Free Republic

The Seattle Opera will host lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender nights during designated Friday performances in the 2008-09 season, the opera house announced Monday. The LGBT nights will include $100 admission to orchestra seats, which usually cost between $94 and $140; private intermission receptions, including complimentary refreshments, and free admission to a pre-opera lecture. ...

In a case that could determine how far local governments can go in limiting forest-clearing across entire watersheds, a state appeals court ruled Monday that a King County law went too far. Rural property-rights advocates hailed the decision as repudiating excessive regulation, while environmentalists said it could degrade some of the county's most pristine streams and further jeopardize Puget Sound's threatened chinook salmon. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel ruled that the 2004 clearing and grading ordinance — part of a package of laws collectively but imprecisely called the critical-areas ordinance — is an indirect but illegal "tax, fee, or...

Yoko Wang, owner of Toshio's Teriyaki in Rainier Valley, is not too worried about a possible ban on Styrofoam clamshells in Seattle. She's confident that biodegradable containers to keep her broiled, boneless chicken hot will be available by the time the city mandates the switch — in July 2010. She was shocked, however, to hear the ban would extend to plastics, right down to each chili-sauce container and fork. "Everybody is going to have to use chopsticks," Wang said after her Monday lunch rush. "I can give lessons." Today, the City Council will hold a public hearing on Mayor Greg...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The wind huffed, and it puffed, and it nearly caused major problems in the Northwest's electrical grid last week. Power managers say they have some fixing to do. A surge of wind last Monday afternoon jumped far beyond levels forecast by operators of Oregon's burgeoning wind-farm industry, sending more power into the regional grid than it could handle. The Bonneville Power Administration is responsible for adjusting hydropower generation levels to accommodate the power from wind turbines so the system isn't overloaded. It realized by Monday evening that it could no longer handle the surge without increasing spills...

Let's Solve the Tanker Mess by Gen. John Handy Most of us in the Air Force mobility community were a bit surprised by the decision to buy the quite large Airbus-330 tanker instead of the smaller Boeing 767 tanker. But the real shock was in the unusually harsh language used by the Government Accountability Office in overturning that decision. It was the harshest language used to overturn an action by the Air Force that I have read in my entire career. In that career -- spanning 39 years in the Air Force -- I was fortunate enough to have been...

With Columbia Gorge turbines pumping out extra electricity, the agency had to quickly adjust its hydro generation Columbia Basin river managers had a close call this week when they were forced to cut back on hydropower after a surge in wind energy blasted through the system. The surge forced them to spill more water over dams, risking the health of migrating fish. For the first time, it also exposed serious kinks in a plan that was supposed to deal smoothly with just such emergencies. As it turned out, the spills weren't heavy enough to harm fish. But the federal Bonneville...

YAKIMA, WASH. -- Another claim of sexual abuse by a member of the Catholic Diocese of Yakima has been reported. The report was filed in early may and Thursday, the yakima woman claiming sexual abuse gave permission for her story to be made known. The Diocese of Yakima received a report of sexual abuse that happened in the late 1980's. The woman says Father Frank Duffy touched her inappropriately. The victim was an adult at the time of the abuse. She, along with the help of her family, made the report in early May following reports of lawsuits claiming abuse...

Saturday, July 05, 2008 By LOU BRANCACCIO, Columbian editor “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” William Edwards Deming, the guy largely credited with improving production during World War II, had this somewhat sarcastic comment about change. Hey, it’s no big deal if you don’t want to change. Dead isn’t a bad alternative. Well, wait just one second. Most of us aren’t all that enamored with this dead option. So we change. In the 1940s, it was critical to produce war materiel in a much more efficient way. The changes Deming suggested were very important to the...

I called and complained about gas prices. This is the claptrap I got back. Maria Cantwell United States Senator Voted to be 2nd dumbest politician in DC Dear Mr. kennyboy509 Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about the high energy prices in Washington state. I appreciate hearing from you on this matter of utmost importance to families and businesses across our nation. As I'm sure you know, the last few months have seen the highest recorded average gasoline and diesel prices ever seen in Washington. With volatile oil prices over $135 per barrel, and gasoline and diesel pump...

Sonics leaving. 45 million immediately payable to Seattle. 30 million to be paid to Seattle after five years. NBA has pledged support for new team. Sonics name stays in Seattle. Nickels is positively overflowing in jis glea over the cash...

