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<p>An Everett nursing home is facing a lawsuit after an elderly resident's genitals disintegrated while staff allegedly failed to act.</p> <p>Charles Bradley, then 93, arrived at Everett Care & Rehabilitation in the winter of 2004, suffering from the usual maladies of old age, according to court documents. He continued to live at the nursing home until two weeks before his death, which came on March 31, 2008, when he was rushed to the emergency room with a life-threatening -- but previously undetected -- malady.</p>

A press release and automated calls to voters by Seattle mayoral candidate Mike McGinn’s campaign, accusing opponent Joe Mallahan of wanting to “make it legal to bring loaded firearms to playgrounds, pools, and community centers,” was touching off dueling statements of lying and waffling Friday evening. And in response to a challenge from McGinn asking Mallahan to say whether he would defend in court a new ban on firearms in Seattle parks, community centers and other facilities where children might be present, Mallahan spokeswoman Charla Neuman was non-committal.

EVERETT, WA — An Everett nursing home is being accused of neglecting a 97-year-old man and allowing his penis to slowly rot off. A lawsuit was filed against the Everett Rehabilitation and Care Center earlier this week. The lawsuit alleges that nursing home staff failed to adequately care for a patient who had developed penile cancer. The man died March 31, 2008, about two weeks after he was rushed to the emergency room and doctors made the grim discovery. They were the first to report that the man's penis had disintegrated, Seattle attorney James Gooding said Thursday. “They were shocked...

When intelligent design (ID) proponents press neo-Darwinian evolutionists on the inability of Darwinian evolution to produce new functional genetic information, a common response from evolutionists is that they get angry and engage in name calling. That’s what happened when...

Outgoing Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels yesterday (Oct. 14) made it official: He announced that city park properties will be posted off limits to firearms, even those guns that are legally carried by law-abiding citizens. Public reaction to the move has been overwhelmingly negative, much the same as it was during the public comment period that ended Oct. 4. KOMO's Ken Schram is not pleased with Nickels, either. I wrote about public reaction here, and was not surprised that Bob Scales, senior policy analyst for the city’s Office of Policy and Management, somewhat dismissed the huge negative reaction in a remark...

A federal appeals court says Washington's secretary of state can release of names and addresses of people who signed petitions calling for a public vote on the state's expanded benefits for domestic partners. A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday issued an order reversing a decision from U.S. District Judge Ben Settle in Tacoma, who held that releasing the names could chill the First Amendment rights of petition signers. Nevertheless, the names aren't being immediately released. A Thurston County judge on Wednesday forbid the release of initiatives and petitions until the 9th Circuit could rule,...

SEATTLE -- Seattle Parks and Recreation on Wednesday put into effect a new rule banning the possession or display of firearms at playgrounds, community centers and other places where children are likely to be.   Firearms will be prohibited at designated facilities once signs are posted notifying people of the new rule. The first signs are to be posted Friday, with the rest up by Dec. 1.   In all, the rule will be applied at more than 500 parks, recreation centers, pools, beaches and golf courses.

SEATTLE – A serial burglar hitting north Seattle dental and medical offices, looking for dental gold such as gold crowns, reports community blog Phinneywood.com According to Seattle police, one burglary netted $10,000 in scrap gold. Some 30-35 burglaries have happened since September in the overnight hours. Most are north of downtown, but there may be others in West Seattle and Bellevue that are not connected. The most recent burglary reported happened two nights ago at a medical clinic in the 400 block of North 85th Street. "They seem to be medical or dental offices. Other than that, there's no pattern....

-snip- WSMV-TV in Nashville reported that a passenger had to be subdued by other passengers after he began quoting Bible passages. -snip-

Washington state’s unemployment rate rose to 9.3 percent in September, up from August’s adjusted rate of 9 percent. Nationally, the U.S. unemployment rate is 9.8 percent compared with 9.7 percent a month earlier. Washington state officials said August’s rate was revised downward from original reports of 9.2 percent “after more analysis.”

