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TACOMA - A key participant in the 2001 arson that destroyed the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture was sentenced Friday to five years in federal prison. Jennifer L. Kolar, 33, of Seattle also was ordered to pay more than $7.1 million in restitution in connection with the fire, which also destroyed priceless research projects and endangered plants. The sentencing, by U.S. District Judge Franklin D. Burgess, came after Kolar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson, two counts of arson, one count of attempted arson and using a destructive device during a crime of violence. Kolar was part...

Obama has always been in favor of banning handguns. In his answers to the 1998 Illinois State Legislative National Political Awareness Test, Obama said he favored a ban on “the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons.” The problem with that position is that Justice Scalia's opinion stated that handguns, not just revolvers, not just semi-automatics, but handguns generally, are protected under the 2nd Amendment: The handgun ban amounts to a prohibition of an entire class of “arms” that is overwhelmingly chosen by American society for that lawful purpose. Under any of the standards of scrutiny that we...

WaMu shares were down over 25% in midday trading. Lehman Brothers analysts in a note Monday said WaMu could be forced to substantially boost its reserves to cover an estimated $28 billion of losses on the balance sheet, with $21 billion coming from mortgages.

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.

heik Muhammad Taqi Usmani has been a rock star of the Islamic finance world, sitting on the sharia supervisory boards of no fewer than a dozen Islamic banks and financial institutions worldwide. For nearly a decade, the mufti also has advised the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index, which licenses more than 25 stock funds that comply with Islamic laws forbidding certain Western-style investments. The venerable Dow Jones & Co. first retained him in 1999. Usmani’s name is now missing from the Dow Jones website, where it had previously been prominently displayed. His bio and photo suddenly vanished without explanation.

George Washington 1789 - fragments of the Draft First Inaugural Address The blessed Religion revealed in the word of God will remain an eternal and awful monument to prove that the best Institution may be abused by human depravity; and that they may even, in some instances be made subservient to the vilest purposes. Should, hereafter, those incited by the lust of power and prompted by the Supineness or venality of their Constituents, overleap the known barriers of this Constitution and violate the unalienable rights of humanity: it will only serve to shew, that no compact among men (however provident...

So where does the average citizen stand in the eyes of those who occupy the offices at Capitol Hill? Check out this "Geeks On Caffeine" cartoon, and it will become crystal clear...BEFORE you even get through the security check! NOTE: The author has requested that you visit the web site and refrain from copying the cartoon into the body of this thread. Thank you very much!

Washington is poised to make driving while talking on hand-held cell phones illegal. New Jersey has already been down this road. The cell-phone ban for Washington will start Tuesday and will be similar to a New Jersey law that went into effect in 2003. Washington's law makes it a secondary offense. That means police must find a driver committing another violation such as speeding before stopping drivers for holding a cell phone up to their ear. New Jersey's law also began as a secondary offense. State officials there found the law toothless and difficult to enforce, said William Cicchetti,...

Cell-phone-driving ban takes effect July 1 in Washington On July 1, the new law takes effect in Washington that bans driving while using a hand-held cell phone.   OLYMPIA, Wash. — On July 1, the new law takes effect in Washington that bans driving while using a hand-held cell phone.Drivers caught holding a mobile phone to their ear risk a $124 ticket. To talk on a phone drivers should use a handsfree headset or speaker phone. But, the law allows exceptions for people reporting an emergency or crime.The violation is a so-called secondary offense. That means an officer must...

Money poured in for a recount in Christine Gregoire's close race against Dino Rossi. Those supporters — including unions and a tribal-gambling group — have benefited during the governor's first termOLYMPIA — In late 2004, when Christine Gregoire's bid to become governor was engulfed in legal challenges, the state Democratic Party sent out a plea for help. The checks started rolling in almost immediately — $250,000 from the state's largest public-employee union, $50,000 from a tribal-gambling group, $25,000 from the state's main teachers union. Major national political groups also weighed in. That money, more so than the millions Gregoire received...