KENNEWICK — A 23-year-old Kennewick woman is accused of stabbing to death a pregnant Pasco woman and then cutting her unborn child out of her womb and trying to pass the baby off as her own. Blue mechanic's gloves soaked in blood, a box cutter, bloody paper towels, a baby bottle and a mucus bulb are among items suspected of being used to kill Araceli Camacho Gomez and steal her nearly full-term baby. Details of the slaying were revealed Monday afternoon when Phiengchai Sisouvanh Synhavong made a preliminary appearance in Benton County Superior Court. She was ordered held without bail...

With the demise of Communism, reasons for the West and Russia to be in confrontation vanished. Russia entered on the path of European democracy. In many areas, cooperation between Russia and NATO has yielded positive results. This is true in Russia's support for the transit of cargo by the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. We are also gaining momentum in civil emergency planning, and our scientists are successfully collaborating on equipment to fight terrorism. Such successes, however, are largely overshadowed by contradictions in another issue - NATO enlargement and the admission of Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance. As...

Scores of police officers surrounded an SUV with their guns drawn in downtown Seattle following a chase that started in West Seattle following a takeover-style bank robbery, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News. The FBI said a Wells Fargo Bank at California Avenue and Admiral Way was robbed by a man at 10:10 a.m. Tuesday.

A 23-year-old Kennewick woman is accused of stabbing to death a pregnant Pasco woman and then cutting her unborn child out of her womb and trying to pass the baby off as her own. Blue mechanic's gloves soaked in blood, a box cutter, bloody paper towels, a baby bottle and mucus bulb are among items suspected of being used to kill Araceli Camacho Gomez and steal her nearly full-term baby. Details of the gruesome slaying were revealed Monday afternoon when Phiengchai Sisouvanh Synhavong made a preliminary appearance in Benton County Superior Court. She was ordered held without bail in the...

Boeing Co., the second-largest U.S. defence contractor, will pay a $3-million fine for exceeding the value limits of imported parts used to build military aircraft. Boeing's own audit found it had imported more than what was allowed under manufacturing licenses, spokesman Tim Neale said today. The license agreements cover the C-17 transport plane, the Apache attack and Chinook transport helicopters and F/A-18 fighter plane

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,...

Olympia, Washington: Dee Williams wanted a simpler, greener life -- so she built her dream house, an 84-square-foot cottage on wheels, which is currently parked in a friend's backyard. Not only did she save money using salvaged materials (the front door came from a dumpster, for instance), but the entire house is small enough to fit into a standard parking spot. Says Williams, 'Right now, there's nowhere else I want to be.' Williams’ trailer cottage is surprisingly roomy inside, largely thanks to its clever use of height. For example, Williams’ bed is in a loft above her kitchen. Williams is...

A Wal-Mart parking lot in Richland, Washington was the latest front-line in the battle against abortion-giant, Planned Parenthood. At the request of hundreds of pro-lifers, the store canceled an event in which Planned Parenthood would pass out information in the lot June 27. American Life League sent out a press release June 26 to pro-lifers across the country informing them of this latest Planned Parenthood encroachment into neighborhood retailers. "It's hard enough for parents to safeguard their children from Planned Parenthood's pervasive sexualized propaganda," said Marie Hahnenberg, a researcher with American Life League. "They shouldn't have to worry about exposing...

Prosecutors charge Federal Way man whose 7 month old son died in a fire pit. Was charged with second Degree manslaughter. (a lesser offense) Albert Rios is an illegal alien with convictions of drug offenses. Was deported in 1994, 1996, and 2006.

<p>U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided an Arlington aircraft manufacturing plant Thursday and arrested 32 undocumented workers.</p> <p>Agents executed the search warrant at Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies, Inc., which supplies parts for both commercial and military aircraft, including the Boeing 737 and 777, according to an ICE news release. The raid was prompted by an ICE audit of AMT's employment records that led agents "to believe that a small percentage of the company's employees used counterfeit documents to secure their jobs," the news release said.</p>

To Darleen Druyun, wherever you are now... your name may soon no longer be tied to the most egregious procurement process in the history of the US Air Force's incredibly protracted bid for a new aerial tanker. It seems the latest attempt may just have surpassed your 2003 scandal. According to the unedited Government Accountability Office report on the USAF's recent KC-X bid, released this week, the Air Force took its level of bungling to new heights in awarding an initial $40 billion contract to a partnership comprised of EADS and Northrop Grumman. Overall, the GAO said, the Air Force...