A huge landslide has closed part of SR410 in the eastern Cascades in Washington state - see link for details and vid.

A STRONG PACIFIC STORM MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN AND CENTRALCALIFORNIA LATE TUESDAY THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY WILL BRING SOMEIMPACTS TO EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. THE STORM WILL GENERATE A LARGE WEST SWELL WHICH WILL MOVE THROUGHTHE COASTAL WATERS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY BRINGING HIGH SURF TOEXPOSED WEST FACING BEACHES WITH SOME BREAKERS EXCEEDING 10 FEETPOSSIBLE. THIS SURF WILL CAUSE DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS. OTHER IMPACTS MAY EXTEND INTO NORTHERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHERNCALIFORNIA WITH MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE AS FAR SOUTHAS THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS AND STRONG...GUSTY WINDS POSSIBLEIN MOUNTAIN AND DESERT AREAS OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. ANYMODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL COULD CAUSE MUD AND...

He may be sentenced to nine months A Seattle man facing manslaughter charges for fatally shooting a car prowler with a rifle pleaded guilty Friday after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors. Filing a second-degree manslaughter charge in September, King County prosecutors alleged that Douglas Cameron Sheets acted with criminal negligence when he shot Jhovany Hernandez outside his Northgate home. According to court filings, police came to believe that Sheets shot Hernandez as the 21-year-old fled. Sheets was arraigned Friday, then pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter. Since he has no other criminal record, he would face a sentence of 21...

In a day of shocks, the most shocking turn of events was a break in decades of tradition by naming a foreign born male the Daffodil Princess. A decades long tradition here in Puyallup Valley of awarding the honor to a beautiful young lass, Obama beat out the odds on favorites to win the tiara. Puyallup, nestled in the shadows of both Mt. Rainier and the Space Needle, began this tradition by handing to award over to the daughters of prominent car dealers before a string of young asian ladies seemed to have a perpetual grip on the title. Obama...

Washington's official state ship, the venerable Lady Washington, is no longer welcome in California. Despite its 4,442 square feet of sail power, the ship also employs a 60-year-old diesel engine that fails to meet California's air-pollution standards. The 112-foot square-rigger, perhaps best-known as the ship hijacked by Jack Sparrow in the Disney film "Pirates of the Caribbean," normally spends its winters in California waters. Last winter, it hosted more than 70,000 visitors and took more than 7,000 California school kids sailing from California ports. If they didn't run that engine, there wouldn't be a problem," explained Cherie Rainforth, a staffer...

Friends, relatives and neighbors of Merna De Shon watch a 220-foot tall crane lift the 50 foot boat built by her husband George De Shon, Wednesday, October 7, 2009. Nearly 25 years ago, George began building the yacht in the couple's Tacoma backyard. George died last March at 82 and Myrna recently sold the vessel. The 50-foot dream boat that George De Shon spent nearly 25 years building has never floated, but on Wednesday it flew. De Shon wasn’t there to see it. He died last March at age 82. A few dozen neighbors came by to watch as the...

Nature has recently published an interesting paper which places severe limits on Darwinian evolution...

Seattle – Richard Dawkins, the world’s leading public spokesman for Darwinian evolution and an advocate of the “new atheism,” has refused to debate Dr. Stephen C. Meyer, a prominent advocate of intelligent design and the author of the acclaimed Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design. “Richard Dawkins claims that the appearance of design in biology is an illusion and claims to have refuted the case for intelligent design,” says Dr. Meyer who received his Ph.D. in the philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge in England. “But Dawkins assiduously avoids addressing the key evidence...

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Microsoft Corp. has donated $100,000 to the campaign supporting more partnership rights for Washington state gay couples. That's the largest single donation in favor of Referendum 71, which asks voters to approve or reject a new law that expands domestic partnerships for gay and lesbian couples.

