Free Republic

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — A portion of an Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River, about 60 miles north of Seattle, collapsed Thursday, sending three vehicles and people plunging into the cold water at least 50 feet below. Amazingly, there were no fatalities, Skagit County authorities said. Three people were pulled from the river and taken to Skagit Valley Hospital and United General Hospital; two were reported to be in stable condition, the other had minor injuries and was being released Thursday night. The survivor who was released was identified as Dan Sligh, 47. His wife, Sally Sligh, 56, remained...

President Barack Obama wants Russia to be friends. Since he and former president Dmitry Medvedev, now the country’s Prime Minister, discussed a “reset” of relations, the Cold War’s Punch & Judy have been more like frenemies than friends.

The idea that this targeting practice was isolated in some off-shoot Ohio office was preposterous from the beginning. Even if no other office were involved, Cincinnati is the central office for clearing tax-exempt applications and has been since the late ’90s. Its location in Cincinnati just gave apologists a convenient way to imply it was not involved in carrying out a national policy.Since the early days of this scandal, we’ve learned, even if it was buried in the Style section of the Washington Post, there was a “directive.�Now, National Review‘s Eliana Johnson reports there was guidance from Washington’s Technical Unit...

RICHLAND, Wash. (BP) -- A florist who was told by the state of Washington she must provide her services for a gay wedding is countersuing the state, saying she has served gay customers her entire career and is concerned the state's position on gay weddings will harm religious freedom. The countersuit by Arlene's Flowers came weeks after Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued the florist when its owner, Barronelle Stutzman, declined to design a wedding floral arrangement for a longtime customer who is gay. Washington legalized gay marriage last year. The countersuit, filed by the group Alliance Defending Freedom, says...

Senior Obama officials tell the US Senate: the 'war', in limitless form, will continue for 'at least' another decade - or two Last October, senior Obama officials anonymously unveiled to the Washington Post their newly minted "disposition matrix", a complex computer system that will be used to determine how a terrorist suspect will be "disposed of": indefinite detention, prosecution in a real court, assassination-by-CIA-drones, etc. Their rationale for why this was needed now, a full 12 years after the 9/11 attack: Among senior Obama administration officials, there is a broad consensus that such operations are likely to be extended at...

We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate. The reputation of the Obama White House has, among conservatives, gone from sketchy to sinister, and, among liberals, from unsatisfying to dangerous. No one likes what they're seeing.

Tyler Weyer and his fellow seniors at Republic High School began considering possible commencement speakers last fall. Confronting them was the reality that the most likely speaker would be a popular teacher or a standout community member. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But Weyer had a crazy thought. “I said, ‘Hey, let’s just get Sarah Palin,’ ” said Weyer, the 17-year-old senior class president at Republic High. It was kind of a joke, at least at first. But soon Weyer had taken the lead on an aggressive social media campaign that … just got Sarah Palin. The former...

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...

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- An electronic sign out front welcomes visitors to Sunnycrest Elementary School in the Federal Way School District; what it doesn't mention is that next week is "Teacher Appreciation Week" - and that this year's effort's aren't exactly getting an A grade from parents in the neighborhood. "Wow. You're kidding, right?" asked Karissa Edwards, as she strolled through the neighborhood with her daughter Tuesday. "That's not appropriate for school, whether it be elementary or high school - any of it." Edwards was looking at an email sent from the school's PTA to local parents outlining next week's...

Police arrested more than a dozen people and used flash-bang grenades and pepper spray after apparent anarchists and May Day marchers converged in downtown Seattle, throwing pipes, fireworks and rocks, lighting flares and sparking confrontations with officers. Protesters met at Seattle Central Community College at the busy intersection of Broadway and Pine Street and then spilled into the street, blocking traffic.

The Pecksniffs of America had nothing but scorn for Congress' vote last week to stop furloughs of air traffic controllers, which were ostensibly mandated under the 2011 Budget Control Act. Congress failed to act to stop cuts to Head Start and Meals On Wheels, critics sneered, but did stop the Federal Aviation Administration cuts largely because they hit lawmakers where they live -- on the planes that fly them to and from their home districts. Nonsense. Congress did what it was supposed to do. Capitol Hill responded to the flying public's righteous anger. There was a fear factor: If a...

