Free Republic

The rifle allegedly used in the cowardly slaying of Seattle Police Officer Timothy Q. Brenton on Halloween night is not a “military-style assault rifle” as asserted in a Seattle Times report, which was subsequently used by Seattle Weekly reporter Nina Shapiro in an attempt to blister a local gun rights advocate, Alan Gottlieb. Shapiro should have done some homework before rushing to smear Gottlieb. Reader reaction to her comments is essentially very negative. Indeed, when initially contacted about the gun – after the Seattle Times had published an image of the rifle on its website – one SPD information officer...

Some votes critical in determining the Seattle mayoral race may not get counted until next Tuesday. Vandals tried to get at a ballot drop box in Tukwila in the early morning hours after the election. "The metal cover plate that we seal the ballot drop box with at 8pm on Election night was ripped off," said Kim Van Ekstrom, with King County Elections. Ekstrom said the ballots themselves weren't tampered with because the box's design doesn't allow access unless you have the keys. The question is whether anything was slipped in that shouldn't have been. "They were in the process...

ELK, Wash. - The owner of a miniature horse says he was forced to shoot and kill three pit bulls that were mauling his animal. Thursday, the horse's owner told the Pend Oreille County Sheriff's Office the three dogs had come onto this property, off Juanita Lane and started attacking his horse. The man fired several warning shots to try and scare the dogs and when the warning shots did not work, the man turned his aim to the dogs, shooting all three. Two of the dogs died on the scene and the third ran off only to die later...

A press release and automated calls to voters by Seattle mayoral candidate Mike McGinn’s campaign, accusing opponent Joe Mallahan of wanting to “make it legal to bring loaded firearms to playgrounds, pools, and community centers,” was touching off dueling statements of lying and waffling Friday evening. And in response to a challenge from McGinn asking Mallahan to say whether he would defend in court a new ban on firearms in Seattle parks, community centers and other facilities where children might be present, Mallahan spokeswoman Charla Neuman was non-committal.

Workers at Boeing's 787 fuselage assembly plant in Charleston, S.C. have decisively voted to get rid of the Machinists union as their bargaining representative with the company. The vote was 199 for decertification of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union against 68 for retaining it. The vote means that Boeing Charleston becomes a non-union plant. It will compete with Boeing Everett, an IAM stronghold, to be the site of a second 787 Dreamliner assembly line. A decision on that site selection is expected by year end. Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said the company is pleased with the outcome. "Boeing...

A five-year-old Rossland boy has been hospitalized, treated and released after a cougar attack in Stevens Country, Wa., yesterday Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), issued a press release saying the child was attacked and injured while hiking with his family on the Abercrombie Mountain Trail, along Silver Creek in the Colville National Forest east of Northport. “His parents, of Rossland, British Columbia, reported a cougar suddenly jumped out of a brushy area onto the boy, who was near his mother on the trail,” said the release. “The mother reportedly fought off the cougar and the parents took the...

A Kennewick man who apparently wasn't wearing pants has been accused of harassing a neighbor's horse. The Tri-City Herald reports the horse's owner spotted a bald man without any pants chasing the horse about 3:30 a.m. Friday in a corral. Benton County sheriff's deputies identified 26-year-old man, who lives next door, as the suspect and he was jailed for investigation of trespassing. Deputies also had been called to the home near Finley Thursday evening when the owner saw the same bald man scaring the horse enough to break through an electrical and barb-wire fence. He was wearing a black T-shirt...

VANCOUVER, Wash. - A 78-year-old man with a licensed concealed pistol said he was trapped by two pit bulls he had never seen before, and the only way to survive was to shoot and kill one of dogs. Albert Gosiak (pronounced like go-shack) said he walked out of his East Vancouver house just for a minute Saturday morning. That's Albert Gosiak outside his Northeast Vancouver home. when he met two pit bulls in his walkway. Gosiak said the dogs were aggressive and he was trapped. He said he acted in self defense when he shot one of the pit bulls....

Seattle Times columnist Nicole Brodeur has never been a fan of guns, so when she recently wrote about trying her hand at shooting, and finding herself to be a pretty good pistol shot, that raised eyebrows, lots of them. Brodeur had earlier written about a convicted sex offender who had moved into her neighborhood, apparently about the same time that a woman named Teresa Butz had been brutally murdered in her South Park neighborhood home, and her partner had been nearly killed. At the range, my hands shook as I loaded the magazine, but then settled as I got more...