Governor says deal curbs the growth of Indian gamblingOLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire is benefiting from more than $650,000 in campaign contributions from Indian tribes that hit the jackpot in 2005 when she killed a gambling compact potentially worth more than $140 million a year to the state. Unlike 22 other states that collect millions from revenue sharing agreements for tribal gambling, Washington gets no money from tribal casinos under the compact that Gregoire renegotiated with the Spokane Tribe. Gregoire backed away from the 2005 agreement that included revenue sharing in an attempt to keep gambling from expanding too quickly...

The government wants to know who's fishing for fun in federal ocean waters. Recreational anglers and spearfishers would be required to be registered... NOAA's Fisheries Service said it wants to get more accurate data on recreational fish catches. Commercial fishers already need licenses or permits and thus would not have to register again... The registry ...fishing anywhere for what are called anadromous species, such as striped bass, salmon and shad, that spawn in rivers and streams and spend their adult lives in estuaries and the ocean. Registrations will include an angler's name, address, telephone number and the regions where fishing...

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has signed an executive order that asks all departments to come up with a plan within 30 days to ban guns at all property owned by the city. The mayor's office says a public hearing will be held to gather comment on Monday's order but it does not require city council approval.Nickels says the added gun restriction is needed because of a shooting at last month's Folklife Festival at the Seattle Center that wounded two people.

Even with the skies overcast and threatening rain, Khang Nguyen, 18, and Joel Juan, 19, kicked back after school at Alki Beach."It's just a relaxing way to hang out with friends," Nguyen said of the bonfire crackling in front of them one evening earlier this week.But Seattle Parks and Recreation might do what even this week's chilly weather couldn't -- douse the long tradition of beach bonfires at Alki and at Golden Gardens.Park department staff is recommending reducing bonfires at the two beaches this summer and possibly banning them altogether next year.The park board will hear the recommendation Thursday, and...

Four of eight people charged with felonies in connection with a Feb. 15 riot at The Evergreen State College have been accepted into a diversion program that could allow them to plead guilty to misdemeanors, court papers state. The charges will be reduced only if the four complete the program and pay Evergreen back a total of $44,694 for damage caused during the riot, court papers state. Criminal charges against a fifth person, Chase Hill, will be dropped if he completes the program, called Friendship Diversion Services, court papers state. He must pay Evergreen $541 in restitution as part of...

Some things to think about come November... "Washington's Farewell Address" 1796 Friends and Citizens: The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those...

One former soldier recounted an interrogation of an Iraqi by his fellow combatants so brutal he likened it to "a frat house gang rape." Another was still troubled not by his close brushes with death, but by the times he nearly shot innocent Iraqi civilians. And a third was exasperated and puzzled by being asked to fulfill what he called "ridiculous" orders to harass Iraqi residents and was discouraged from helping those in distress. He called the war "immoral and absurd." All came together Saturday afternoon at Seattle's Town Hall to share their troubling and sometimes graphic war stories in...

Saturday, May 31 2008 marked the official opening of the new Bremerton Marina. Mayor Cary Bozeman, Congressman Norm Dicks, and a host of other port, county and state officials were on hand for the celebration.

I've been to the Pacific NW a few times, and Mount Adams has always fascinated me. It's very prominent from Mount Saint Helens, and the face of the mountain is dominated by a deep opening which harbors Adams Glacier. The funny thing is, very few pictures of the mountain give a good impression of the side with the glacier. Anyway, here's a couple views of it. I didn't realized that Mount Adams is the second-highest peak in Washington State after Rainier. Adams Glacier This one shows it, but it's lower resolution that I would like. This one is pretty good....

Heat prostration probably killed six sea lions enclosed within a pair of floating cages near Bonneville Dam a week and a half ago, according to federal authorities. The disclosure on Wednesday lends new insight - while raising new questions - over the puzzling deaths of four California sea lions and two threatened Steller sea lions sometime between 7 p.m. May 3 and the time they were discovered in the floating docks at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, May 4. The National Marine Fisheries Service reported Wednesday that necropsies on all six animals are consistent with death from heat prostration - even though...