Democratic leaders are wooing staunchly pro-gun candidates to run in pivotal Senate races at the same time they are discussing a strategy for bringing gun control legislation back up for debate. The two-pronged effort has prompted Republicans to accuse the Senate Democratic leadership of hypocrisy, but Democrats say it is simply smart politics. The question is whether two of the Democrats’ most promising potential candidates in Montana and South Dakota will pay a price for the leadership’s political maneuverings in Washington. Or will recruiting candidates who do not support President Obama’s gun control agenda have any effect on Democratic fundraising...

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...

A florist in Washington is being sued for a second time after choosing not to provide flower arrangements for a gay customer's upcoming wedding. Barronelle Stutzman of Arlene's Flowers in Richland now faces two lawsuits, one from the Washington state Attorney General and another from the American Civil Liberties Union, for turning away business for a same-sex couple’s wedding. When frequent customer Curt Freed approached Barronelle Stutzman of Arlene's Flowers last month to provide arrangements for his September wedding ceremony to Rob Ingersoll, the florist said she could not provide services due to her religious beliefs. On the company's Facebook...

PUYALLUP, Wash. — A manager at the Victoria’s Secret store at South Hill Mall was injured Saturday morning while trying to stop three women from stealing bras. KIRO 7 Eyewitness News partner the Tacoma News Tribune reported the incident happened around 11:30 a.m.. According to police, three women entered the store and scooped up 150 bras estimated at $8,000. The manager followed the women and tried to stop them outside of the store’s entrance, but all three women attacked her. Police said two of the women punched the manager in the face. The manager was also sprayed with an unknown...

Full length movie, even if you've seen it before it is worth watching again.

Washington (CNN) -- An envelope that tested positive for the deadly poison ricin was intercepted Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Capitol's off-site mail facility in Washington, congressional and law enforcement sources tell CNN.

Liberal anti-gun readers of the Seattle Times and Seattle P-I.com are having fits over the announcement that the State Republican Party will auction an AR-15 during this weekend’s annual fund raising banquet. The event kicks off with a silent auction beginning at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bellevue Hilton, followed by the live auction and dinner beginning at 7 o’clock, according to State GOP Chairman Kirby Wilbur. He was filling in all week on KVI for vacationing John Carlson. This was like an old home week for Wilbur, who used to occupy the morning drive slot on KVI before a...

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...

Burglary suspect finds time to feed the dog EAST WENATCHEE — Residents of a house in the 600 block of Second Street Northeast were surprised to come home Saturday night and find a strange man in their kitchen. “He was standing there with the refrigerator door open and feeding their dog some pudding,” said Dan Reierson, assistant chief with the East Wenatchee Police Department. The suspect told the couple that he was looking for a man to kill, but the residents told him that person did not live there, Reierson said. The suspect sat for a brief time in a...

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...

On December 3rd, 1793, George Washington met with Congress to deliver his fifth annual address, which we would call a "State of the Union" address today. The term "State of the Union" was first used in 1934 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Due to the importance of George Washington in America's history, what we decided to do with this is reach out to a new audience. Not to pander, but to reach out with the truth and with right reason. George Washington was considered to be "The Indispensable Man" when he was alive, and he is still very much indispensable today....

Catholic Gonzaga University Won’t Allow Catholic Students To Form Catholic Group The Daily Caller. Roman Catholic, Jesuit-affiliated Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington has refused to recognize the Knights of Columbus as an official student group because — wait for it — the Knights of Columbus is a Catholic organization. Gonzaga administrators notified the students who had sought the school’s official seal of approval last month, reports The Cardinal Newman Society’s Catholic Education Daily. “The Knights of Columbus, by their very nature, is a men’s organization in which only Catholics may participate via membership,” reads a letter written by Sue Weitz,...

Didn't see your state on the lists of Best States to Make a Living or Worst States to Make a Living? Find it below in the full 50-state rankings. Again, these rankings are based on an analysis that considered: •Average wage and unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics •Cost of living data from C2ER (formerly ACCRA) •State tax rate information from Tax-Rates.org •The Workplace Environment rankings from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index poll Going from best to worst, here is how all 50 U.S. states ranked for 2013:

Washington Episcopal Bishop Marianne Budde, writing in her blog on the subject of Resurrection, opined that if someone were to discover a tomb with Jesus' remains in it, the entire enterprise would not come crashing down. VOL: Actually, Bishop it would. Our faith would be in vain and we would be of all men (and women) most miserable. St. Paul writes in I Cor. 15, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day...

