Free Republic

EVERSON, WA, May 20, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A 31-year-old illegal immigrant raped a preteen girl in Washington State last June, then took her to Planned Parenthood two months later to cover his crime. According to reports, last June, Luis Gonzalez-Jose approached the young girl as her mother was taking a shower and asked "if it was OK to have a baby with him." After she said no, he stripped the girl and raped her on the spot. In August, he took the pregnant girl to a Planned Parenthood and forced her to abort their child. She told employees she had...

PORT ANGELES, Wash. -- Witnesses say a man upset with his neighbors went on a rampage with a bulldozer-like piece of logging machinery in a Port Angeles neighborhood, damaging four homes and knocking out power to thousands of people. The Clallam County Sheriff's Office says it does not appear that anyone was injured during the incident that happened just after noon Friday along Pioneer Road. The suspect was arrested. "A person with a piece of heavy equipment that was very upset, struck (four) homes in the area and also a truck," said Jim Borte with the Clallam County Sheriff's...

A banker beat up a man he believes sexually propositioned him by removing one of his two shirts during a business conversation in a hotel room last week, according to the Seattle Police Department. Officers were called to the Crowne Plaza Holiday Inn in downtown Seattle around 1:15 a.m. Thursday for a reported assault and found the victim covered in blood in the lobby. The victim told officers he was in the hotel bar when he met the suspect, who was in town for a bankers convention. The two got into a conversation about banking until last call, at...

I am troubled by Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s crackdown on florist Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, for refusing to make a flower arrangement for a same-sex wedding. #I’m not arguing here against gay marriage. I voted for it. I’m not even sure that Stutzman has a legal right to refuse the business. Ferguson says that under Washington’s anti-discrimination statute, she doesn’t, and probably he’s right. She might, however, have a superior right under the state constitution, depending on how you interpret it. #The constitution has nothing in it about freedom from private discrimination. But Article 1, Section...

It begins.There is no question that rank-and-file gay couples of all political stripes are sincere in their desire to enjoy the benefits and status that come with marriage. There is no sinister agenda at work in the issue of same-sex marriage among the masses. But the same cannot be said of the organized left who have always intended to use the issue of gay marriage as a vehicle to destroy the Christian Church and marginalize Christians. Faithfulness to the Bible and the Christian faith will very soon be declared bigotry by the media and a de facto civil rights violation...

The Attorney General of Washington has filed suit against a florist who refused to provide an arrangement for a gay wedding, saying that doing so is in violation of the Consumer Protection Act...

The world's widest tunnel boring machine arrived in Seattle in pieces Tuesday aboard a ship from Japan. It will be reassembled in a pit to begin the year-long dig to create a two-mile tunnel under downtown Seattle.

MARYSVILLE — A man managed to elude police after being Tased 4 times on Interstate 5 Sunday in Marysville, Wash. Police believe he was on some sort of drug. The family filming the incident couldn’t believe the man was still standing. Read more: http://q13fox.com/2013/04/02/raw-man-fights-off-police-taser-on-interstate/#ixzz2PLQmvLnj

A man describing himself as a witness to the shooting said the dead man stood in front of more than a dozen people participating in the class and ended his life.

House Democrats in Olympia have conceded defeat in their effort to pass a bill to require background checks for all gun purchases in Washington. OLYMPIA — Gun-control advocates in the state House conceded defeat Tuesday night on their top priority this session: requiring background checks for all gun sales. While cautioning that nothing is ever truly dead in Olympia, bill sponsor Jamie Pedersen said that after an intense day of politicking “it does not appear that we’re going to make it there” before Wednesday’s cutoff for non-budget legislation. House Bill 1588 had come up three votes short.

Ministers should refrain from invoking Jesus Christ in invocations for City Council meetings, Longview Mayor Don Jensen said. Jensen told the Kelso-Longview Ministerial Association last month that such prayers were not acceptable because they could expose the city to a lawsuit, The Daily News reported Tuesday. “It’s not my choice to stop this, but I don’t know how we can put our citizens at jeopardy and cost our city and our citizens a lot of money,” said Jensen, who met with the association upon the advice of the city attorney....

The Seattle Police Department is looking for the man who robbed a South Seattle KeyBank at gunpoint Thursday afternoon.

A new gun law calls on sheriffs to search the home of assault weapon owners. A proposed Washington State gun law will call on the county sheriff to inspect the homes of assault-weapon owners. Seattle Times reported, via Free Republic: One of the major gun-control efforts in Olympia this session calls for the sheriff to inspect the homes of assault-weapon owners. The bill’s backers say that was a mistake. Forget police drones flying over your house. How about police coming inside, once a year, to have a look around? As Orwellian as that sounds, it isn’t hypothetical. The notion of...