"Using sophisticated seismometers and global positioning systems, scientists have been able to track minute movements along two massive tectonic plates colliding 25 miles or so underneath the Puget Sound basin. Their early findings suggest a mega-earthquake could strike closer to Tacoma and Seattle than earlier thought. [snip] Earlier calculations creating a virtual earthquake using a supercomputer indicated that such a mega-earthquake in the Northwest could result in ground motion of 1.5 feet per second in Seattle, nearly six inches per second in Tacoma, Olympia and Vancouver, and three inches in Portland. That would be more than enough to cause major...

SPOKANE, Wash. -- When Donald Ross's sister passed, more than 100 people attended her funeral mass in Spokane. The burial was scheduled for a nearby cemetery, but Ross and his family only made it a quarter of a mile when flashing lights forced them to the side of the road. "Harold, his (my husband's) brother, said, 'You pulled us out of a funeral procession,'" said wife Shirley Ross. But the deputy kept them there, writing up five citations because the driver and the passengers were not wearing a seat belts. And the sheriff's department says he had every right. "We're...

A sheriff's deputy said he believes the dog shot in Finley last week was fired upon by a property owner out of self-defense, which is not a crime in rural Benton County. Cpl. Scott Winsor has been unable to locate the person who shot the dog -- which was put to sleep hours after being found by a Finley woman -- but said he's spoken to a witness. "What the witness told us is that the dog had been a stray out there for a while and had been causing problems," he said. After being found by the woman, not...

FERNDALE, Wash. -- A stabbing in Ferndale sent a man to the hospital, but the teen with the knife remains free. A 25-year-old and 16-year-old got into a fight in the Ace Hardware parking lot Tuesday afternoon, said Ferndale Police Lieutenant Bill Hatchett. Police initially arrested the teen, but then released him. “All the witnesses have told us that the adult male was physically assaulting the 16-year-old male, at which time the 16-year-old male pulled out a pocketknife that he carries in his pocket, and used it against the adult male,” said Hatchett. “After questioning him, getting his story and...

There's a scene in the 2008 movie "Lava Storm," a low-budget sci-fi flick about magma engulfing the globe, in which a volcanologist hatches a quixotic scheme to save humanity. He'll blow up the local dam to douse the rampaging inferno. Everyone doubts him, of course. "We can't save the world," says his wife. "No, baby," he shoots back. "But maybe we can buy it some time." It's so crazy, it just might work! That was about my reaction when I interviewed the writer and producer of "Lava Storm," West Seattle's Bill Hoffman, about his next big project. Which is, believe...

Let’s get this up front: One does not walk deliberately up to an armored car guard, aim a handgun at his face and unintentionally put a bullet through his head; a bullet that strikes an innocent bystander. But that is what 34-year-old Calvin Finley, one of four suspects in the brutal robbery/murder at the Lakewood Wal-Mart Tuesday, June 2 that left veteran guard Kurt Husted, 39, dead and customer Wilbert Pina wounded in the shoulder, is reportedly claiming in a court document that leaves one shuddering. Armed citizens carry guns not to commit heinous acts like this, but to defend...

When Washington State – which had not recorded a hunting fatality that involved a non-hunter in more than 25 years – saw two non-hunters killed during a single season last fall, more than eyebrows were raised. Also raised last year were voices—sometimes shrill—and blood pressures, but curiously, one of these tragic deaths elicited a lot more emotional reaction than the other. The first victim, Pamela Almli of Oso in Skagit County, was a hiker, and she was fatally shot while standing on a trail on the wide open slope of Sauk Mountain on the opening day of last year’s black...

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels might be having second thoughts about moving forward with his controversial "dangerous weapons" ban. The executive order would effectively prohibit the possession of firearms on most city-owned properties. The ban has naturally drawn the criticism of Second Amendment rights groups and also Attorney General Rob McKenna, who has stated that it violates state preemption statutes. In March, we wrote that the Mayor's office was still planning on following through with the ban, with it taking effect "sometime in May". Last year, a concealed pistol license (CPL) holder shot and wounded two people at the 2008 Folklife...

Few issues are more closely scrutinized or passionately debated than gun ownership laws. That's understandable — many would say imperative — because gun-related regulatory decisions can impact constitutional rights, public safety and the committing of violent crimes. Above all, there should be absolute clarity about gun-related laws on the books, and about law officers' enforcement of them. Because of that, Kitsap County's disorderly ambivalence about one of its own gun regulations seems deplorable. On Sunday, local members of the Open Carry Movement held a gun-packin' protest picnic at Silverdale Waterfront Park, a county park. Attendees openly carried handguns, in flagrant...

