Free Republic

The Brief -State Senator Bill Ramos has died suddenly. -His wife, Councilmember Sarah Perry, announced his passing on Sunday. -Tributes continue to pour in from local leaders. His wife, King County Councilmember Sarah Perry, issued a statement on the state senator's passing, reading, in part: "I am devastated to share that Bill passed away suddenly on the evening of April 19. He was doing what he loved – running on one of the many trails near our Issaquah home. For Bill, these runs were a way to relieve stress during a busy legislative session, a way to stay active –...

A three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government has the authority to deport illegal immigrants even if local leaders try to impede the process. The case arose after King County Executive Dow Constantine issued an executive order in 2019 that instructed county officials to prohibit “fixed base operators” (FBO) on a county airfield from servicing flights chartered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport illegal immigrants who are lawfully removable. FBO’s “lease space from the airport and provide flights with essential services, such as fueling and landing stairs,” according to the ruling.The...

The Ninth Circuit has long been the left-most federal appellate court in the United States. However, the day after Thanksgiving, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision that must have made President-elect Donald Trump very happy: It concluded that the Supremacy Clause means what it says, namely, that when it comes to the border, local political bodies cannot use regulations governing private parties to override the federal government’s supremacy on immigration matters. United States v. King County revolved around Boeing Field, an airport in King County, Washington (i.e., the Seattle area). In 1941, King County conveyed the field to the U.S....

The federal government has the authority to deport foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally over the objection of local authorities, a panel of three judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled. The 29-page ruling was written by Judge Daniel Bress, with judges Michael Hawkins and Richard Clinton concurring. At issue is an April 2019 executive order issued by King County Executive Dow Constantine, which directed county officials to prohibit fixed base operators on a county airfield near Seattle from servicing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement charter flights used to deport illegal foreign nationals. Constantine’s order prohibited King...

SEATTLE - Washington governor-elect Bob Ferguson announced on Monday that he is creating a subcommittee in his transition team with the sole aim of fighting Project 2025, which they expect will be put into motion by the Trump Administration. Ferguson's committee will be co-chaired by Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates CEO Jennifer Allen and King County Councilmember Jorge L. Barón, who formerly served as executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project from 2008 to 2023. "We are preparing in case President Trump attacks Washingtonians’ core freedoms," Governor-elect Ferguson said. "We will keep Washington moving forward no matter what happens at...

A teenage boy allegedly killed his software engineer father, his mom and three of his four siblings in their $2million Washington home, DailyMail.com can reveal. Mark Humiston, 42, his wife Sarah and three of their children were found shot dead on Monday inside their rustic mansion in Fall City by Lake Alice, about 30 miles east of Seattle, which has some of the most expensive homes in America. A 15-year-old boy was taken into custody after allegedly murdering five of the family's seven members. Police have not revealed the names or ages of the victims -- or their relationship to...

The woman shot and killed at a house south of The Junction on Tuesday was identified this afternoon, and police have released more information on what they believe happened. We’ve already added the new details to our original Tuesday report, but are also publishing this separate update. First, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, she was 57-year-old Tamara (“Tammy”) Towers Parry, and she died of “multiple gunshot wounds.” She was a longtime physician who gained notoriety in 2021 for a video indicating she was at the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot. Police said in the hours after her...

An 18-year-old motorist is facing homicide charges for the deaths of a Washington state mother and three of the kids she was ushering around after he allegedly drove his Audi A4 more than 100 miles per hour into their minivan, prosecutors said. Chase Daniel Jones is accused of killing the 38-year-old mom Andrea Hudson as well as Boyd Buster Brown, 12, and sisters Matilda Wilcoxson, 13, and Eloise Wilcoxson, 12, when he barreled into their vehicle, pushing it into another two cars on the road, officials said. Two of Hudson’s children who were also in the minivan were hospitalized and...

FULL TITLE: Seattle's Green River killer confesses to slaying nearly DOUBLE the 49 women he's convicted of killing in first ever interview A Seattle-area truck painter who was unmasked as the Green River serial killer has claimed he murdered up to 80 women over two decades - nearly double the number he was convicted of killing. Gary Ridgway is currently serving 49 consecutive life sentences in a Washington state prison. But in a series of interviews conducted over the past five months, he is now claiming there are significantly more victims and he says he is coming clean to help...

Bones discovered along a hillside in 1985 have been identified as belonging to a victim of the notorious Green River Killer, deputies in Washington said. DNA identified the remains of 15-year-old Lori Anne Razpotnik decades after she went missing, the King County Sheriff’s Office said in a Dec. 19 news release. Razpotnik was one of 49 women Gary Ridgway is accused of killing in the 1980s and 1990s in Washington. She ran away from her home in Lewis County in 1982 and never returned, deputies said.