Efforts by utility regulators to reopen costly long-term electricity supply contracts struck at the height of the California energy crisis were deflected by the U.S. Supreme Court in a ruling yesterday. The decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia sent the case back to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, with instructions to determine if the public interest was harmed by energy supply contracts signed in 2001. The case was filed by Public Utility District No. 1 of Snohomish County, Wash., which entered into a long-term electricity supply contract with the Morgan Stanley Capital Group. As the crisis waned, prices dropped, but...

The news today that the Government Accountability Office has upheld Boeing's protest of an Air Force tanker contract award given to Northrop Grumman and EADS means that the $40 billion deal remains in doubt. Which is very good news for the campaign coffers of members of Congress. The Boeing vs. Northrop Grumman fight, which has played out publicly in dueling lobbying campaigns, hasn't just pitted two aerospace behemoths against each other. It's also been a matchup of two of the most generous political donors on Capitol Hill. The Boeing Political Action Committee has made just over $1 million worth of...

The Boieng C-17 " Spirit of McChord " sits at Long Beach Airport. The plane is one of two C-17's headed north to McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Wash. (Stephen Carr/Staff Photographer) LONG BEACH - Speculation about Boeing Co. losing C-17 funding from Congress could end today if the Senate passes a $161.8 billion war-supplemental bill. The Senate is expected to vote in favor of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, which would order the manufacturing of 15 more C-17 Globemaster airlifters. The bill is on the Senate's active list and feasibly could be voted on today. But Washington insiders say...

Tim McGraw helped members of his stage crew eject a fan from his Tuesday night (June 24) concert in Auburn, Wash., after seeing the man assault a woman who was in one of the front rows. A video of the incident surfaced Wednesday at several Internet sites. McGraw was performing his 1994 hit, "Indian Outlaw," when he stopped singing and yelled, "Get rid of this guy! Security!" At that point, McGraw knelt down and began pulling the man onstage. Members of his stage crew showed up immediately to assist McGraw. Ernest Jasmin, pop music writer for the The News Tribune...

We haven’t read it, but here is it, all 67 pages in PDF form. b-311344__boeing__redacted_decision. Update, 1215 PM PDT: We’ve completed a quick read of the GAO decision. In it, the GAO found–as previously reported–for Boeing on a number of key elements. The GAO also rejected Boeing’s protests on far more complaints than were sustained, but only a small number of these are discussed in the report. Some of these were key elements in Boeing’s public relations campaign. But that’s neither here nor there–the elements detailed by the GAO in sustaining the protest are enough. The GAO report also makes...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force told Boeing Co (NYSE:BA - News) it had fully met a key requirement in competing for a $35 billion aerial refueling program but then changed its evaluation without telling the company, government auditors said on Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an extended explanation of its decision last week to uphold Boeing's protest against the contract award to Northrop Grumman

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...

WASHINGTON: John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is fending off charges that he pushed the U.S. Air Force into a faulty $35 billion deal for midair refueling planes. Democrats weighed in after the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan arm of Congress, found last week that the air force had made "significant errors that could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition" between Boeing and a combination of Northrop Grumman and European Aerospace & Defense Systems, or EADS, which was awarded the contract. The Democratic National Committee accused McCain of "mimicking" EADS, the corporate parent of Airbus,...

The Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network has 36 chapters across the country but has mostly failed to register in states that require nonprofits to file public records, The Post has learned. Only two chapters, those in Washington state and Nevada, have registered with the appropriate agency. NAN chapters in Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Illinois solicit donations, according to their Web sites or representatives - but neither the chapters nor their New York-based parent are registered to do so in those states. [Snip] NAN's failure to file paperwork regarding its regional chapters comes as Sharpton and his nonprofit...

