Free Republic

A report recently released by US News & World Report has revealed that Washington and Oregon are among the most dangerous states in the nation. The report, which relied on the latest data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations for corrections outcomes and public safety, put Oregon, the Beaver State, in 46th place while its neighbor to the north came in 39th. According to the data, Oregon had an incarceration rate of 295 per 100,000 residents, and a juvenile incarceration rate of 121 per 100,000 juveniles. The violent crime rate sat at 342 per 100,000 residents, slightly lower than the...

District actively promoted non-religious groups, including a Pride Club and Green Team... A school district that just weeks ago had refused students permission to begin an interfaith prayer club – even though a wide range of other special interest organizations like a Pride club and a Green club were approved – abruptly has reversed itself. "We are very pleased that the Issaquah School District is allowing our clients to start a prayer club at their school this spring," explained Kayla Toney, associate counsel at First Liberty Institute,.. "Schools should always respect the religious beliefs of their students. This is a...

A Catholic school teacher in Washington state says she will not be returning to the school where she has taught for years for the next academic school year because she is marrying a woman. Parents of students at St. Luke School in Shoreline are upset by the school's decision to let go of a talented kindergarten educator who has been with the school for four years. Karen Pala's contract was not renewed by the school's head pastor, Father Brad Hagelin, due to her plans to marry a woman over the summer. In the text of a letter sent to parents,...

A presidential election poll conducted April 16 through 23 by The Bullfinch Group, has the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald J Trump, winning Washington state in a 5-way race with current presidential contenders Joe Biden (D), Robert F Kennedy Jr (I), Jill Stein (G), and Cornel West (I). According to the poll, which is sponsored by The Independent Center, Trump leads with 40%, to Biden’s 35%, Kennedy has 13%, Stein is at 4% West came in at 1%, and approximately 8% of respondents were unsure who they would be voting for president. What may provide some additional insight, is that 45%...

Last night, Antifa & Hamas supporters were given complete control of the center of the @UW campus by the administration & barricades to enforce it. Students were not allowed to walk freely on campus This group of students was told "No Jews Allowed" This is the Little Gaza encampment that @washdems & @shasticonrad @thestranger & @crosscut call "peaceful" Unfortunately, I stopped recording and missed when one of the students face-timed their parents to show them the barricade and said "This is what you are paying $60,000 a year for. Your son isn't allowed to walk on campus"

OPINION China’s recent outcry over the alleged breach of ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ with the Philippines reveals a profound irony, given the history of its coercion and deceit There is a huge amount of insincerity and gall involved in the Chinese complaint that the Philippines had torn up the bilateral ‘Gentleman’s Agreement,’ between Beijing and Manila. While the term ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ has an implicit assumption of ‘trust’ as a fundamental tenet besting a relationship, which may otherwise not be legally binding -- to even imagine that there has been any element of ‘trust’ between these two sparing countries, is to put oneself...

Anti-Israel protesters vandalized a statue of George Washington on the George Washington University (GWU) campus in Washington, DC, draping it with a Palestinian flag. The statue, which is at the entrance to the anti-Israel encampment on the university’s campus, has a Palestinian flag draped in the back. The words “Genocidal Warmongering University” are written in paint at the base of the statue and across the top half of the statue’s plaque. Flowers and smaller signs were also seen resting along the base of the statue as of Tuesday morning.

One strategy for state officials looking to transition Washington’s transportation sector to electric vehicles is by subsidizing them with taxpayer dollars.This week, Gov. Jay Inslee announced $45 million in subsidies through a Department of Commerce grant program for families deemed “low-income” to purchase an EV. “Washingtonians really get it when it comes to electric vehicles,” Inslee said at a Wednesday news conference in Tukwila.The program provides up to $9,000 for families to lease an EV, or $5,000 to purchase one. The grant program allows them to purchase either new or used EVs. The funding would be available to those who...

Several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters descended on a Washington hotel Saturday where President Biden was speaking at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The protesters chanted slogans such as “shame on you for breaking bread,” in opposition to Israel’s war on Hamas and President Biden’s support for Israel. They confronted guests who were dressed in formal attire arriving at the hotel and made their way into the hotel lobby at one point amid heavy security. Code PINK, a non-profit organization that has heavily scrutinized the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, announced a plan earlier this week to set up...

We have often discussed how cities and universities will use the threat of protests to block or shutdown free speech, particularly of conservative speakers or groups. We now have a major decision out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that could prove an important precedent in resisting the growing anti-free speech movement in the United States. In Meinecke v. City of Seattle, the court ruled against Seattle in a case involving the arrest of a pro-life protester. Matthew Meinecke was harassed by Antifa and other counterprotesters, but police arrested Meineche when he refused to yield...