Filling out my online jury summons. Not making this up. To serve as a juror with King County Superior Court you must be: 18+ years old; U.S. citizen; King County resident; Able to communicate in English or Sign Language; """If you have been convicted of a felony you are unable to serve as a juror if you are currently incarcerated."""

Jason Roth lives in a van with his dog Wally. He’s both homeless and a homeowner, all at the same time. “It’s frustrating, extremely frustrating. It’s something I can’t fully wrap my head around,” he said. Jason is making mortgage payments for his Rainer Valley home and paying for pilot school. He is owed five months’ rent - a total of some $29k in back rent, plus utilities. “I do come here often just to look at my house, and miss it …and wish I could be in it,” he said. Jason’s deadbeat renter is listing the downstairs living space...

KING COUNTY, Wash. - A gas station cashier in Normandy Park is recovering after a relentless assault Friday night. "I mean, my face hurts. But my pride I think hurts more." Leah Johnston said. The Seattle woman can be seen on security footage suffering blow after blow, from a single suspect, as five others rob the Friendly Normandy Market of cash and handfuls of merchandise from the cigarette case. There was less than $100 in the till. Police describe the suspects as young, driving a stolen Kia and Hyundai—both cars were later recovered. "Kids don’t seem to fear anything anymore,"...

The victim was 32 weeks pregnant at the time of her murder. Court documents suggest that the fatal shooting of a pregnant woman in downtown Seattle on Tuesday was unprovoked. Suspect Cordell Maurice Goosby, 30, who is a convicted felon with a history of mental health issues, allegedly approached the victim's vehicle and shot the 34-year-old pregnant woman four times, including in the head, which resulted in the death of her unborn baby. The victim Elna Kwon was 32 weeks pregnant at the time of her murder, court records show. Following the shooting, the victim was transported to Harborview Medical...

A trio of left-wing organizations is suing Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, King County Elections Director Julie Wise, and two members of the King County canvassing board. The result of their lawsuit would make election theft virtually effortless, particularly for illegal immigrants or those taking advantage of the homeless. Before the Thanksgiving holiday, Vet Voice Foundation, Washington Bus, and El Centro de la Raza quietly filed a lawsuit challenging signature verifications on ballots. They are represented by the Perkins Coie firm, counsel to the Democratic National Committee. Three King County voters also joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs. Signature verification,...

Due to the record number of fentanyl overdose deaths in King County, Washington, the medical examiner is running out of places to store the dead bodies. Seattle-King County Public Health Director Dr. Faisal Khan said during a recent Board of Health meeting, “The Medical Examiner’s Office is now struggling with the issue of storing bodies because the fentanyl-related death toll continues to climb. Obviously, they have finite space in the coolers they use and that space is now being exceeded on a regular basis.” The county has already had 31 fentanyl overdose deaths in 2023 as of January 22. In...

Space issues have become so acute at the Seattle-King County morgue in Washington state that local officials are considering keeping bodies on gurneys and partnering with local funeral homes for storage as stopgap measures. “A key indication of just how bad things are … the medical examiner’s office is now struggling with the issue of storing bodies because the fentanyl-related death toll continues to climb,” Seattle-King County Public Health Director Dr. Faisal Khan said at a Board of Health meeting last week, according to KTTH radio. “Obviously, they have finite space in the coolers they use, and that space in...

Washington State Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tiffany Smiley has taken the lead over 30-year incumbent Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), according to polling. The poll, conducted November 3-5, shows Smiley with a 0.4 percent lead over Murray, sitting at 47.4 percent and 47 percent, respectively. While Smiley has gained momentum, closing a significant gap in the deep blue state of Washington, Murray’s unpopularity has increased to 50 percent, while her favorable rating is 44 percent — a net unfavorability increase from three to six points since October.

KING COUNTY, Wash. — Just over 30% of King County ballots for the 2022 General Election have been returned as of 5 p.m. Friday, according to the Secretary of State. There are 1,382,801 registered voters in the state's largest county, and 417,223 ballots were returned ahead of the weekend. The deadline to vote for the midterms is 8 p.m. Tuesday. In total, 1,534,159 of Washington state's 4,798,057 voters returned their ballots by Friday, a percentage of 31.97. In 2018, 1,674,597 Washingtonians — 38.39% — voted by the same time period, according to the Secretary of State. Of the returned ballots...

As the city of Seattle experiences historically high crime, its police department continues to dwindle and recruitment efforts continue to fail. One former King County Sheriff puts it bluntly: “we’re screwed.” The Seattle Police Department (SPD) lost six officers in August, according to a police source, bringing the year’s total separations to 122 and nearly 500 since the city council opted to defund the police department in 2020. What’s more alarming is the 350 officers that will be eligible for retirement at the end of the year. If even a fraction leaves the department, Seattle may not have a fully...