Kansas, Or A Seattle Suburb? When Bill Clinton was presenting himself to the American public in 1992, he was described as "The Man from Hope", Hope, Arkansas, that is.  His supporters even made a movie with that title.  The Clinton campaign called him the Man from Hope for two reasons, to take advantage of the town's name, and to imply that Clinton had the wholesome values many of us associate with small towns.There is just one thing wrong with calling Clinton the Man from Hope; it isn't completely true.   Clinton was born in Hope in 1946 and lived...

Add the Vancouver Public Schools teachers union to the growing list of educators who have denounced the leadership of Terry Bergeson, state schools superintendent. At its monthly meeting on Monday, the Vancouver Education Association leadership council issued a strongly worded no-confidence vote, based on a survey of more than 300 Vancouver teachers. The vote was accompanied by a blistering rebuke of the controversial Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Bergeson has championed the state’s standardized exam since its inception in 1993. “Terry Bergeson has not been a friend to students or teachers in the state of Washington. It seems that the...

 PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Humane Society of the United States has reached an agreement with state and federal governments that blocks killing or permanent removal of sea lions in the Columbia River until early 2009.In return, the Humane Society will drop its appeal in federal court against the U.S. Commerce Department and the governments of Oregon and Washington, Sharon Young, the society's field director of marine issues, said Tuesday.A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was to hear a case Thursday that could have led to killing some sea lions at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia...

(edit)   Nickels and City Council President Richard Conlin proposed a 20-cent "green fee" Wednesday on all disposable bags to encourage customers to carry their milk and eggs home in their own bags. Forget the canvas sacks at home? Shoppers at grocery, convenience and drug stores will pay the price starting Jan. 1, if the City Council approves. A family buying six bags of groceries a week would spend $62.40 a year in bag fees. The city will issue one free reusable shopping bag to each household."The answer to the question 'Paper or plastic?' should be 'Neither,' " Nickels...

New York's Sen. Chuck Schumer was quick to denounce this week's US Supreme Court ruling upholding the nation's strictest voter-ID law as "a blow to what America stands for." His response might have made more sense if those who'd tried to strike down the Indiana law - which requires the state's voters to present valid photo IDs - had actually managed to find a single voter who'd been improperly turned away from the polls because of it...

HORSETHIEF LAKE, Wash. -- Fidelia Andy was a 6-year-old happily running coffee to tribal fishermen at Celilo Falls when the federal government signed a deal with the tribes that flooded the falls and her family's home in the rising waters behind The Dalles Dam. On Friday, more than 50 years later, Andy and other leaders of four Northwest tribes finalized a new $900 million agreement with the federal government that they hope will begin to reverse the damage done by Columbia River system dams. "We Indians gave up so much in the past," Andy, a Yakama tribal leader and chairwoman...

Based on David McCullough's 2001 best-selling book, "John Adams," the HBO 7-part mini-series starring Paul Giamatti as John Adams and Laura Linney as Abigail Adams is as important for the message that it sends as it is for the history it conveys. Beginning with young attorney Adams's defense of the British soldiers on trial for the Boston Massacre (for whom he won an acquittal), the story follows the political career and personal life of Adams as he becomes a key member of the Continental Congress, editor/co-drafter of the Declaration of Independence, minister to France and England, vice president, then president....

The week-from-hell in Washington was endurable only because the return ticket to San Antonio was carefully tucked into my coat pocket. The business trip included some of my oldest haunts: the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, even a network TV studio – pretty much the heart of the beast. Within hours of returning, I fled to Cranky Frank’s in Fredericksburg, where they treat rookie Texans with tolerant kindness. Before serving one of their signature barbecue plates, they showed off a classic clipping of a Hill Country deer hunter. It was not particularly unusual to see a Texan carefully sighting a distant target...

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of illegal immigrants are expected to join supporters in a four-mile march through downtown Seattle at the height of rush hour today, proclaiming they're not illegal or undocumented — but workers. And at the same time, many more are expected to stay away, fearful of drawing the attention of immigration authorities or frustrated by the failure of Congress to fix the immigration system even as raids and deportations continue. "Two years ago, there was legislation in Congress and a tangible reason to turn out," said Louis DeSipio, an expert on Latino politics and associate professor of political...