CHEHALIS, Wash. -- Perhaps too ashamed to to come in during regular business hours, a masked man allegedly broke into a Chehalis adult gift shop last week, making off with more than $1,500 in sex toys. Surveillance footage shows the man attempting to ram his Ford Ranger pickup truck through the front of the store in the 800 block of West Main Street shortly before 7:30 a.m. Feb. 7. That plan failed, and the man ended up simply breaking a window to get into the shop, according to the Chehalis Police Department. He proceeded to steal a sack full of...

The suspect charged down a hallway toward the homeowner, who fired a shot. Brad Reynolds, a retired cop, runs the Neighborhood Watch. "I think it proves the point that we need guns," he said. "I am armed. I am always armed."

For the first time in 17 years, 15 of those sitting on the Washington Supreme Court, I have agreed to represent a private citizen. And I am pleased to lend Linda Jordan a helping hand. In good faith Ms. Jordan commenced an action to question President Obama's name on the ballot. She did the best she could with limited resources and no legal training. The government's response was immediate and in some respects heavy handed. Having obtained a summary dismissal of her case, and then her appeal, the attorney general went further to demand the Secretary of State be reimbursed,...

Good news! Today at the WA State Capitol in Olympia over 2000 pro second amendment supporters rallied in the cold for freedom! Despite some mis-communication about start time(10am vs noon)there was an out pouring of folks from all walks of life but it was good to note that at least 50% of the group participants were under the age of 35. Not all of today's youth are bums. Most were carrying openly...long guns as well as pistols. At 10 am there were 100 people. At 11am there were 300. At noon there were at least 1200 and the numbers were...

It will be illegal to smoke marijuana any place you cannot have an open container of alcohol.

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Sheriff's deputies found two 5-foot alligators at a marijuana grow site where a man was shot on Monday evening.  Thurston County sheriff's Lt. Greg Elwin said deputies responded to the scene in the Scott Lake area south of Olympia when a man called 911 to say he had shot another man. The shooter told investigators that he fired in self defense, but investigators believe he actually shot the other man during drug buy. The 30-year-old man who was shot was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital and was expected to recover.  The gunman, identified as 41-year-old...

Through 10 a.m., Seattle had already set its daily rainfall record with 1.48" of rain, breaking the old record of 1.23" set in 1962, and the rain was still coming down. [Now 12:30 PM and still pouring!]

If a new engine "commutator" has to be built by General Electric, the Walla Walla could be out of service for up to two years. An electrical surge caused huge chunks of steel and copper to melt, as well as holes to be blasted through the six foot diameter engine part.

Generally speaking, who do you think would save taxpayers the most money? Democrats Republicans Irish leprechauns

Associated Press - Link only - When will Conservative candidates actually prepare for this obvious line of attack!?!?

Apparently Democrats have added Catholics to their list of groups they feel can be attacked as long as the attacker is one of their big donors. Religion and Democrat ideology don’t seem to mix, as the latest flash of religious bigotry from the “Party of the little guy” clearly shows. Washington State Democrats have been exposed as the bigots they are by a series of videos showing JZ Knight a virulent Catholic hater screaming “F*** You Catholics” to a wildly cheering crowd of her followers. In a stream of anti-Catholic profanity Knight, who has donated more than $120,000 to Washington...

Republican John Koster, a candidate for Congress in the 1st District, received a $5,000 contribution from SarahPAC, the political organization headed by Sarah Palin. Koster is in a tight race with Democrat Suzan DelBene to represent the 1st District, a newly drawn swing district that runs from Redmond to the Canadian border. Palin endorsed Koster in 2010, when he ran against Democrat Rick Larsen. Koster’s far-right tea party ties have been a major talking point for the DelBene campaign, which has branded Koster “too extreme” for the 1st District. Koster’s campaign says DelBene is too liberal...

<p>An Everett woman who was arrested in October 2011 after allegedly attempting to cut her sleeping husband's neck with an electric saw, appeared in court Monday after being charged with first-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault with a deadly weapon.</p>

Now that the national conventions are over which one fired up -- in a positive way -- the country? The Republican National Convention. The Democratic National Convention. That marginally strange Kumoricon Convention at Esther Short Park.