Gun-toting members of a firearms advocacy group took to Silverdale Waterfront Park on Sunday to protest a county ordinance that appears to be at odds with state law. Kitsap County bans firearms from its parks, despite state law that allows gun owners to carry arms in the open in most public places. County sheriff's deputies saw no reason to interfere with local members of the national organization Opencarry.org, which organized the Silverdale protest, Kitsap County Sheriff's Spokesman Scott Wilson said. At Sunday's event, Opencarry.org members gathered for a picnic while wearing guns on their hips. "We are aware of the...

A group called WhoSigned.org says it will publicize the names of people signing petitions for Referendum 71, which seeks a public vote to overturn a new expansion of Washington's same-sex partnerships. WhoSigned.org says it's partnering with the gay rights group KnowThyNeighbor.org to put the names online. In a live interview on KIRO FM's Dori Monson show on Monday, campaign director Brian Murphy said it is not their intention to harass those who signed the petitions. Murphy said they want to make the information available to the public which will "Allow people to have conversations with their neighbors, to be able...

Driving along I-5 in Fife, motorists are confronted with signage for fast-food restaurants and gas stations, which fight for space with advertisements for RV dealerships, car lots, and boat dealers. Nearby, a gigantic electronic billboard announces showtimes for '80s rock bands performing at the Emerald Queen Casino. Given all these distractions, one might miss the unobtrusive Adopt-a-Highway sign sponsored by Washington Open Carry. Every month, as many as a dozen or more volunteers perform litter control along a two-mile stretch between the Puyallup River Bridge and the 54th Avenue exit. Unlike your average Kiwanis, Boy Scout, or church group, they're...

SEATTLE - Desperate times are calling for desperate measures at food banks around the area. Longer lines and shorter tempers are now forcing some facilities to hire security guards to keep people safe. The need for increased security comes with food banks across the region seeing more people than ever before. Seattle’s Cherry Street Food Bank recently saw 2,651 people walk through their doors in a single day -- an all-time record. “It's a problem with people wanting more than they get, and not getting what they think they deserve,” said Cherry Street security guard Ron Washington. “Then, they have...

Kent/Renton, WA May 17, 2009 these pictures were taken from a mobile phone camera. They capture a black disk shaped object that stayed in middle of the sun for over 2 hours this afternoon. We first noticed it and took a picture around 12:50 PM and the last picture was taken around 3 PM. Several times during this encounter we saw 3 military jets flying directly at the object which remained stationary. We also noticed another light nearby that you can see changed directions and always had a nearby halo. You can see the streak in the sky from the...

At least two rallies are expected at the Capitol at noon Wednesday: • An 11:30 a.m. march from Olympia City Hall to the Capitol led by Olympia resident Ken Morse, a Republican who says he is concerned by federal spending growth. His event is called an Olympia Tea Party and is affiliated with American Families Association and its national TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party events. • A noon rally, which Morse's group will likely merge into, sponsored on the Capitol steps by the Olympia-based Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a conservative think tank. EFF is protesting state spending.

OLYMPIA — Senate Democrats introduced a bill today that would impose a 1 percent income tax on people making more than $500,000 a year. The bill sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, comes shortly after Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, began pondering the possibility of a state income tax on her blog. On Tuesday, Brown noted that New York is considering a similar measure. Brown wrote that New York's plan to increase existing state income tax rates on top earners would be "a fair and stable way" of dealing with that state's declining revenue. Brown's staff, however, said the...

SEATTLE — The Department of Homeland Security freed 27 illegal immigrants arrested during a workplace raid in February and offered them legal work permits, signaling a major departure from the immigration enforcement policy of the Bush administration. The Feb. 24 raid of an auto parts plant in Bellingham, Wash., netted 28 illegal immigrants. While one was deported, the remaining workers were released from custody and given employment authorization documents, or EADs, in exchange for cooperating with an ongoing investigation of their employer, Yamato Engine Specialists. • Click here for video.

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- For tens of thousands of convicted felons in Washington state, only one thing stands between them and the ballot box: debt. The Associated Press reported that under current law, felons can't vote until they have served their sentences, including the completion of any parole or probation, and paid all restitution and other court fees. A measure to remove that payment requirement -- opponents say it's akin to a modern-day "poll tax" -- has passed the House and awaits action in the Senate. If it becomes law, felons could simply re-register to vote once they're no longer in...

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Same-sex domestic partners would have all of the rights and benefits that Washington offers married couples under a measure passed by the state Senate.

