Free Republic

Rally #1 @ Spokane Convention Center - Exhibit Hall A & B @ 12pm PDT Spokane, Washington Is a city in the state of Washington, in the northwestern United States. It is the seat of Spokane County. It is located on the Spokane River, west of the Rocky Mountain foothills in eastern Washington, 92 miles (148 km) south of the Canadian border, approximately 20 miles (30 km) from the Washington–Idaho border, and 280 miles (450 km) east of Seattle along Interstate 90. The city and wider Inland Northwest region is served by Spokane International Airport, 5 miles (8 km) west...

Beginning March 14, 2016, a number of small magnitude earthquakes have occurred beneath Mount St. Helens, at a depth between 2 and 7 km (1.2 to 4 miles). Over the last 8 weeks, there have been over 130 earthquakes formally located by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and many more earthquakes too small to be located. The earthquakes have low magnitudes of 0.5 or less; the largest a magnitude 1.3. Earthquake rates have been steadily increasing since March, reaching nearly 40 located earthquakes per week. These earthquakes are too small to be felt at the surface. The earthquakes are volcano-tectonic...

SULTAN, Wash. -- Four shots fired. Three hit the intruder. It was one surreal moment, says Barb Moles. "I was just intent upon stopping him. I didn't have any other thought in my head," says Moles. "I just knew I had to stop him." Moles, 80, was home with her husband, John, and their adult son Thursday night when she says she heard a commotion. She walked into the kitchen and found her husband bleeding on the floor. John, a retired Boeing worker, had been attacked with a knife and beaten with a crowbar, authorities said. He said three words...

Kasich heading back to Ohio, cancelling events in WA. He will make state at 5.00 pm Ohio Time.

Well, so much for suspense. The networks called Indiana for Donald Trump about five seconds after the polls closed, and within two hours Ted Cruz announced he was suspending his campaign. Trump is winning a majority of the vote and will likely win all 57 delegates. Even if a few delegates stray back across the line, this win clinched the nomination for Trump. He will now have well over 1,000 bound delegates, which is less than 200 from what he needs to make it a lock. And that's without the unbound delegates he definitely has in Pennsylvania and is sure...

To help address the nation's pressing need for better air quality, the U.S. EPA has awarded a research team co-led by a University of Washington civil engineer a $10 million Air, Climate and Energy (ACE) grant. The researchers will use a new approach combining air pollution research with the related areas of climate change and energy usage. Since air pollution and climate change are both largely caused by the combustion of fossil fuels, this integrated approach will address commonalities and encourage solutions that will positively impact all three areas. "A critical need facing our country is addressing air pollution and...

Bill Gates said investment gains should be taxed at the same level as ordinary income — a bold call for one of the world's largest investors. Speaking Monday on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Gates said that he's "pleased" that there is more discussion around changing the tax code. When asked what he would alter, Gates sided with his pal Warren Buffett and said he supports raising the earned income tax credit. But Gates also said he would raise the tax rate for capital gains — the largest source of income for the richest Americans. The current top tax rate on capital...

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a challenge to Seattle's $15-an-hour minimum wage from franchise owners who say the law discriminates against them by treating them as large businesses. Seattle was one of the first cities in the nation to adopt a law aiming for a $15 minimum wage, giving small businesses employing fewer than 500 people seven years to phase it in. Large employers must do so over three or four years, depending on whether they offer health insurance to their employees. Franchises say they are small businesses and should have more time to phase in the higher...

Hurling rocks, bricks and even Molotov cocktails, anti-capitalist protesters clashed with police in downtown Seattle Sunday, as May Day mayhem erupted again following a peaceful march.By 10:30 p.m., at least five officers had been injured and at least nine people had been arrested, Seattle police reported. One injured officer suffered a gash to his head when he was struck by a rock.Police said Monday that all five officers were at home recovering from their injuries.The city unleashed a massive deployment of police officers in riot gear — on foot, on bicycles, on horseback and in vehicles — to control the...