OLYMPIA, Washington, July 31, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The fight for traditional marriage in Washington state is heating up with the announcement that billionaire Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, and his wife, MacKenzie, have pledged $2.5 million to homosexual lobbyists. The donation comes after opponents of the state’s new gay “marriage” law stopped the legislation in its tracks by collecting and filing over 240,000 signatures in support of a referendum on the November ballot. The contribution makes the Amazon couple the largest financial backer of homosexual “rights� in the state, according to the NY Times, far outstripping the $100k donation...

After the tragic shootings in at a Colorado movie theater, should we have stronger gun control laws? Yes. How many times do we have to go through this before we realize something has to be done? No. Tighter gun control laws would only take guns out of the hands of the good guys. Undecided at this point.

Senator Michael Baumgartner will suspend his campaign for US Senate for two days this week to travel to Georgia to advise an army battalion soon to deploy to Afghanistan. Baumgartner will lecture the 63rd Signals Battalion at Fort Gordon on counterinsurgency and the economy of Afghanistan. He will return to the campaign trail on Friday, June 8. “It’s a tremendous honor to be asked once again to help prepare our nation’s finest for the difficult challenges of fighting the war in Afghanistan,” Baumgartner said. Baumgartner, who holds a Masters degree in International Development from Harvard, served as an economics officer...

A 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old believed to be his brother were arrested on first-degree murder charges Friday after their mother told police she found her sons standing over a young man's body in their Tacoma house when she came home. The relationship, if any, between the unidentified victim and the teenage boys was not immediately disclosed. Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum did not say how the man died, except to say there were "signs of trauma to the body."   According to Fulghum, the boys' mother drove to a police substation and told police she arrived home at 847 E....

PUYALLUP, Wash. -- A controversial state law that prevents school districts from warning parents about student sex offenders is drawing criticism with news that a 19-year-old sex offender allegedly raped a fellow student near Vancouver. After news broke about the Vancouver incident, more parents came forward to say they had discovered sex offenders in their children's schools. Kathleen Britt said she was sad and horrified when she learned about the recent attack on a Clark County campus. The shocking news reminded the Puyallup mom of her own horror upon learning that her daughter was also going to school with...

LAKE CUSHMAN, Wash. - A woman who was shot dead in her Lake Cushman home on Thursday told her husband, "Why don't you just shoot me?" before he opened fire at her with a shotgun, according to the Mason County Sheriff's Office.

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...

DES MOINES, Wash. -- A Des Moines woman accused of planning to wed a man she relentlessly followed for more than a year has been charged felony stalking. King County prosecutors contend Madeline Ann Desmet went so far as to order a wedding ring and reserve a Seattle courtroom for the ceremony before she was arrested in late February. Having been convicted of stalking previously, she's now again charged with the crime. Desmet, 64, met her alleged victim in early 2010 and soon after professed her "undying love" for him, Seattle Police Detective Nathan Janes told the court. The...

SPOKANE-- A couple weeks ago Spokane County Animal Protection Officers seized nearly 100 large animals from a property in Elk during an animal cruelty investigation.      During the seizure SCRAPS told us officers found dead animals on the property.  According to a search warrant, in addition to numerous horses i found extremely thin, officers also discovered several dead goats and a llama (edit)  Stiner said, "I’ve done the best that I could to take care of them and unlike a lot of owners that are just opening their gates and letting them go, at least I was making the attempt...

A pharmacist took matters into her own hands when a serial drug thief came back for a third time looking for Oxycodone and Methadone. Pharmacy manager Susan Beller gave alleged thief Aaron Miller more than he bargained for – a face full of pepper spray intended to stop grizzly bear attacks. Security footage shows Miller putting an arm up to stop the attack before he runs out of the Deer Park, Washington Medicine Shoppe. Ms Beller told NBC affiliate KHQ that Miller had robbed the pharmacy twice before. Tired of being the victim, she took matters into her own hands....

The Washington state Senate, in an historic action, voted 28 to 21 on Wednesday night to legalize marriage between same-sex partners. "We ask for your support tonight because marriage is the way society says you are family," said state Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, chief sponsor of the legislation and a gay man in a two-decade partnership. Regardless of how his colleagues voted, Murray added, they will receive a wedding invite from him. A practicing Catholic, Murray has said he is pained that he will not be able to marry in his church. The House of Representatives is expected to approve...