Oct 2, 2009 — A new fossil human ancestor has taken center stage. Those who love Lucy, the australopithecine made famous by Donald Johanson (and numerous TV specials), are in for a surprise. Lucy is a has been. Her replacement is not Desi Arnaz, but is designated Ardi, short for Ardipithecus ramidus – the new leading lady in the family tree. Actually, she has been around for years since her discovery in Ethiopia in 1992. It has taken Tim White and crew 15 years to piece together the bones that were in extremely bad condition. But now, Ardi has made...

Storming the Beaches of Norman Norman, Oklahoma, that is. Okay, so there aren’t any real beaches in Norman, Oklahoma. But when Steve Meyer and I went there recently, the Darwinists who have installed themselves as absolute dictators at the University of Oklahoma (OU) made our arrival feel like D-Day. On September 28, Steve gave a talk on his best-selling book Signature in the Cell at the Oklahoma Memorial Union on the OU campus. The following evening, September 29, Steve and I answered questions after a showing of the new film Darwin’s Dilemma at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History,...

Artificially Reconstructed “Ardi” Overturns Prevailing Evolutionary Hypotheses of Human Evolution The missing link presently being touted in the media, Ardipithecus ramidus, has had more reconstructive surgery than Michael Jackson. Assuming that their "extensive digital reconstruction" of its "badly crushed and distorted bones" is accurate, what does A. ramidus (or “Ardi” as the fawning media is affectionately calling it) really show us that we didn’t already know? We already knew of upright walking / tree-climbing, small-brained hominids—that’s what Lucy, an australopithecine, was. We already knew that there were australopithecine fossils dating back to before 4 million years, and this fossil is...

<p>All it took was a wrong turn for Jorge-Alonso Chehade to face deportation.</p> <p>But that wrong turn near Seattle also brought him attention and praise from Washington state’s congressional delegation, pro bono attorneys and maybe a chance to stay in the United States. In March, the 22-year-old college graduate was visiting friends in Bellingham at Western Washington University. On the way back early in the morning, tired from a night’s fun and unfamiliar with the area, Chehade and a friend took the north Interstate 5 ramp instead of the southbound one.</p>

1. Meet “Ardi”Evolutionists aren’t yet sure if they should call it a human ancestor, but one thing they do know is that “Ardi” does away with the idea of a “missing link.”Although first discovered in the early 1990s, the bones of Ardipithecus ramidus are only now being nominated for evolutionists’ fossil hall of fame—via a slew of papers in a special issue of the journal Science. In it, Ardi’s researchers describe the bones and make the case that Ardi is even more important in the history of human evolution than Lucy. Despite claims of its evolutionary significance, one of the...

Bones of “Ardi,” New Human Evolution Fossil, “Crushed Nearly to Smithereens” Another new alleged missing link has been found, if you consider something discovered in the early 1990’s new. This fossil seems to have spent almost as much time under the microscope at Berkeley as it did in the ground in Ethiopia, when it was first buried about 4.4 million years ago. Why did it take over 15 years for the reports on this fossil to finally be published, besides the fact that it allowed more time for planning the now-customary PR campaign? A 2002 article in Science explains exactly...

Community Colleges of Spokane and Spokane Falls Community College officials agreed to a court order Thursday that settles a lawsuit filed after they attempted to unconstitutionally silence the pro-life message of a student group. SFCC officials threatened student Beth Sheeran, represented by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, and other members of a Christian student group with disciplinary measures, including expulsion, if they chose to hold a pro-life event on campus because the information they were sharing with other students was deemed “discriminatory” and did not include a pro-abortion viewpoint. The agreed-upon order eliminates or revises the problematic policies and...

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire appears to be softening her stance on raising taxes. Gregoire said today that her “door is open” to lawmakers and advocates who want to make the case for a tax package this January. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports. A year ago when Gregoire was running for re-election this was how she responded to questions about higher taxes to offset budget cuts. Gregoire: “Now is not the time and I mean now meaning period not the time to consider raising anything.” 4.5 billion dollars in cuts later – and with the state facing yet another billion dollar...