A group of House Democrats on Tuesday announced they would move to codify federal protections for transgender people. The proposal, dubbed the “Transgender Bill of Rights,” would codify the Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision that protects employees against discrimination for being gay or transgender. The proposal would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to explicitly include protections for gender identity and sex characteristics, expand access to gender-affirming care and ban conversion therapy. It would also require the attorney general to designate a liaison dedicated to overseeing enforcement of civil rights for transgender people and invest in...

Lululemon, a Canadian athletic apparel retailer, revealed that it will be closing its warehouse in Sumner, Washington, by the end of the year, laying off more than 100 employees. The athletic apparel company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with Washington’s Employment Security Department (ESD) on Thursday. In the notice on the ESD’s website, Lululemon says layoffs at the 150,000-square-foot warehouse will begin on June 21, with 128 employees expected to be laid off.

What are the ramifications and true reality of breaching the dams of the pacific northwest (PNW)? Please begin with our first article. Here in Part 2, we bring you additional information on the potential effects of dam breaching on the movement of wheat and other grains from Idaho, Oregon, and Washington farms to the Portland harbor for distribution worldwide. According to the Port of Portland, “The Portland harbor exports the largest volume of wheat in the United States” and “The Columbia River is the third largest grain exporting center in the world.” In particular, this installment addresses omissions from the...

The Borderline Dance team, a regional women’s country line dance team, was invited to the Emerald City Hoedown in Seattle last weekend to perform by event organizers, the Rain Country Dance Association. Rain Country Dance Association describes itself as creating “a friendly environment for LGBTQ people and friends to meet and dance in the Pacific Northwest. We support this Country Western dance community by providing opportunities to dance, learn, and perform. We cater to the LGBTQ community of Seattle and Greater Puget Sound but are open to However, The Borderline Dance team’s American flag-themed shirts resulted in them being “effectively...

One of the first openly transgender attorneys in Washington state has proven that her unique appearance has no impact on her success as a lawyer in her small town. Lawyer Stephanie Mueller, 70, has been open about her background and says it has no impact on her ability as a public defender. 'I get good results because I'm a good lawyer. This is very, very fabulous,' Mueller once said. Despite her unique appearance, Mueller insists she has been 'treated with complete respect and great acceptance' since transitioning in 2012 - at the age of 58. 'It's really important to know...

Fiscal conservatives are winning in — of all places — the state of Washington. Members of the Democratic-dominated state Legislature have passed three initiatives that are part of a six-part strategy developed by conservatives in that state. Leaders of the conservative group Let’s Go Washington announced late last year that they had collected enough signatures to force six referendum questions on the November 2024 ballot. In the past, some might have argued that conservatives were on life support in the state of Washington. The state has the nation’s longest streak of Democratic governors. The last Republican elected governor was John...

The Biden administration's plan to relocate grizzly bear populations to rural parts of Washington State will have a devastating impact on agriculture and livestock in the region while posing a significant danger to local communities, a fifth generation cattle producer warned. Residents of Washington State are doubling down on their concerns surrounding the federal government's plan to translocate grizzly bears, an apex predator, to the federally-managed North Cascades National Park, after the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the strategy their preferred plan for grizzly bear management in the region. The North Cascades National Park borders...

Democrats run the state of Washington with almost no Republican opposition, and, apparently, there are so many unreported hate crimes that lawmakers have set up a snitch line. We don’t have anywhere near these problems where I live — you know, in MAGALand — but wherever Democrats run things, you get hate, racism, and bigotry, on top of crime, poverty, drug addiction, and homelessness.

The Daily Mail reports that eight states are planning to BAN the sale of gas-powered cars entirely – after Biden unveiled ambitious plans to phase them out by 2032. California was the first state to adopt the plan to ban sales of gas cars by 2035. Electric vehicles made up 7.6 percent of new car sales in the US last year. It seems clear that the government will ban gas stations at some point, and they don’t seem to care that you can’t afford an EV. The rule, first adopted by California, means that automakers and dealerships would be banned...

At least eight states are planning to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in the next decade - and others are considering joining them. Only zero-emission vehicles can be sold in participating states beginning from the 2035 model year, according to the Advanced Clean Cars II legislation. The rule, which was first adopted by California, means that automakers and dealerships would be banned from selling new gas cars in these states from that point onwards.