Free Republic

Three Catholic churches and counting are refusing to be part of the petition drive to overturn the state's new marriage equality law. St. Joseph's parish is one of at least three local Catholic churches deciding they don't want the fight over gay marriage to have a place there during Sunday services, in spite of a strong message from the Seattle Archbishop. Earlier this year, Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain testified against the gay marriage bill in Olympia. "I urge you to uphold the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman," he said then. And when...

A labor protest at a historic Seattle bakery turned violent Saturday and police were called when demonstrators clashed with patrons outside. More than 80 protestors from the Seattle Solidarity Network, also known as SeaSol, picketed outside of Borracchini's Bakery in the Rainier Valley as part of a planned protest against the owner, Remo Borracchini. Hundreds of customers arrived in advance of the protest and launched a counter demonstration. Supporters wore red, white and green ribbons in honor of the bakery's Italian roots. Fights broke out among patrons and protestors after a customer offered cookies to one of the demonstrators, a...

Why Is WA State U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan Working With CAIR?By WILLIAM MAYER March 21, 2012 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - Since the DOJ's U.S. Attorneys are the chief federal law enforcement officers in their various districts, we were more than a bit surprised to find that Jenny Durkan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington State, had developed an ongoing relationship with the tainted Islamist pressure group, the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR]. According to its website "CAIR-Washington is working with Ms. Durkan's staff to provide feedback and direction for the anti-bullying initiative, as well...

A February survey of Washington voters by The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice indicates that voters there are much less likely to favor increased spending on K-12 education once they know how much money their state already spends. Almost one-fifth (19%) of survey participants correctly identified their state’s per-student funding level: According to the survey, Washington spent $9,688 per student in 2008-9. About half (46%) thought the state spent $8,000 or less.

My words are coming they are here for you now ! But will you stand behind my plow ? For the will of The Father is what I would have you do , I in Him and Me in you , There is no struggle for your desire is mine , To please The Father ALL the time \o/ , No rest is needed for I AM your Zeal ! The fullness of the Wheel within The Wheel , So come to The Father and use My eyes to view , My seven spirits that I have given to you...

Ninety-seven percent of the bus and train operators at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority are black, with only six white women out of more than 3,000 drivers, according to Metro documents — a lack of diversity at one of the region’s largest employers that has led to an acknowledgment of failure in affirmative-action documents and spawned a series of lawsuits. The homogeneity, interviews with dozens of current and former Metro workers indicated, is a proxy to a clubby culture of favoritism in which merit has little to do with promotions, and accountability, such as noting safety violations, is a...

A man was taken to the hospital Friday morning after the car he was driving left a road in Vancouver and landed in a residential swimming pool. "I looked out the window and was on the phone with 9-1-1 already and said 'there's a car in our pool,'" said Susan Goodwin, who lives in the house with the pool. Members of Clark County Fire District 6 said the driver, Eric Brown, 23, of Battle Ground, was found by firefighters walking on a road near the scene of the crash. Firefighters said shortly after 4 a.m. they got a call about...

YAKIMA, Wash. — There was no way the agencies monitoring wildlife along the Interstate 90 corridor could supply the manpower needed for a yearlong survey of animals along the highway, so they turned to you. Well, you and anyone else who drives the stretch of I-90 connecting Eastern and Western Washington. That was the genesis of the I-90 Wildlife Watch, a multi-agency effort that enlisted public volunteers -- commuters -- to document wildlife sightings. "That information is really hard to collect," said Paula MacKay, an Ellensburg-based research associate with Western Transportation Institute. "You have to be in the right place...

Her name was written in the thick murder book. Three decades later Snohomish County sheriff's detectives came knocking on her door. She knew why the two men were there. The moment finally had come to share the secret she'd been lugging around since she was 18 years old. She could tell them who killed Susan Schwarz. The words eventually tumbled out. She had been in the small Lynnwood-area home in 1979 when Gregory Johnson grabbed a pretty, young woman out of her shower, tied her up and put a bullet in her head. Johnson, then 26, looked up to find...