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 landslide on Whidbey Island in Washington state pushed one home 200 feet out into the water and forced the evacuation of about 20 people, officials said. Early Wednesday morning a 1,000-foot-wide section of a cliff on the island fell away, blocking the beach-side road below, The Seattle Times reported. Police evacuated about a dozen people from homes below the cliff by boat because of the road blockage, KOMO-TV, Seattle, reported.

The Senate did something this past weekend it hasn't done in four years: passed a budget. The law requires the Senate to pass a budget, but Congress often ignores its own laws. For most of Barack Obama's presidency, a series of continuing resolutions kept the money -- your money -- flowing. Now the Senate wants to add a trillion dollars of new taxes, even more than President Obama seeks. Despite our growing debt, the Senate wants to fund things like the Senate barbershop, which loses a third of a million dollars every year. It's like they live in a...

George Washington’s rye whiskey going on sale Rye whiskey using George Washington’s own recipe will soon go on sale at the first president’s Mount Vernon estate in Virginia. The presidential home reconstructed Washington’s distillery and will make more than 1,100 bottles of unaged whiskey available beginning April 4. The bottles sell for $95 each. Mount Vernon says the rye is the most authentic version of Washington’s whiskey available. Washington was a detailed record keeper, and distillers used the same grain recipe and fermentation process as it was done 250 years ago. No word on whether it’ll be available online or...

Hyping "growing support" for same-sex marriage, CNN's Carol Costello asked a supporter of California's Proposition 8 on Monday if he was "on the wrong side of history" for legally defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Her tone fits right with Friday's CNN panel where a traditional marriage supporter was disgustingly marginalized as a segregationist and compared to a slave owner. Costello cited GOP strategist Karl Rove admitting that he could see a Republican presidential candidate publicly support same-sex marriage in 2016. She then asked Austin Nimocks of the Alliance Defense Fund, "Austin, you heard what Karl Rove...

Nationally, pro-abortion politicians at least go through the motions to hide their extremism on the issue, such as insisting that the insurance mandates they support cover only contraception and suggesting that they wouldn’t force anyone to pay for abortions against his or her will. But in the state of Washington, Democrats have dropped the charade and lunged for what the rest of their party really wants – forcing private insurers to cover abortion. The Reproductive Parity Act, as supporters call it, would require insurers in Washington state who cover maternity care — which all insurers must do — to also...

A Boeing spokesperson confirmed on Friday that the company will lay off 800 workers, as well as reduce its overall workforce by 2,000 or more in 2013. According to a company spokesperson, the layoffs will be primarily of workers in the 787 and 747 post-assembly facilities, all machinists, in Everett. The additional 2,000 to 2,300 positions will be elimated through attrition and transfers. No employees have been notified of layoffs yet.

...Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in cases that challenge the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8. The Court should uphold these laws and respect the constitutional authority of citizens and their elected officials to make marriage policy. Next Tuesday, March 26, as the Supreme Court hears these cases, thousands will come to our nation’s capital to March for Marriage.Make your voice heard in support of marriage between a man and a woman—and urge the Court to respect your constitutional authority. We don’t need an activist Court creating a...

Washington State, which already boasts widespread access to abortion, recently proposed legislation to ensure that this access is not mitigated when federal insurance changes take place next year. The bill, EHB1044, the “Reproductive Parity Act,” would amend existing legislation to ensure that insurance carriers do not limit or remove abortion coverage in the face of possible hurdles accompanying new federal legislation that takes effect in 2014. cutepregnantThe bill even received criticism from pro-abortion legislators who believed that it may be counter-productive to protecting abortion laws since it could jeopardize the implementation of federal laws. However, the measure contains language that...

We are God's House ! Sent to restore the foundations ! You Will BE Sustained by My love for you . So do not fear but receive My messengers of Grace bringing and bearing My love for they "ARE" My heart of endearment ,"Yeah"the very Virtue of eternity I call ((("GRACE" ))) . . . Receive your healing and allow My Joy to rise up and fill your WellSpring to overflowing "That My River may "BECOME YOU" for others in this same way . . . " I BESTOW ~ AS You LET GO" ~ ~ ~ Ezra 1:5 5...

The federal government should stop enforcing the Controlled Substances Act, with its draconian definition of marijuana, in Washington and Colorado, which voted last November to legalize and tax the growing and sale of cannabis, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told interviewers Monday. “The state (Colorado) has spoken: The law has been passed. There are issues with taxation and regulation, and we should get on with it,” Pelosi told the editorial board of the Denver Post.

