Free Republic

Microsoft’s virtual conference Ignite 2021 was all about hybrid work, metaverse and the cloud, but it opened with “land acknowledgments” to local native tribes and featured speakers describing their race and preferred pronouns. ... Before any of that could happen, however, senior program manager Allison Weins had a ritual to perform. “We need to acknowledge that the land where the Microsoft campus is situated was is traditionally occupied by the Sammamish, Duwamish, Snoqualmie, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Tulalip, and other coast Salish people since time immemorial,” Weins said, “a people who are still continuing to honor and bring to light their...

Two men were riding road bikes when the cougar attacked both of them. One person was killed and a second person injured in a cougar attack near North Bend Saturday. The attack happened in a very remote area northeast of Snoqualmie. According to the King County Sheriff's Office, two men were riding road bikes when the cougar attacked both of them. A 31-year-old man was taken to Harborview Medical Center for his injuries; he was alert and listed in serious condition. The second man fled into the woods to escape the cougar, but the animal chased after him. Search crews...

Families in a Washington state community have noticed an uptick in coyote sightings lately. Within a 24-hour span, the city of Snoqualmie received seven reports of coyotes in the area—including an attack on a 3-year-old girl while she was on her porch, according to KCPQ. Douglas Lucas says his daughter was attacked by a coyote who came up to the front porch of their home and pounced on the child on Thursday. “It bite me,” said 3-year-old Sophia about her encounter with a coyote. The little girl was outside with her father on the front porch of their home. Lucas was up on...

A look at original documents at the National Archives alerts a researcher that records of family lineage used to claim enrollment at the Snoqualmie Tribe are unreliable. He traveled with a notebook in his pocket, on an urgent mission. All over Western Washington, for two years beginning in late 1916, Indian agent Charles Roblin sought out homeless, landless Indians, left behind and hiding out during the treaty-making era, who had never received the benefits promised in return for the loss of their land: a school for their children, tools for farming, money. On sandbars in the rivers in northern Puget...

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...

Stevens Pass highway, closed for more than six hours Thursday after a truck jackknifed, reopened later in the day, easing a five-mile traffic backup. But as winter conditions and restrictions persisted, it was unclear when Snoqualmie Pass would reopen. Officials said they won't be able to assess avalanche and snowfall conditions on Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie until 9 a.m. Friday. However, by 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the miles-long backup of U.S. Route 2 at Stevens Pass was easing, even as snow continued to fall. Eastbound lanes reopened at about 5:20 p.m. and westbound lanes, closed at Leavenworth, opened around 4:45 p.m.,...

Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Washington From the Official News Magazine of the Diocese of Spokane Deacon Eric Meisfjord, Editor P.O. Box 48, Spokane WA 99210(509) 358-7340; FAX: (509) 358-7302 Liturgy Reflections: Mysterious liturgy by Father Jan Larson (From the July 6, 2006 edition of the Inland Register) I was recently watching a part of the daily televised liturgy on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network). The liturgy there is an odd mix of English and Latin, while following the texts of the current Roman Missal. The priest and ministers of the liturgy look way too somber and serious. The ritual...