Portland starts to issue same-sex \nmarriage licenses
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Wednesday gay and lesbian couples started tying the knot in Portland after the county issued same-sex marriage licenses, joining the rapidly spreading national movement in San Francisco and upstate New York.\nMeanwhile, New York's attorney general joined the national debate, saying current state law prohibits same-sex weddings and mayors should not preside over them. But he said he would leave it to the courts to decide if the law is constitutional. In Washington, D.C., lawmakers debated the issue, with Republican senators such as Majority Leader Bill Frist asking Congress to embrace a constitutional amendment banning them.\n"Same-sex marriage is likely to spread through all 50 states in the coming years," Frist said. "It is becoming increasingly clear that Congress must act."
Woman guilty of stabbing husband 193 times
HOUSTON -- A jury Wednesday convicted a woman of murder for stabbing her husband 193 times, rejecting her claim that she acted in self-defense after years of abuse.\nSusan Wright, 27, could get up to 99 years in prison. The sentencing phase was to begin in the afternoon.\nProsecutors said she killed Jeffrey Wright in 2003 to collect on his $200,000 life insurance policy.\nJeffrey Wright, 34, was found buried in the couple's back yard after Susan Wright's attorney reported the body to authorities.
Law will ease limits on same-sex public schools
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Public schools are about to get broad new freedom to teach boys and girls separately, perhaps the biggest shakeup to coed classrooms in three decades.\nThe Education Department plans to change its enforcement of Title IX, the landmark anti-discrimination law, to make it easier for districts to create single-sex classes and schools. The move would give local school leaders discretion to expand choices for parents, whether that means a math class, a grade level or an entire school designed for one gender.\nU.S. research on single-sex schooling is limited, but advocates say it shows better student achievement and attendance and fewer discipline problems. But critics say there is no clear evidence and single-sex learning doesn't get students ready for an integrated world.