EXCERPTS "When John Boehner calls me 'Lucifer,' he's not directing that at me," the GOP presidential candidate and Florida senator said in a Fort Wayne, Indiana press conference Thursday morning. "He's directing that at you. What Boehner is angry with me for is not something I've ever said to him. What Boehner is angry with me for is standing with the American people and energizing and encouraging House conservatives to stand with the American people and actually honor the commitments we've made." (snip) "If I said 50 words in my life to John Boehner, I'd be surprised," said Cruz, nothing...

We are re-upping this post from early 2014 in light of Boehner labeling Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh" and saying, "I've never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life." Here's where their work together began, two decades ago. For what it's worth, Cruz downplayed their relationship Thursday in his comments responding to Boehner. "I've met John Boehner two or three times in my life," he assured. As we show below, that's not entirely accurate.

Former House Speaker John Boehner ripped into Sen. Ted Cruz in a memorable fashion during a Wednesday appearance, prompting Cruz to say he "doesn't know" Boehner. "I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life," Boehner said, dubbing Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh." But a closer look at their history reveals the two weren't always enemies. In fact, long before Boehner saw Cruz as Lucifer, the 2016 Republican presidential candidate was actually his lawyer.

The media is working hard to convince you that they caught Ted Cruz in a lie about working with John Boehner. But they are the ones lying, as usual.During an interview hosted by Stanford in Government (SIG) and the Stanford Speakers Bureau, former House Speaker John Boehner referred to presidential candidate Ted Cruz as “Lucifer in the flesh.” He continued, “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.”But Boehner did not “work” with Ted Cruz. Boehner only worked...

Cruz also told reporters gathered in Fort Wayne, Indiana that he’d only met Boehner “two or three times.” Which, in terms of actual numbers, may or may not be true, but the depth of these meetings was far greater than Cruz’s statements suggested. That’s because he worked as Boehner’s attorney during the Ohio representative’s federal lawsuit against Washington representative Jim McDermott in 1998.

A Seattle man accused of threatening to cut out U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott's tongue now faces felony charges. King County prosecutors claim Jasper K. Bell made the threat because he was upset that McDermott, D-Seattle, was supporting Hillary Clinton for president.

One of the nice things about being in a late vote state is the candidates least worthy of office have usually dropped out by May, so my vote is not thrown away. From the get go I have been a Cruz supporter, and Trump was my second choice. I still do belive that Cruz is a better representative of conservative values, however the reality is he cannot get the required delegates by the end of the primaries to avoid a brokered convention where the GOPee can shoehorn a Jeb or Romney into the general election and completely circumvent the entire...

A state judge threw out a portion of a Seattle ordinance requiring garbage collectors to snoop through residents’ trash in search of food waste, calling the provision unconstitutional. King County Superior Court Judge Beth M. Andrus issued an injunction against the garbage inspections but not Seattle’s residential food-waste ban, which forbids throwing away food scraps and compostable paper.

A Washington State couple who abused a young boy, in part, by forcing him to live on a bizarre hot dog smoothie have been handed lengthy prison sentences. Prosecutors argued in court that Christopher Sefton and Lori Lloyd forced Sefton's 6-year-old son to live on a blended cocktail of hot dogs and cooking oil while physically abusing him and forcing him to work out and restricting his sleep, according to KOMO. The boy, identified only as K., was reportedly emaciated and feeding himself out of school trash cans when officials finally came to his aid ...

QUINAULT tribal members can attest to the urgency of climate change from an up-close and personal perspective. We're being forced to relocate part of our village of Taholah on the Washington coast. Ocean encroachment, increasingly severe storm surges and flooding are forcing more than 1,000 of our people to permanently move to higher ground. Tribes are not primary contributors to weather changes. Blame it on industrial smoke stacks, thousands of cars that clog the freeways and exploiters who destroy natural habitat. But we're often the first to feel the impact because of our proximity and connection with rivers, inland seas...

A politically-motivated vandal in Washington State admittedly vandalized a Trump supporter’s car, slashing its tires and dumping rotten yogurt through its sun roof, according to a police report filed last Monday. The suspect Riley M. Silva of Gig Harbour, Washington, confessed his crime to the police. Showing no sign of remorse, he claimed his victim was an “ignorant bigot” and that he “improved the community” by vandalizing the car. According to the report, the culprit became angry after noticing that the car sported a Donald Trump sticker. His full confession to the police, which was originally posted on the blog...