The passionate debate over immigration and workers' rights has dropped a few degrees from past years, but hundreds or thousands of demonstrators are expected to march through downtown Seattle during afternoon rush hour Thursday with a basic message:   "We are not undocumented. We are not illegal. We are workers." Or, as a bilingual flier for the event states in Spanish, "No somos ilegales. No somos indocumentados. Somos trabajadores."Until the nation's broken immigration system is repaired -- a process that might take years -- the rights of workers must be protected, organizers said Monday in announcing the ninth annual march.They...

Rep. Jim McDermott has paid more than $1 million to House Minority Leader John Boehner, ending a decade-long dispute over an illegally taped telephone call. McDermott, a Seattle Democrat, paid $1,093,297 to the Ohio Republican's campaign committee earlier this month, spokesman for the two men said Monday. The payment is in addition to $64,000 McDermott paid Boehner in January, as part of court-ordered punitive damages in the long-running case. A federal judge ordered McDermott to compensate Boehner for attorney's fees after Boehner sued McDermott for leaking the contents of a cell phone call that was illegally recorded in 1996. A...

A federal appeals court injunction issued Wednesday says Northwest states can trap, but not kill, the animalsThe on-again, off-again permission for Oregon and Washington officials to kill salmon-gobbling sea lions below Bonneville Dam is off again, courtesy of a federal appeals court injunction issued Wednesday. However, the appeals court said state officials could still capture sea lions and ship them to zoos. Oregon officials said they will begin trapping up to eight of the Bonneville animals today. The sea lions gather at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River to feast on salmon, including imperiled species, gathering to climb the dam's...

Mother Nature pulls plug on Earth Day concert in WashingtonPosted : Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:12:01 GMT Author : DPA Category : Environment Washington - Environmental activists tried to rally Sunday in Washington to encourage action on climate change, but they couldn't get the weather to cooperate. Green Apple Festival, a group seeking to raise environmental awareness through live music events, was the organizer of concerts across the country ahead of the annual Earth Day observance, which is Tuesday. Concerts with diverse performances were held in New York, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. An eighth show...

A charter bus carrying the Garfield High School girls' softball team smashed into a pedestrian overpass near the Washington Park Arboretum on Wednesday evening, destroying the roof and injuring at least five students.

A federal judge on Wednesday refused to stop fishery officials from trapping and killing California sea lions who are eating endangered salmon at Bonneville Dam. The Humane Society of the United States had challenged the plan, arguing that federal officials had failed to show that trapping the sea lions will have a significant impact on the salmon runs. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman said the government had shown that the sea lions were doing "serious damage." The Humane Society also argued that trapping and killing the animals would harm kayakers and others who have established relationships with individual...

Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years. This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and...

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., wants $500,000 in federal money to build a welcome center in Ridgefield and $1 million for a new records management system for the city of Vancouver. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., wants $1 million to study rare blood issues at a Puget Sound blood center and $1.5 million to assess the feasibility of building a sea wall in Elliott Bay. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., is seeking $1.5 million in federal money to expand a cystic fibrosis program at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, while Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., wants $500,000 for organic farming research...

Neighbors Chip in to Buy RV for Seattle 'Squirrelman'Thursday, April 10, 2008 SEATTLE — A homeless man who has spent the past two years living in a treehouse has a new, terrestrial home just in the nick of time, thanks to neighbors. David "Squirrelman" Csaky, a self-taught carpenter, learned Tuesday that neighbors had found an aging recreational vehicle for him to occupy. "I'm overwhelmed," Csaky said. "I started crying when they told me." For two years, Csaky, 52, has lived about 30 feet above the ground in a 300-square-foot self-made platform, accessible by a ladder counterweighted with sandbags on pulleys...

Citizens Against Government Waste released its annual Pig Book. "When Congress adopted earmark reforms last year, there was hope that the number and cost of earmarks would be cut in half. By any measure, that has not occurred," CAGW President Tom Schatz declared. Schatz credited the new Democratic leadership for cutting pork spending by about 40 percent over 2006 levels - no small feat, of which Pelosi is understandably proud - and requiring that members put their name on their pet spending projects. Even with those reforms, the new Pig Book reported, "In fiscal year 2008, Congress stuffed 11,610 projects...