A lot of priests know their way around a kitchen, but the Washington Post this week profiled one who is turning it into his own little apostolate. Take a look: Mass had been over only a few minutes and the Rev. Leo Patalinghug had already traded his green and gold robe for an apron, his priest's collar poking out over the top. He was chopping onions with the speed and flair of a celebrity chef --which he is. Sort of. The unusual cooking demonstration occurred on a recent afternoon at a Catholic bookstore in downtown Washington. About two dozen people...

WASHINGTON will become only the second US state to allow assisted suicide as its new "death with dignity" law takes effect. Under a ballot measure passed during November elections, physicians in the northwest state will be allowed to write prescriptions for lethal doses of drugs for terminally ill patients who have less than six months to live. Only one other US state - Oregon - has similar legislation, although a court in Montana recently ruled that terminally ill patients had the right to seek physician-assisted suicide. Supporters of the new Washington legislation, made possible by a 2006 US Supreme Court...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's likely third pick for Commerce secretary is former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, a senior administration official said Monday. Locke, a Democrat, was the nation's first Chinese-American governor when he served two terms in the Washington statehouse from 1997 to 2005.

NEVER-BEFORE-REVEALED TERRORIST TRAINING VIDEO EXPOSES 35 COMPOUNDS ON AMERICAN SOILBy Steve Foley - Posted on February 9th, 2009 Press Release from the Christian Action Network “Act like you are his friend. Then kill him.” – Sheik Muburak Gilani explaining how to kill American infidels Washington, DC—Christian Action Network will show Homegrown Jihad at the Landmark Theater in Washington, DC, on February 11, 2009, at 7:30 pm. There is no charge to attend the viewing. Copies can also be obtained at www.christianaction.org. The American public was never supposed to know. The 2006 Justice Department document that exposes 35 terrorist training compounds...

NEW YORK – As the Obama administration attempts to push through Congress a nearly $1 trillion deficit spending plan that is weighted heavily toward advancing typically Democratic-supported social welfare programs, a rebellion against the growing dominance of federal control is beginning to spread at the state level. So far, eight states have introduced resolutions declaring state sovereignty under the Ninth and Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, including Arizona, Hawaii, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington. Analysts expect that in addition, another 20 states may see similar measures introduced this year, including Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho,...

To hear the city's spin, Seattle's road crews are making "great progress" in clearing the ice-caked streets. But it turns out "plowed streets" in Seattle actually means "snow-packed," as in there's snow and ice left on major arterials by design. "We're trying to create a hard-packed surface," said Alex Wiggins, chief of staff for the Seattle Department of Transportation. "It doesn't look like anything you'd find in Chicago or New York." The city's approach means crews clear the roads enough for all-wheel and four-wheel-drive vehicles, or those with front-wheel drive cars as long as they are using chains, Wiggins said....

This past week, Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington State allowed—in the spirit of multiculturalism and intellectual-immolation for which the Northwest is (in)famous—a large sign to be placed next to a Nativity scene and a Christmas holiday tree (and a menorah) in the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington: "At this season of THE WINTER SOLSTICE may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." Yes, I am truly shocked: I cannot believe that a Nativity scene and...

As Gov. Chris Gregoire and Dino Rossi face off in this election, they're treading familiar waters - an extremely close race. Recent polls have shown the race to be virtually even and perhaps close enough for a recount, as happened in the 2004 election, when Rossi lost by 133 votes after two recounts and a lawsuit. Both candidates have made agriculture an important issue, and both have met with farmers across the state. Although the state's Farm Bureau endorsed Rossi, other ag groups do not endorse candidates, so just where the candidates stand in the broader ag community remains an...

Despite questions about their voting eligibility, nearly 24,000 convicted felons in Washington state will receive ballots for November’s election, according to a report by Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle. Snip.

The two go hand and hand here in the Northwest, as columnist Joel Connelly points out in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (September 22, 2008): IN AN AMERICA where any remark hinting of prejudice can force its maker into endless mea culpas, the mocking of a world religious leader ought to invite political suicide. But one religion, the Catholic Church, seems to be exempt -- at least by some advocates of Initiative 1000, which would legalize physician-assisted suicide. Pope Benedict XVI took an anti-euthanasia message to Lourdes last week, saying, "A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping...

Barack Obama’s old friends at ACORN have been busy this election cycle. The McCain campaign had a golden opportunity to bring the left-wing, tax-subsidized con artists to light, but McCain’s already blown it with his effusive praise for Obama’s “outstanding” community organizer record last week at Columbia University. Anyway, we forge ahead. Hoping the truth will get out there. Hoping that people will change their minds about Obama and his radical Chicago-based racket of election saboteurs and anti-free market thugs. Hoping that someone else in the MSM will start asking pointed questions about the $800,000 Obama failed to report in...