Kara Haney, left, and her partner of 8 years Kate Wertin, right, react as a bill in the Washington State Senate passes during a viewing party at The Lobby Bar in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. The Washington State Senate passed a bill that would legalize gay marriage in Washington State on Wednesday, February 1, 2012. Dozens gathered at the bar to watch the debate via TV on the senate floor. Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- The Washington state Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage, setting the stage for the state to become the seventh to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed. The measure now heads to the House, which is expected to approve it. Gov. Chris Gregoire supports the measure and has said she will sign it into law, though opponents have promised to challenge it at the ballot with a referendum. The packed public galleries burst into applause as the Senate passed the measure on a 28-21 vote Wednesday night after nearly an hour...

Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire supports gay marriage as a state law. Your thoughts? I agree that same sex marriage should be a law. I disagree that same sex marriage should be a law. No opinion at this time

SEATTLE (AP) — With less than two hours to spare, members of the Washington State Redistricting Commission signed off on plans Sunday night that will reshape legislative and congressional maps for the next decade.

First debris from Japanese earthquake/tsunami reaches Olympic Peninsula By Arwyn Rice  Peninsula Daily News    Oceanographer Jim Ingraham answers questions about the islands of debris from the March 11 Japan tsunami that are slowly floating toward the Pacific Northwest. Behind him is a float, found east of Neah Bay, that is believed to be the first identified piece of wreckage to arrive via ocean currents. -- Photo by Arwyn Rice/Peninsula Daily News  PORT ANGELES — The first piece of debris that could be identified as washing up on the West Coast from the March 11 tsunami in Japan —...

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) Mike Leach has reached an agreement to be the new football coach at Washington State. Cougars at a glance Looking for the latest news on the Cougars? Get the inside slant, stats, scores, schedules and more scoops right here An official within the athletic department told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Leach has reached a verbal agreement to replace Paul Wulff, but has not signed a contract.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has issued an apology to people who were pepper sprayed at an Occupy Seattle demonstration on Tuesday evening. McGinn personally apologized to an 84-year-old woman who was sprayed in the face. He called Dorli Rainey afer images of her being sprayed went viral. "I feel terrible,” said McGinn. "I did apologize to Dorli because nobody likes to see this happen to someone who speaks for the protest line." Pictures of Seattle's pepper spraying police - and Rainey - hit YouTube. The mayor demands a complete review of police actions. "We've asked police to review it, take...

Parents of some Vancouver sixth graders are worried about what to tell their kids after a male substitute teacher showed up at school this week in women's clothing. The substitute teacher filled in at Wy'East Middle School on Wednesday, covering a humanities class. Students said it was obvious that their substitute teacher was a man dressed in women's clothing and from what we understand, some of the kids had a hard time settling down because they were laughing and making jokes. Some were eventually pulled out of class. The school and the Evergreen School District would not talk on camera...

50 criminals in Belltown arrested over 2,700 times By Bob Larson 97.3 KIRO FM Editor The Belltown neighborhood has a recurring problem. The same group of criminals keeps causing trouble. (97.3 KIRO FM/file) zoom The Belltown neighborhood has a recurring problem. The same group of criminals keep causing trouble.The same group of about 50 people have been arrested over 2,700 times."We have a pair of beat officers down there in Belltown and Third Ave., that area, we asked them to identify the 50 most problematic individuals they deal with, and then we ran the analysis on them," says Seattle Mayor...

VISIONS'11 is a major research cruise scheduled for August 11 - September 1, 2011. Work to be accomplished is in preparation for the installation of the Regional Scale Nodes underwater cabled observatory as part of the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative. This cruise will take place aboard the 274’ R/V Thomas G. Thompson and will utilize the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) ROPOS for real-time imaging, sampling, and mapping of 1) methane seeps and novel biological communities on the Oregon Margin at Hydrate Ridge, and 2) submarine hot springs on Axial Volcano, located more than 200 miles off the Washington...

Tracy Lundeen says it started with the phone calls. Then she was followed around her Renton middle school. Before long it evolved into demands for a date, and the incessant letters. By the time Lundeen was in high school, she had obtained a no-contact order in an effort to end Shawn Moul's unwavering harassment. But it didn't deter Moul — in fact, it seemed to embolden him. In 2001, Moul was convicted of stalking Lundeen and repeatedly violating the order. By then he had expanded his targets to include anyone he believed was trying to keep him from Lundeen....

The Renton City Prosecutor wants to send a cartoonist to jail for mocking the police department in a series of animated Internet videos. The "South-Park"-style animations parody everything from officers having sex on duty to certain personnel getting promoted without necessary qualifications. While the city wants to criminalize the cartoons, First Amendment rights advocates say the move is an "extreme abuse of power." Only KIRO Team 7 Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne holds a key document that really lays bare the city’s intent. The document was quietly filed in King County Superior Court last week. It’s a search warrant accusing an...