(CAMANO ISLAND)— SNIPPET: "Experts say if 18-year-old Harris-Moore really did fly two stolen airplanes, he probably had some informal training. San Juan County sheriff believes Harris-Moore took a Cessna 182 and flew to Yakima last year, and stole a plane this month from Friday Harbor and flew to Orcas Island. The proof to link Harris-Moore with the latest flight may be found in DNA evidence recovered from the stolen plane."

Outer Limits Not Lively Sept 29, 2009 — One of the “cosmic coincidences” cited in the intelligent-design treatise The Privileged Planet1 is the “galactic habitable zone” – a fairly narrow region of the galaxy where planets can form and exist safely.  The outer regions of the galaxy were described as lacking the heavy elements necessary for planet formation. Score one for the authors.  New Scientist reported on a planet search by astronomers at the University of Tokyo who failed to find planets in the outer reaches of the galaxy.  “Astronomers have long doubted that life could exist there,” the article...

LifeNews.com Note: Rita Marker is an attorney and executive director of the International Task Force on Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide. Live in Washington State? In a crisis? Suicidal?Call 911.Then what?A dispatcher sends crisis negotiators who, if they follow the suggestions provided at a recent negotiators' training session, could help you consider "all options." If you're eligible, you may be referred to friendly volunteers who will help you find a doctor willing to prescribe a deadly drug overdose.Just take the prescription to a pharmacy. Have it filled by a pharmacist who hands it to you with instructions to "take this with...

Want to know what Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck told the thousands who gathered at Safeco Field Saturday to hear him? Beck spoke at Safeco Field Saturday in an event sponsored by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. (Josh Trujillo/seattlepi.com) | See more photos Someone put the entire appearance on YouTube. And all told, he said nothing shocking. Beck advised the crowd to focus on the message, not the messenger -- admitting that he himself is mainly an entertainer -- and at one point asked if they knew any Democrats who were out to destroy the country. Attendees shook their...

DID JEWISH FEDERATION SUSPECT BELIEVE HE WAS A 'JIHADI'? Jail phone calls, claims of jihad at issue as trial approaches" by Levi Pulkkinen SNIPPET: "The jail calls, Haq's attorneys contend, show Haq making "nonsense claims that he wanted to be a martyr, that he was a jihadi, and that his parents should be proud of him."" SNIPPET: "In a search of Haq's homes in the Tri-Cities, Seattle police recovered a prayer written by Haq four days before the shooting. In it, Haq apparently complained that supporters of Israel had hijacked American foreign policy and expressed concerns that American-made weapons were...

Washington State plans no new financial incentives for Boeing in its bid to win a second production line for the 787 Dreamliner. That's clear from a 32-page document released Monday morning by the office of Gov. Christine Gregoire. On Friday, Gregoire met with the new chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Jim Albaugh, and presented him with the document outlining the business case for building a second 787 line here. The presentation includes no new concessions specific to Boeing or the aerospace industry, but instead summarizes the state's existing advantages as a center of civil aerospace manufacturing. "The greatest benefit...

The mayor of Glenn Beck's hometown in Washington state presented the Fox News personality with a ceremonial key to the city Saturday evening, an event preceded by weeks of protests and petitions calling for the cancellation of the visit. Beck received a boisterous, minute-long standing ovation after receiving the plaque-mounted key from Mount Vernon Mayor Bud Norris, who weeks earlier proclaimed Saturday "Glenn Beck Day" as a way to mark the conservative commentator's success as a nationally known broadcaster. Beck spoke for about an hour, remembering his childhood in Mount Vernon, an agricultural city of 31,000 people 60 miles north...