First the good news: Automotive expert Ed Wallace says there's no gasoline or oil shortage in the U.S. today and near-record reserves are on hand. Now the bad news: Not only has the congressional mandate for ethanol jacked up the price of food, but Washington, Wall Street and fuel producers all want you to think the gas and oil shortage they keep talking about is real. Washington, Wallace says, appears to be protecting oil speculators and ethanol producers rather than the interests of U.S. citizens who will ultimately pay higher prices for food and U.S. farmers, who are already staggering...

"At the mere mention of doing the pledge 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 there was only one in the room, by the way, on some delegate’s hat) was shouted down."

Attacks on nuclear power stations, oil and gas terminals, Canary Wharf and Heathrow’s control tower were being considered by leaders of the plot to blow up seven transatlantic airliners in mid-flight, a court was told yesterday. Documents found on computer memory sticks at the home of an alleged terrorist ringleader contained a list of targets across Britain – including the gas pipeline between Britain and Belgium. The man, Assad Sarwar, was said to be in contact with terrorist leaders overseas and visited Pakistan a month before his arrest as preparations for the airline attacks were being finalised. Peter Wright, QC,...

Seattle Police Department scheming to steal cops from the shrinking NYPD BY MICHAEL WHITE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Friday, April 4th 2008, 4:00 AM Roca/NewsBillboard for the Seattle Police went up on the West Side Highway a few days ago. The Seattle Police Department is scheming to steal cops from the shrinking NYPD - paying for a huge billboard along the West Side Highway and papering bus shelters with recruiting ads.The pitch is simple: Seattle pays its new hires nearly twice as much as the NYPD.And if that's not enough, they'll throw in another $5,000 to cover moving expenses."We...

BOTHELL, Wash. - At a time when the school district for the Bothell-Woodinville area is talking about closing a school to save money, it's buying home electronics for the personal use of administrators. The Northshore School District says buying TVs, digital cameras and iPods for administrators is part of their pay and helps make them familiar with technology. All but 13 of 93 eligible administrators have taken advantage of the benefit, spending $119,000 under the current contract. "Even an HDTV is used for work, because it's hooked up to a computer and used like a monitor," said Susan Stoltzfus, Northshore...

545 People By Charlie Reese -- Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does. You...

Being a belligerent jerk now against the law in Poulsbo, Washington Posted by Michael Rollins, The Oregonian March 28, 2008 06:55AM Categories: Puget Sound The North Kitsap Herald has a story on a new law that forbids arguing that looks like it could lead to a fistfight, or something like that. It's expensive to lose your temper in the city of Poulsbo. If the situation comes to blows, that is.An ordinance defining fighting in public -- including verbal bouts that could incite violence -- as a gross misdemeanor was adopted by the Poulsbo City Council Wednesday night.A violation of...

Andy Rogers / P-I Justin Hall leaves the automatic public toilet at Hing Hay Park, one of five installed by the city in 2004. Hall, who is homeless and trying to get off the street, uses the toilets regularly. A recently completed report by Seattle Public Utilities recommends that the city cancel its contract for the costly self-cleaning lavatories. Cancel toilet contract, city told By ANGELA GALLOWAY P-I REPORTER The naysayers may have been right: Seattle's multimillion-dollar, high-tech public toilet program looks like a washout.Some city officials, including the city's wastewater utility director, want to remove the five automated,...

D.C. Fire Hazmat Teams responded to an apparent suicide in the District after fire officials said the man may have killed himself using cyanide. Police got a call around 4:30 p.m. on Monday for an unconscious male at a house in the 4300 block of 36th Street. Two officers responded and found a man laying next to a small vile of cyanide. Immediately, fire officials said police left the home and called in the hazmat crew, which is standard procedure. -snip-

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...

Public's help needed to find missing sex offender William A. Blythe         Story Published: Mar 21, 2008 at 1:38 PM PDT Story Updated: Mar 21, 2008 at 3:00 PM PDT By KOMO Staff   Pierce County sheriff's detectives are seeking the public's help in locating a missing Level 3 sex offender with a history of child rape and molestation. A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of William A. Blythe, 29, who is considered very dangerous and at serious threat to re-offend. A felony warrant has been issued...