Campers on the north shore of Yale Reservoir hid behind cars to avoid incoming bullets and frantically called 911 last weekend after a Vancouver man — standing on the Clark County side of the lake — allegedly fired three guns toward them. “We were just getting ready to go to bed when we heard the first shots,” said Brad Burnett, a Vancouver man who was at popular Beaver Bay Campground with friends and family members including children. The shots began about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, Burnett said, and continued on and off through the night into the campground along Lewis River...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Washington State: Montesano Mayor Stands-Up and Vetoes Attack on Concealed Carry!   Friday, June 20, 2008   In a victory for Montesano’s law-abiding gun owners, Montesano Mayor Ron Schillinger vetoed an ordinance banning the carrying of concealed firearms in the city’s parks, even by licensed Right-to-Carry permit holders.  Please contact Mayor Schillinger, TODAY and thank him for opposing this violation of state law and unjust and unwarranted attack on our right to self-defense and Second Amendment freedoms.  Mayor Schillinger can be reached by phone at (360) 249-3021, ext. 102 or via email at mayor@montesano.us.  ...

FORT LEWIS, Wash., June 19, 2008 – The U.S. military’s top officer told about 1,000 soldiers gathered here yesterday that they set the stage for positive security gains in Iraq as part of last year’s troop surge efforts. “You left Iraq this time in much better shape than when you showed up,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told the soldiers at an “all-hands” meeting during his third stop on a four-day tour of western-U.S. military installations. The 2nd Infantry Division’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, part of the surge deployed last year, returned from Iraq in May. Many others from Fort...

TACOMA -- The 32-year-old violin teacher convicted of taking part in the firebombing of the University of Washington' Center for Urban Horticulture seven years ago was sentenced to 6 years in federal prison Wednesday. Briana Waters was one of five people accused of setting the devastating May 2001 fire, but the only suspect to go to trial. She was found guilty in March of two counts of arson. Two others pleaded guilty and testified against her for reduced sentences. Her former boyfriend, Justin Solondz, is a fugitive. And the fourth killed himself in jail.

The month of June has been one that EADS will be hoping ends quickly. Starting with the arrest of Noel Forgeard, former co-CEO, the stock being branded a liability; by Joe Campbell and then just this week the arrest of another executive, the news that the US GAO had sided with Boeing in its protest of the KC-X tanker award will have left the European aerospace company reeling. You can read the GAO press release by clicking right here. From the very outset of the annoucement back in February 2008, Boeing’s view and position surrounding the protest had such conviction...

On the day that fliers announced a registered sex offender had moved into a Puyallup neighborhood, a woman welcomed him with an aluminum baseball bat. Baldwin (Pierce County Sheriff's Office picture)The 7-foot-3 man was beaten so badly, medics transported him to a hospital. "I kept swingin' and swingin' and swingin," court documents say Tammy Gibson told police, who arrested her in Cottonwood Mobile Home Park. Gibson has been charged with second-degree assault and felony harassment

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. auditors urged the Air Force Wednesday to rerun its marathon, $35 billion competition for refueling aircraft, upholding a protest by losing bidder Boeing Co (BA.N). The Government Accountability Office found the Air Force made "a number of significant errors that could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition between" Boeing and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N). "We therefore sustained Boeing's protest," Michael Golden, head of the a GAO bid protest unit, said in a statement. Northrop was teamed with EADS, parent of rival passenger-jet maker Airbus. EADS (EAD.PA) had no immediate comment. --snip-- The...

<p>WASHINGTON — Congressional investigators have granted Boeing's protest of a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract awarded to Northrop Grumman Corp. and Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.</p>

Mobile’s hopes for an aircraft assembly plant just took a serious hit. As shown in the latest edition of Lagniappe, Boeing claimed the Air Force made math errors in their CNBC is reporting the U.S. General Accounting Office has also found that to be the case and called them “significant errors.” Boeing (NYSE:BA) is trading sharply higher on the news, while Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) has taken a slight hit. Although the Air Force doesn’t have to abide by the GAO’s ruling, the likely outcome is for another round of bidding for the tanker contract experts say.

Olympia, WA (LifeNews.com) -- The Initiative 1000 measure that would make Washington the second state, following Oregon, to legalize assisted suicide, is drawing expected opposition from pro-life groups and medical professionals. But the son of the proposal's spokesman and disability groups are opposed as well. Booth Gardner the millionaire former governor of the state, is the lead spokesman for the I-1000 assisted suicide proposal.Gardner suffers from Parkinson's disease, which is incurable but not fatal and he would not qualify to use the assisted suicide measure to take his own life. However, it prompted his desire to speak up for those...

