Free Republic

Saba Ahmed, the young Muslim woman from Beaverton who ran in the Democratic primary for Oregon's 1st District congressional seat, says she has switched to the Republican Party. From her Facebook page: "Never thought I would see this day, but I am officially a registered REPUBLICAN. Thank you to all the Oregon Democrats for helping me realize my Conservative Potential. Looking forward to 2012 Republican Victories!" Ahmed, who had interned for then-Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, has been a frequent participant in Democratic events. She received less than a half-percent of the votes in last week's primary. She...

Beaverton School District has a $543,000 hole to fill in its special education fund next school year because staff disciplined a higher ratio of Latino students in special education than in the general school population. The district is one of three in the Portland area to get dinged for suspending and expelling a disproportionate ratio of minorities in special education, based on a federal law the state began enforcing in 2008. The law, part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, was created to help deal with a decades-old national problem -- minorities are over-represented in special education. Under the...

BEAVERTON, Ore. -- Beaverton remains in full party-planning mode for Mexico's bicentennial despite outcry from pundits across the country. The city's celebration is scheduled for Thursday at City Park. City officials said they planned to mark the bicentennial because a large number of residents said they wanted more international festivals as part of Beaverton's community vision project. The city's budget committee then set aside $6,000 for the bicentennial. A number of conservative commentators criticized the decision to spend money on Mexico's independence, but not on America's independence. Thursday, Sept. 16 will mark the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain....

BEAVERTON, Ore. -- The City of Beaverton has expanded the scope of a celebration that started out as a party for Mexico's Independence Day. The city on Friday announced they were broadening the festival to recognize National Hispanic Heritage Month for the "Year of the Bicentennial" in the Americas as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico all marking 200 years of independence over the month. It was scheduled for September 16 at 6 p.m. at Beaverton's City Park. Earlier this week, controversy erupted when radio commentator Lars Larson interviewed Beaverton City Commissioner Betty Bode to ask why the city was officially...

Beaverton middle school teacher Jason Levin, who founded the now notorious "Crash the Tea Party" website, is no longer a teacher. Jason Levin Levin resigned Wednesday in lieu of termination, said Beaverton School District Legal Counsel Camellia Osterink. District officials would not say why Levin was facing dismissal, but that it followed an internal investigation into his use of public resources and time spent at school. "There was some question whether that conduct occurred during the work day," Osterink said of Levin's work on the website. Reached today, Levin said, "My attorney has advised me not to comment." His attorney,...

We had an excellent turnout in beautiful weather. I was surprised by how many people showed up. For a city of 80,000 in an area that votes liberal, I was expecting a few dozen, but we had hundreds at least, and I heard some people say they thought we had at least 1,000 show up and many cars were honking and waving as they drove by. While there I got to talking with a guy who was from Russia. He said that he left Russia to escape Communism and now our government is trying to bring it here. He had...

<p>In a tiny meeting cubicle at Multnomah County Detention Center, AvNell Mayfield watched as her son Brandon sat in blue prison scrubs, tried to touch his wife's hand through a heavy glass partition and spoke in reassuring tones through a telephone receiver attached to the wall.</p>

BEAVERTON, Ore. - Beaverton Police think an area softball coach ran away with one of the girls on his team. Investigators say 15-year-old Michelle Elizabeth Smith has been missing since September 26. A friend told officers Smith wrote a note hinting that she was running away. The missing girl, who also goes by the name Mimi, has not been seen or heard from since. Friends and family told police they had reason to suspect that Smith left with her 38-year-old softball coach, Andrew James Garver. Investigators later learned that Garver had been absent from work for several days, liquidated some...

Four days ago Warblogging reported on the story of Maher (Mike) Hawash. Mr. Hawash's problems have now been the subject of an article in the New York Times. Mr. Hawash is a programmer, working at Intel, who was detained by the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force as a material witness. He has so far spent just about two weeks in jail without being charged with a crime and without being questioned or told why he is detained. He is being kept in solitary confinement. Mr. Hawash was detained by FBI agents wearing helments, body armor and carrying assault rifles...