Denver television station CBS4 reports that Colorado has seen a sharp spike in marijuana use among teenagers since voters passed Amendment 64 last November, legalizing recreational use of the drug. As described in The Economist, along with a Washington State measure also legalizing marijuana, Amendment 64 is “an electoral first not only for America but for the world.” That means two American states are to the left of the Scandinavian countries, Holland, and every other liberal country regarding marijuana. CBS4 quotes a number of local high-school students: “I’ve seen a lot more people just walking down the street smoking (joints),”...

LINCOLN COUNTY, Wash. -- Authorities confirm a military plane from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island crashed in Lincoln County, Wash. A volunteer firefighter in Davenport tells KREM.com the plane crashed between Harrington and Odessa, near the intersection of Coffee Pot Rd. and Duck Lake Lamona Rd. Witnesses told KREM 2 they heard a large plane followed by a loud "boom" seconds later, and saw a large cloud of smoke billowing from the ground, with the first reports coming in around 9 a.m. Monday morning. KREM 2 has a crew on the way to the scene.

As the Catholic Church turns this week to electing a new pope, an outsider might be knocking on the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel: Vice President Joe Biden. President Obama, armed with jokes for Saturday night's Gridiron Club dinner, kidded that Biden has a higher calling. But, the president said at the old-school event featuring skits and humor, the 70-year-old veep might have a handicap--he's too young. "Even though I'm just beginning my second term, I know that some folks are looking ahead to bigger things. Look, it's no secret that my vice president is still ambitious. But let's...

The mayor of a Washington town has directed pastors to stop invoking the name “Jesus Christ” in city council invocations. Don Jensen, the mayor of Longview, Wash., told the Kelso-Longview Ministerial Association that prayers mentioning Christ were not acceptable because they could expose the city to a lawsuit. The decision has sparked controversy in the city – located about 50 miles north of Portland, Ore. Mark Schmutz, who pastors the Northlake Baptist Church, said if they can’t speak the name Jesus Christ, association ministers will no longer provide the invocation. “We need to be able to speak Jesus’ name,”...

**SNIP** This is already clear on the budget, as Mr. Obama insists on a second tax increase that Republicans can't accept. We're also increasingly worried about White House sabotage on immigration reform, as it pushes the bill left on a guest-worker program and enforcement. Mr. Obama is doing exactly what you'd expect if he doesn't want a deal and plans to use the issue to drive minority turnout in 2014. It's important to understand how extraordinary this is. Presidents typically try to secure major bipartisan deals in their fifth or sixth years, before their political capital ebbs. That's what Bill...

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....

Today, I had a conversation with an investigator from the Cold Case Posse in AZ. We talked and I expanded on several dossiers filled with evidence for over an hour. They asked for all of my relevant information on Obama, the Harry Bounel alias evidence, and the dossiers I completed on Stanley Ann Dunham, her parents, and Michelle Obama as well. They have it all. BTW they also say that it looks like my information cannot be disproved and will be useful. I have proof, definitive proof that Stanley Ann Dunham was in WA state in "1961" as per the...

Is it possible–or even imaginable–that in the United States of America, police could go door to door and confiscate citizens’ legally owned firearms? To many, such a concern is conspiratorial and evidence of paranoia. They might be surprised to learn that not only has outright gun confiscation of legally purchased weapons already occurred in a major way in the U.S., but public officials in some areas are right now attempting to pass legislation to allow more of the same. Alas, with the national furor over multiple new gun restrictions being proposed by President Obama via “executive action,” in Congress, in...

Lawmakers in Washington State have accidentally written a bill permitting police to invade private homes for the purpose of confiscating “illegal” guns and accessories, such as magazines which hold over 10 rounds. (1) According to Senate Bill 5737, introduced on February 13th by Democrat State Senators Murray, Kohl-Welles and Kline, no one may possess an “assault weapon” or the combination of a semi-automatic pistol or rifle capable of using a detachable magazine AND any magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammo. Happily, however, you ARE allowed to possess an UNLOADED assault weapon “…for the purpose of permanently...

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...

People who have been around for a while all seem to agree. Never in living memory has the atmosphere on Capitol Hill and in Washington, D.C., generally been so toxic. I don’t find this to be true out in the hinterland. The country as a whole is divided politically. But it’s not obviously more divided than it was 50 years ago. The toxicity of politics is a D.C. phenomenon. What’s more, the polarization is worse among the elites. It seems that the more education they have, the more polarized people become. Why is that? I have a theory. Any period...

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...

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,...