The McClatchy Company, owner of The News Tribune, announced today that it plans to reduce its workforce by 10 percent – or 1,400 full-time employees. The third largest newspaper company in the country has seen its advertising revenue decline by 15.4 percent in the first five months of the year. And until now, the company has relied on attrition and eliminating jobs through outsourcing to manage its staff size. “I’m sorry this requires the painful announcement we are making today, but we’re taking action to help ensure a healthy future for our company,” said McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt. As part...

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna leads his Democratic challenger by seven points, a poll indicates. McKenna-who is seeking a second, four-year term- leads Democrat John Ladenburg 49 percent to 42 percent, according to a SurveyUSA poll released this week. The poll found that 23 percent of Democrats will cross party lines to vote for McKenna, a popular Republican. Meanwhile, 11 percent of registered Republicans said they plan to support Ladenburg, the Pierce County executive.

WICHITA, Kan. — Almost a year ago in Everett, Boeing's 787 Dreamliner No. 1 rolled out with an impressive exterior but completely empty inside. At the sprawling Spirit AeroSystems plant here Thursday, the cockpit door inside the 42-foot-long front section of Dreamliner No. 4 opened to reveal a finished flight deck. Though it's only the front of the plane, it seemed almost ready for takeoff.

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...

It will start with warning signs and bureaucratic policy reviews. Or pat-downs and bag searches at park entrances, festival gates and holiday events? Although resorting to such measures would be a "shame," Nickels said, he would not rule them out during a Monday news conference to announce his prohibition of concealed weapons on city property. "We do hope that our parks and our Seattle Center events remain open and accessible and welcoming to all," Nickels said. "But we will also make sure that they're safe." Nor is it yet clear whether Nickels' move will land the city in court --...

The U.S. Air Force has conceded that Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ) Co's proposed KC-767 aerial refueling tanker would cost less over time than the winning plane offered by Northrop Grumman Corp (nyse: NOC - news - people ) and its European subcontractor EADS, Boeing told auditors reviewing its protest against the Air Force decision. News of Air Force errors in calculating the life cycle costs of the competing bids, which were also confirmed by Northrop, comes as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) prepares to rule by June 19 on the Boeing protest.

Radical Muslim or Legally Insane? By Deborah Weiss FrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, June 12, 2008 On July 28, 2006, Naveed Haq, a 30-year-old Pakistani-American, drove from his parents’ house in Pasco, Washington, to the Jewish Federation in Seattle and went on a murderous rampage. Unable to break into the locked building, Haq waited until a 14-year-old girl with a key came along. With a gun to her back, he forced her to let him in. He then announced that he was a Muslim American who was angry at Israel, and opened fire. Walking through the office spewing anti-Semitic comments and ranting...

Plenty of former officers have criticized the Iraq War, but there's only been one active duty career soldier who's not only come out against the War but also refused to go and fight in it. (He said he would go to Afghanistan instead, but that the Iraq war is "illegal"). That soldier is Lt. Ehren Watada, 30, a junior Army officer from Hawaii who's become a poster child for the anti-war movement. He's also become persona non grata within the military and is facing a possible sentence of six years in prison. Our friend Tara McKelvey is the first journalist...

It's been 24 years since a Republican candidate for president came out on top in Washington state. Given our longtime blue-state status, what chance does John McCain have of beating Barack Obama here? For that matter, will he even try? So far, the McCain campaign has sent mixed signals. When McCain held a fundraiser in Bellevue — including a $31,000 per person "Victory Dinner" — none of the money raised that evening went to the Washington State Republican Party. Instead, it was divided among the McCain campaign, the national GOP and the state parties in places that both sides view...

SEATTLE – Summer is only 11 days away and winter seems to refuse to go. The National Weather Service has a snow warning in effect for the Washington Cascades and the mountains in northeast Washington. Forecasters expect 5 to 10 inches of wet snow above the 3,500-foot level Tuesday morning in the Cascades with lesser amounts down to 2,500. About a foot of snow is expected to fall in the Olympic mountains. It was snowing on Snoqualmie Pass early Tuesday with slush on the roadway. The state Transportation Department advises traction tires and oversize vehicles prohibited. Some drivers were running...