie and Braden with their mother and other family members. Charlie's kindergarten teacher gave a speech in which she shared her happy memories of him. The boys attended a YMCA day camp in Washington. Braden's day camp counselor gave a talk about him. The boys' lives were short, but they touched so many hearts.

Kirk Graves, Joshua Powell's brother-in-law, led the benediction. At the end of the service, Judy and Chuck Cox thanked the guests for coming. Both appeared to be calm and composed, which was surprising because they have lost their daughter and two young grandsons. If I had been in Judy Cox's shoes, I don't think I would have been able to handle the funeral as well as she did.

As you may know, Susan Cox Powell has been missing from her home in West Valley City, Utah since December 2009. She is presumed by many to be dead. Her husband, Joshua Powell, claimed that he took his young sons on a winter camping trip during the middle of the night. He said that when they returned to their home, his wife was gone. Shortly after Susan disappeared, Josh and the boys moved into his father's home in Puyallup, Washington.

Josh's father, Steve Powell, was arrested several months ago for child pornography and voyeurism. He remains in jail. Joshua Powell murdered the boys and committed suicide on February 5, 2012.

If you would like to make a donation to Charlie and Braden Powell's memorial fund, you may do so at any branch of Wells Fargo Bank.

Rest in peace, Charlie and Braden.

Styx -- "Looks Like We're Ready for a Rock Concert!

Tommy Shaw and the legendary rock n roll band, Styx, performed at the Emerald Queen Casino in Fife, Washington on Friday, February 3, 2012.

I wish I could tell you what was their opening number, but so many people came to the show that we couldn't find a parking place. As we were walking toward the casino, we heard them playing "Blue Collar Man." There was standing room only in the packed theater. Shortly after we entered the auditorium, the lead guitarist and key boardist, Lawrence Gowan, announced, "Looks like we're ready for a rock concert!"

Back in 1979, I lived in Long Beach, California. My friend, Julie, heard that a radio station called KEZY was giving away free tickets to the Styx concert in Anaheim. We didn't win tickets to the concert. But Julie called the radio station so much that a disc jockey invited us to a backstage party for Styx. The party was held at a hotel near Disneyland. I met lead guitarist Tommy Shaw at the party. He gave his autograph to me. I was thrilled.

In 2012, Tommy Shaw looks remarkably like he did in 1979. He told the audience that "Crystal Ball" was the first song he wrote for Styx. When the band to play it, a man in the crowd shouted, "I love this song!"
The band proudly announced that their drummer, Todd Sucherman, was selected to perform on the Beach Boys' 50th anniversary album.

Having grown up in the 70's, I thoroughly enjoyed their performance of "Lady," which brought back memories of being young and beautiful to my mind. It was wonderful to feel like a teenage girl again.

Styx played "I'm OK," "Too Much Time on My Hands," "Miss America," "Come Sail Away," and "Renegade." Lawrence Gowan did perform on his famous rotating stand. We noticed that the band did not play "Babe" or "Mr. Roboto." "Babe" was Dennis DeYoung's, and he left Styx in 1999.

Of all the concerts I've been to at the Emerald Queen, I enjoyed the Styx concert the most. They put on a great show. I'm looking forward to attending the Styx concert next year.

Should Washington Abolish the Death Penalty? We Don't Want Texas Law Here

In 1997, my husband was transferred to Fort Hood, Texas. When our family was driving to our new home, I noticed the "Don't Mess with Texas" signs on the highway. I tell everyone to take those signs seriously. Texas executes more people than any other state in our nation.

Most of the people with whom I was acquainted in Texas were in favor of the death penalty. They believed that there was no absolutely excuse for murder. It didn't matter if the defendant was a minor, mentally retarded, a woman or a born-again Christian. I found myself agreeing with Texans more often than not, just as I agreed with my father years earlier.

If you are convicted of murder in Texas, there is a very good chance the state will execute you. If you are Afro-American, Hispanic or poor, the likelihood is greater.

Shortly after my family moved to Washington in 2005, I had a conversation with my new co-workers about the death penalty. I was shocked when they said they didn't want Texas law here. One lady brought up a case in which a minor who had committed rape and murder in Texas was sentenced to death. My first response was, "But he killed someone. He deserves to die." My co-worker explained that it is wrong to execute a person for a crime he committed as a minor because a minor's brain isn't fully developed. A minor can't reason the same way an adult can reason. My co-worker's explanation made sense.

In Roper vs. Simmons, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the eighth and fourteenth amendments prohibit executing offenders who were under age 18 when they committed their crimes. I agree.

I also agree with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that prohibits executing mentally retarded offenders.

Because so many people were wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit, the more the death penalty is restricted, the better!

Nevertheless, I don't believe that the death penalty should abolished together. I have bragged that Washington's prosecutors use the death penalty more wisely than Texas' prosecutors. Why? Think of the Green River Killer.

In 2005, Gary Ridgway entered a guilty plea to 48 charges of aggravated first degree murder as part of a plea bargain that would spare him execution in exchange for his cooperation in locating his victims' remains. Deputy prosecutor Jeffrey Baird stated that plea bargain contained "the names of 41 victims who would not be the subject of State v. Ridgway if it were not for the plea agreement."

Another example would be the Zina Linnik case. Pierce County prosecutors planned to charge Terapon Adhahn with aggravated first degree murder. However, they agreed not to seek the death penalty against Adhahn if he helped the police locate Zina Linnik's body. Shortly thereafter, Adhahn led police to the girl's body.