Pentagon Makes Fighting Extremism Top Priority Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Pentagon on Thursday officially named "the long war" against global extremism as its top priority and pledged to avert any conventional military threat from China or Russia through dialogue. The Defense Department, in a new national defense strategy, also emphasized the need to subordinate military operations to "soft power" initiatives to undermine Islamist militancy by promoting economic, political and social development in vulnerable corners of the world. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the change would help establish permanent institutional support for counterinsurgency skills...

Your daily routine -- switching on a light, cooking a meal, driving down the street -- would generate less greenhouse gases under a first-of-its-kind regional strategy to curb global warming unveiled Wednesday at the state Capitol in Salem. The strategy emerged from the Western Climate Initiative, an alliance of Western states -- including Oregon and Washington -- and Canadian provinces trying to jump ahead of any federal move to regulate greenhouse gases. Large utility companies and factory owners would feel the effects first, followed by fuel distributors, as they face limits on their greenhouse gas emissions. Individual Oregonians would not...

SPOKANE, Wash. — New wildfires pushed by strong winds burned three homes in a wooded area of suburban Spokane Valley late Thursday, and other homes were being evacuated. KREM-TV video showed three houses in flames in the Dishman Hills area, where winds reported gusted as high as 50 miles per hour.

EVERETT -- Eleven years ago, Sabrina M. Weiner graduated as a valedictorian at Kamiak High School near Everett. She was a National Merit Scholar, aiming for a bright future after earning a Navy ROTC scholarship to Stanford University. Two months ago, Weiner, 27, forfeited her Navy career after seven years on active and reserve duty, during which she rose to the rank of lieutenant. In a rare instance involving a commissioned officer, Weiner was arrested and given a choice between a court-martial or less-than-honorable discharge after refusing to serve in Iraq. Speaking publicly for the first time about it, Weiner...

...at the mere mention of doing the pledge [of allegiance] there were groans and boos. Then, when the district chair put the idea of doing the Pledge of Allegiance up to a vote, it was OVERWHELMINGLY VOTED DOWN. One might more accurately say the idea of pledging allegiance to the flag (of which only one in the room, by the way, on some delegate's hate) was shouted down...

The hunter may soon become the hunted at Bonneville Dam. Sea lions have in recent years converted the damÂ’s forebay into their own salmon buffet line, but soon they may eat their last meal. Federal authorities last week granted a request by the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho to shoot California sea lions believed to be taking a chunk of salmon stocks that have already dwindled nearly to the point of extinction. The issue pits one creature against another, but it more fundamentally raises questions about humansÂ’ role in trying to strike a balance. Ultimately, itÂ’s likely someone will...

About 150 people -- those opposed to the Iraq War and those supporting it -- gathered noisily outside a Tacoma Mall office building on Saturday. A group known as World Can't Wait had organized an anti-war protest to mark the coming fifth anniversary of the Iraq War. But long before their protest was scheduled to begin, counter-protesters arrived. The counter-protesters surrounded an office building that houses military recruiting offices, which anti-war protesters had said they planned to "shut down." They shouted "God bless our troops" and waved American flags.

The polls don't close for 25 hours, but it's never too early to start a live thread. Actually, very few people will actually go to "the polls" on Tuesday. The state is almost entirely "vote by mail". Voting has been going on for more than two weeks.

The Cauci don't begin until 1pm pacific time, but it's never too early to start a live thread.

Cars blamed for global warming; Eyman fires backOLYMPIA -- Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, want car owners to warm to the inconvenient truth of cutting vehicle emissions. And they're aiming for a place all drivers will feel it -- the pocket. Senate Bill 6923 would impose a vehicle excise tax on all passenger vehicles based on EPA ratings of a cars' fuel efficiency. For example, the owner of a hybrid car such as, say, a Toyota Prius, would pay $60 in annual taxes, whereas the owner of a Hummer H3 would pay $180 a year. "The...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on efforts to censor Christmas: “We haven’t hit December yet and already the politically correct police are out in force trying to censor Christmas. Here’s a sample: · For 75 years, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce sponsored the ‘Hollywood Christmas Parade.’ When it refused to sponsor the parade this year, the L.A. City Council took over, renaming it the ‘Hollywood Santa Parade.’ · The Department of Housing and Urban Development has censored Christmas religious symbols from its housing complexes. · No Christmas decorations are allowed on school buses in parts of Vermont. ·...