It was predictable that Rick Santorum — or any Republican presidential candidate — would be met with protests here Monday night as he spoke outdoors, down the street from an Occupy encampment and near the entrance to a public university. Shortly after the former senator from Pennsylvania began addressing a receptive crowd, a group of young protesters in the front row began chanting slogans such as “go away” and “right-wing bigot,” a reference to Mr. Santorum’s opposition to gay marriage, one of them said afterward. The surging GOP-candidate then spent the next hour battling the vocal minority. “What they represent...

My solace in you is derived from obedience that even in this small act you receive a great blessing ((( ("ME" ) )))"Jesus" So as you listen , follow and obey, We truly are one for you walk in my steps and I light the pathway before you ! Now come and remain well within my voice for I AM ALL of your provision in just this simple thing ! Joshua 5:6-12 New International Version (NIV) 6 The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The national average price for a gallon of gasoline rose for the eighth straight day on Saturday to $3.835. That is now only about 7% below the record high of $4.11 from July 2008. The average price rose by four-tenths of a penny, according to the survey of gas stations conducted for the motorist group AAA. Gas prices are now up more than 17% this year. The nationwide average was $3.52 a gallon a month ago and $3.76 a gallon on March 9 -- the day that prices started rising again after a few days of...

Self-serving speech I was in attendance last Saturday at the commencement activities at the University of Washington. I was both embarrassed and angered by the pontification and obvious self-importance of Rep. Dicks. Never could I have imagined a commencement speaker at a major university being booed and heckled while speaking to the graduates. Then again, I could never have imagined anyone giving such a self-serving, self-glorification speech as he did. A speaker at such an event is supposed to inspire the graduates who are now going out into the world to seek their own destiny. They did not come to...

A Vancouver, Wash., man accused of sending letters containing white powder to members of Congress fell under FBI scrutiny after his wife told an officer that he laced the envelopes with a mixture of celery salt and corn starch. The FBI focused on Christopher Lee Carlson, 39, after a Vancouver police officer told them about a March 4 interview she had with Carlson's wife about Carlson's recent emotional turmoil, The Oregonian reported. --SNIP-- The sender wanted an "end to corporate money and `lobbying,'" an end to corporate "personhood" and a new constitutional convention. The Associated Press obtained a copy of...

The Marysville, Wash., police officer whose daughter was fatally shot by a sibling last weekend has been placed on administrative leave for an investigation. [...] The 7-year-old girl was shot Saturday by a sibling who found a loaded gun in the family's van as it was parked near the Stanwood City Hall. The parents were out of the vehicle at the time, but nearby. The girl died Sunday at a Seattle hospital.

A lingering football injury from his college days played a part in 6th District U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks’ decision to not seek re-election to a 19th term this year — and will play a role in what he does with his life after Congress, he said Friday.

Police say a man tried to break into the King County Jail Sunday, and was subsequently booked into the jail for criminal trespass. Staff at the jail noticed the man climb over a fence into a secure area of the facility in the 500 block of 5th Ave. He then made several attempts to open a locked door. "Officers did ask him and he offered absolutely no explanation as to why he was attempting to break into the jail," said Detective Renee Witt with the Seattle Police Department, whose officers were called to the scene. "They didn't have to drive...

SEATTLE (AP) -- The U.S. soldier suspected of gunning down at least 16 Afghan civilians was from a Washington state-based Stryker brigade and received his assignment to a village stability program less than six weeks ago.

I am pleased to report that Republican candidate Doug Cloud has finally brought down Democrat Congressman Norm Dicks, ranking Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Scandals surrounding Norm Dicks are long, and deep. However, it was a Freedom on Information request by Doug Cloud, involving FBI files from the lobbyist PMA Group that finally caused Dicks to step aside. Here is a bit of background on the now defunct PMA Group: In return for campaign contributions, PMA group clients received over $200 million in contracts.In November, 2008 FBI agents raided PMA's offices and removed records of the firm's political...

REFLECTIONS ON PRESIDENTIAL OBLIGATIONS Ever think about every president’s first official act? Before he can do anything else, before he can make a binding appointment or issue a single order, he swears a solemn oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. Normally, a Supreme Court Justice administers the oath in public (though a lesser representative of the judicial system may stand in, if it’s an emergency; Calvin Coolidge was sworn in by his father upon the death of Warren Harding, for example). The U.S. president is not crowned by a bishop in a religious ceremony;...