There are a lot of false urban legends promoted in academia about intelligent design (ID). They often start with myths promoted by misinformed critiques in scientific journals, court rulings, or even talks by activists at scientific conferences. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for this misinformation to then be passed down to college students, who may know very little about ID and lack the resources to correct their professors’ misinformed and misplaced attacks on ID. Not anymore. If you’re a college student, recently gone back to school and expecting to hear a lot of anti-ID views from your professors, we’re pleased to...

In a sea of 7,000 fans, controversial TV and radio talk-show host Glenn Beck took his crusade to Safeco Field today, saying he is the voice of reason in a divided America. "I am a flawed human being," said Beck, 45. "But I'm in a position to ring the bell of warning." Beck, sponsored by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, came to Seattle amid a torrent of anger over his proclamation on July 28 that President Obama was a racist and that he believed the president has a "deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture." Outside the stadium, about...

Firebrand Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck returns to his Northwest roots today, scheduled to speak and sign books at Seattle’s Safeco Field and, later, to receive the proverbial key to the city of his former hometown of Mount Vernon. Amid protests, petitions and threats of shopping boycotts, the mayor of the Skagit County city best known for its tulips has proclaimed the day as “Glenn Beck Day,” igniting a firestorm against the conservative television and radio commentator known for his plain-spoken, sometimes inflammatory views. Beck, whose meteoric rise in American pop culture in recent months has landed him...

A landmark book about intelligent design has hit the bookstore shelves. I’ll tell you about it. In recent years, there have been several important books about intelligent design that go to the debate about evolution and the origins of life. Bill Dembski’s The Design Inference was first. Then along came Darwin’s Black Box by Michael Behe, showing the irreducible complexity of the cell, which casts grave doubts on Darwinian evolution as an explanation for life and higher life forms. Now we’ve got Signature in the Cell by the Discovery Institute’s Dr. Stephen Meyer. I’m going to warn you up front:...

EVERETT — A police investigation into an Everett bikini espresso stand is about politics, not prostitution, the owner of the stand said Thursday. Bill Wheeler said Everett police are targeting Grab-n-Go Espresso because the city is trying to push through an anti-bikini stand statute. Wheeler owns at least four bikini espresso stands in Snohomish County. Five baristas at Grab-n-Go were charged Wednesday with multiple counts of prostitution and violating the city's adult entertainment ordinance after a two-month undercover police investigation. Investigators said they saw the women exposing themselves, performing lewd acts with whipped cream and posing naked for pictures in...

Boeing employees are about to lose a fabulous perk, and the cost-cutting move could mean a significant financial hit for some local colleges and universities as well. Until now, when a Boeing employee enrolled for any class at any accredited college, the company picked up the tuition — with no restrictions. Boeing currently pays for the classes of about 6,000 employees in the Puget Sound region and 21,000 companywide. But many of those enjoying free classes will lose that benefit at year-end, when Boeing starts limiting its subsidy to cover only courses that further an employee's career at the company....

EVERETT, Wash. -- Five bikini baristas have been accused of prostitution in Everett. Police say they charged customers to touch their breasts and buttocks, which falls under the city's definition of prostitution. The Everett Herald reports the women were charging up to $80 to strip down while fixing lattes and mochas. During a two-month investigation, detectives also saw the women lick whipped cream off each other and pose naked for pictures at the Grab-n-Go Espresso stand on Broadway. Owner Bill Wheeler told KCPQ-TV any employee caught doing anything illegal will be fired on the spot. Sgt. Robert Goetz says the...

Federal investigators are looking into reports that one of the men who detonated a truck bomb in Mogadishu last week that killed 21 peacekeepers was a Somali refugee who had lived in Seattle as recently as 2007. Two federal law enforcement sources, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the FBI in Seattle received information last week that indicated that one of the suicide bombers was from Seattle. "We've been looking into it ever since," said one of the sources. One of the sources, a senior federal law enforcement official, said the FBI is actively investigating whether terrorist groups are...