Think of Susan Cox Powell. Victims' families deserve to know what happened to their loved ones so that they can give them proper burials.

The death penalty is one of law enforcement's most useful tools in solving crime. Do not take this tool away from them. Prosecutors should be encouraged to use it to make plea bargains to locate bodies or obtain confessions in cases that would be otherwise difficult or impossible to solve. Instruct prosecutors to seek sentences of life in prison. The number of cases in which murderers are sentenced to death should be kept to a minimum because the appeals are so costly.

Therefore, I respectfully ask Washington's state senators to vote against abolishing the death penalty. Thank you.

Should Washington Abolish the Death Penalty? My Experience at CRC

Today I would like to discuss something that I feel is important. I would like to discuss crime and punishment.

Senator Debbie Regala, Democrat-Tacoma, is sponsoring a bill that will abolish the death penalty in Washington State. Ms. Regala and her supporters claim that abolishing the death penalty will save the state millions of tax dollars -- millions of tax dollars that can be spent on other things. I have mixed feelings about the death penalty.

When I was a girl, my parents were devout Republicans. My father firmly believed that it was acceptable for the state to execute convicted murderers. He said that, when a person intentionally kills another, the killer forfeits his own life. As a teenager and as a young adult, I agreed with my father about the death penalty.

My feelings about executing criminals began to change when I worked at the California Rehabilitation Center in the early 1990's. CRC is a minimum security prison in Norco, California. California's courts often sentenced drugs addicts to civil commitment at CRC. This prison was also known as "Hotel California" because Don Henley of the Eagles was incarcerated there for nine months in 1969 for heroin addiction. Henley wrote many of the songs on the Eagles' "Hotel California" album while he was confined at CRC. The artwork on the album cover is a sketch of CRC as Henley remembered the prison.

I worked as a radiology technologist in the prison infirmary. I supervised two inmate radiology techs who were allowed to position other inmates for xray procedures, but were not allowed to operate the xray equipment. Both of these inmate radiology techs were convicted murderers who had studied radiology technology in prison. One was Afro-American. The other was Basque. Both of them had committed a gang-related murder when they were about 18 and had been in prison for about 20 years. Inappropriate behavior of any kind would have added a few more years to their sentences. Neither was willing to do anything that might jeopardize his chance to be released.

Both of these men were polite and courteous to me, but I forged a friendship with the Afro-American. He was from south central Los Angeles. He said his mother was only thirteen years old when he was born. He never really had a parent because his mother was a child herself. He had been in prison for years, but he was well-educated because he liked to read. He read at least two books per week. He especially liked to read books about Malcolm X and black history. Instead of arming himself with guns, he armed himself with knowledge.

Sometimes he would leave hand-written notes about his life on my desk. I encouraged him to write because I felt that he might be able to discourage minors from joining gangs and making the same mistakes he had made. In one note, he said that when he was a little boy, a neighbor had taken him to a Christian church and had him baptized. This was done without his mother's knowledge or permission. When his mother found out, she was livid. She hadn't wanted him to be baptized because she did not believe in God. From this experience, the little boy learned to hate God. I felt that it also placed him on a path going the wrong direction.

Working with two convicted murderers changed my opinion about the death penalty to a point. I didn't see them as "killers" or as "hardened criminals." I saw them as human beings who had made terrible mistakes. They were no longer teenage gangbangers who wanted to control and dominate their neighborhoods. They were mature men. I felt they could become productive members of our society.

At the same time, the prison's staff warned me that the men I supervised were inmates who were thoroughly "institutionalized." We could not predict how they would behave outside of prison. The staff said prisons have "revolving doors." After their release, many inmates resume their old tricks and are sent back to prison. For example, some drug addicts civilly committed to CRC couldn't make it out of the prison's parking lot before the guards caught them with needles in their arms again.

Washington's Winter Blast

On January 18, 2012, the Pacific Northwest experienced the first snow of the season and the worst snowstorm since 1954.

These photos show storm clouds rolling in from the Puget Sound. Unlike the Eastern Seaboard, Washington rarely experiences major snowstorms. Because we are located so close to the Puget Sound, snow rarely lasts here more than a couple of days. January's storm began with snow flurries over the weekend and gradually grew more intense. Winds as high as 110 miles per hour blasted the Oregon coast. On Wednesday and Thursday, record amounts of snow fell in western Washington. The storm hit our capitol city, Olympia, harder than Seattle.

Seven hundred and thirty-six traffic accidents were reported in Washington during the heaviest snowfall. One hundred and twenty of these accidents occurred south of Seattle in the Olympia area. Because Seattle has reversed its no salt on the roads policy, the city fared much better under Mayor Mike McGinn's direction than it did in 2008 when Greg Nickels was mayor. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's transportation department spent approximately 1.35 million dollars on the emergency storm response for liquid brine, rock salt, labor hours, etc.

With one exception, all the school districts in western Washington were closed. Most state and federal agencies were closed. The zoo was closed. State Route 18 was closed. Interstate 5 was clogged and congested. Airlines cancelled flights. Many commuters called it a snow day and stayed home. This gave children and families plenty of opportunities to sled, have snowball fights and build snowmen.

The snow and ice caused a lot of damage. Icicles hanging on the evergreens caused tree branches to snap and sometimes completely uprooted trees. If we have too many snowstorms, we won't be able to call Washington "the Evergeen State" any more. Power outages affected approximately 400,000 people. Puget Sound Energy is offering a $50 discount to residents who were without electricity for five days.