KENT, Wash. – Police say a woman with a history of driving infractions, including vehicular homicide, intentionally tried to run down another woman in a grocery store parking lot and then blew a kiss to the victim before driving away. Prosecutors have now charged Shannon Lee Doyle, 35, of Des Moines with Second Degree Assault. The incident happened on December 4, 2008 at the Albertson's at 20600 108th Avenue Southeast in Kent. According to probable cause documents, detectives say the victim had a just parked her car and she and her daughter got out to go into the store. A...

The head of Eastern State Hospital resigned today in the wake of last week’s Spokane Interstate Fair escape by a criminally insane patient who had been committed in the brutal killing a woman in 1987 in Sunnyside. Phillip A. Paul, 47, walked away from the fair and stayed on the run for three days before being recaptured in a remote wooded area Sunday near Goldendale, Wash. Eastern CEO Hal Wilson announced his resignation on Wednesday, according to officials in the state Department of Social and Health Services, the state agency that oversees mental health services. Wilson has contended the mental...

Irving Kristol, Darwin Doubter, RIP If you’re ever given a choice between seeing one of two doctors about a health concern, with all else about them being apparently equal, you’d be well advised to choose the older one. Oh but won’t the young guy have all the latest techniques and therapies at his disposal, fresh from med school? Maybe or maybe not. What’s more likely, and more important, is that the seasoned practitioner will have wisdom and experience of the human condition. So too in the political world, where on the conservative side of the spectrum you have “neocons,” “paleocons,”...

SEATTLE -- Gov. Chris Gregoire said it is "unfathomable" that an insane killer who spent three days on the run was taken on a field trip to a county fair. Phillip Arnold Paul was returned to Eastern State Hospital on Monday, one day after he was captured on a rural road during a manhunt involving dozens of law enforcement officers. "I cannot understand why anybody would be taken on an outing, with the history of this individual, to a family day at a county fair," Gregoire said on Tuesday. "The fact that that happened, yes, is embarrassing to me and...

Writing for Salon this week, Alexander Zaitchik reports about Glenn Beck's connections to Washington state. glenn-beck The report, which includes references to The News Tribune's coverage of the 1979 drowning death of Beck's mother in Commencement Bay, raises questions about whether Beck is telling the truth about that tragic event: Was it suicide, as Beck claims, or was it an accident? The controversial radio and television talk show host, who stirred a furor over his branding of President Barack Obama as a "racist" earlier this year, is expected to travel to his boyhood home of Mt. Vernon this weekend to...

A press release yesterday by the Northwest Professional Educators Association announced that the teachers of St. John School District in Whitman County have disassociated their local union from the Washington Education Association.   I'll let the release speak for itself: In an historic move, teachers of the St. John School District in Eastern Washington voted to disaffiliate their local teacher’s association from the Washington Education Association (WEA) and the National Education Association (NEA).  St. John teachers sought the assistance of Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE), an affiliate of the Association of American Educators, to educate them about negotiation options, legal and liability...

Yakima Mayor Edler recently announced that he joined Mayor Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG). Yakima is dealing with a string of gang-related shootings that have rocked the City of Yakima. MAIG’s Mission Statement declares: “We support the Second Amendment and the rights of citizens to own guns.”   The anti-gun mayors’ group does not support the right to bear arms, however. MAIG has stated that “a policy that is appropriate for a small town in one region of the country is not necessarily appropriate for a big city in another region of the country.” Many of the positions taken...

Insane killer caught after 3 days on loose in Wash An insane killer who slipped away from the staff of a mental institution on a field trip Thursday to the Spokane County Interstate Fair was recaptured Sunday without injury more than 180 miles away in south-central Washington state. With a helicopter overhead and dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement officers swarming around Goldendale, Phillip Arnold Paul, 47, seemed ready to surrender when he walked out to the Goldendale-Bickleton road about 22 miles east of town shortly after 4 p.m., just as search personnel arrived at the scene, Klickitat...