Free Republic

In deep blue Washington state, where state leaders say men in women’s sports is just fine and dandy, one tiny school district is defying that policy. In early May, the Quilcene School Board passed a resolution requiring that student-athletes participate in the gender of their birth, according to the Seattle Times. The 3-2 vote bucks state law and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association rule book. ... However, it is in keeping with the Trump administration’s definition of Title IX, which says women’s sports are only open to those born female. Chris Reykdal, Washington state superintendent of public instruction, has said...

A man attacked a woman with a knife and then fatally stabbed a man before another man shot and killed the knife-wielding suspect in self-defense Tuesday at a South Hill apartment complex, according to the Spokane Police Department. Officers were called about 5:15 p.m. to an altercation at the Hart Terrace apartment building, 3308 E. 11th Ave., police said in a news release. Lt. Jay Kernkamp told reporters Tuesday that officers found two people injured in the parking lot of the complex. Police and other emergency personnel tried to save them, but both died, according to the release. Detectives believe...

The White House condemned the Episcopal Church on Tuesday after it withdrew from federal refugee resettlement programs in protest when the government asked the church to resettle white refugees from South Africa. In a Monday letter, a top church leader noted South Africa’s history of Apartheid and said that assisting the refugees cuts against its “steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.” The Episcopal Church’s government relations arm had touted in 2024 its efforts to help “undocumented immigrants.” The Episcopal Church’s decision to terminate its decades-long partnership with the U.S. government over the resettlement of 59 desperate Afrikaner refugees raises...

In the run-up to the vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., knew her party had a problem — and its name was John Fetterman. Fetterman, the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, was open to confirming President Donald Trump’s embattled pick, according to two people familiar with his thinking. Murray wanted to speak with her colleague one-on-one. So she reached out to set up a time. But Fetterman refused, as the two people familiar with the episode told NBC News. “He figured that she wanted to yell at him about it,” one person familiar with the...

Trantifa/Antifa members threatened an elderly couple leaving a @Riley_Gaines_ event at the @UW campus. Police had to escort them as the militants followed. Video by @KatieDaviscourt:

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed a bill Wednesday that set limits on rent increases—one of the first in the country. Rent stabilization bill, HB 1217, caps rent increases at 7% plus inflation, or 10%—whichever is lower. Washington now joins Oregon and California in drafting legislation that curbs climbing rent prices. “There is no single policy that will fix our housing crisis, but we need this comprehensive approach,” Sen. Emily Alvarado said at the bill signing.

We previously discussed the legislation passed by Washington State democrats that requires priests to violate the sanctity of the confessional to report child abuse. I described the law as “blatantly unconstitutional” in eviscerating the right to the free exercise of religion. The state is moving to create an effective system of sacramental snitches and the Catholic Church is declaring “enough.” It has announced that any priest who complies with the law will be promptly excommunicated. We previously discussed the proposed legislation that would target priests who learn of any “reasonable” basis to believe that a child “has suffered abuse or...

The University of Washington slammed the "offensive and destructive behavior" of activists who ignited dumpsters and occupied a campus engineering building, and said it opposed antisemitism, as police arrested around 30 of those involved. The activists said they were pro-Palestinian and fighting for the university to end its relationship with Boeing over the manufacturing giant's dealings with Israel amid the war with Hamas.

On Monday, authorities arrested more than 30 individuals who seized and occupied the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building at the University of Washington to protest Israel and its war against Hamas terrorists. Among those arrested was a King County public defender and several affiliates of the left-wing extremist group Antifa. All of them were booked into local jails on criminal trespassing charges, with a bail set at $1,000, according to records. It's unclear if the apprehended individuals were students and/or outside agitators. The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said in a statement that more than two dozen protesters have been charged with...

Multiple fires were set by Antifia militants at the University of Washington campus in Seattle on Monday night. A group of black bloc Antifa occupied the Interdisciplinary Engineering building and blockaded the doors. The building opened just a few weeks ago and the $100 million price tag was funded by private donors, taxpayers, a federal grant, Amazon, T-Mobile and Boeing. Activists blocked streets with bike racks and dumpsters and set them on fire. Antifa gathered rocks to throw at police. The fires were set around 10:30 pm local time and neither police nor fire fighters were on the scene as...

As pharmacy deserts crop up across western Washington, a large chain is biting the dust. Rite Aid CEO Matthew Schroeder briefed employees Monday that all stores would either close or be sold as the company files for bankruptcy,.. The media outlet stated funding from investors fell short, and the company faced a series of economic issues, including tariffs, more expensive supply costs, pricier landlords, and what Schroeder called a “dramatic downturn in the economy.” According to the court filing, as posted on Kroll, to support Rite Aid during bankruptcy, the company secured commitments from lenders to access nearly $2 billion...

Pro-Palestinian students at the University of Washington occupied the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building Monday evening, renaming it the Shaban al-Dalou Building, in protest against the university's ties to Boeing. A separate group dressed in all black stacked furniture to create a blockade in front of the building before toppling dumpsters to block off nearby Jefferson Road, then confronted a security officer until he drove away.

Washington State University has fired two Pullman men who police say attacked a student wearing a Donald Trump hat in a late-night brawl. Patrick M. Mahoney, a 34-year-old graduate student, was “relieved of all teaching responsibilities,” and Gerald W. Hoff, a 24-year-old “staff member,” was terminated by the university, according to an email from Phil Weiler, WSU vice president of marketing and communications. “While WSU remains committed to the freedom of speech and expression for all members of our university community, we will not tolerate acts of violence or hate speech,” Weiler wrote in the email. Mahoney and Hoff could...

Seattle’s May Day celebrations are set to begin Thursday with a rally at Cal Anderson Park at noon, focusing on workers’ and immigrants’ rights. King County resident Hilda Ortiz plans to attend the event, which she says has taken on new and serious significance. “Everybody’s afraid, I mean, even people that have legal status,” Ortiz said. Ortiz noted that some individuals, fearing immigration crackdowns under the Trump administration, are too afraid to attend the rally and march. She asked them to create posters that can be displayed at the event. “That way they are represented in some way, and they...

Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” reacted to the 9th Circuit Court ruling upholding the blocking of President Trump‘s executive order halting immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States senior advisor to President Donald Trump Stephen Miller said, there was no such thing as “judicial supremacy.” Partial transcript as follows: TODD: Let me start with the decision by the 9th circuit and the president himself saying to reporters that a new order may be drafted. Is that what you and others are doing right now? Drafting a new order since essentially the 9th circuit seemed to give...

Stephen Miller argued that a judge cannot singlehandedly strike down the president’s executive order on immigration because we “have equal branches of government in this country.”After a three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit unanimously ruled to reject the Justice Department’s request to lift a Seattle judge’s restraining order on President Trump’s immigration order this week, his senior policy adviser said that the judicial branch is “not supreme.”“The point I want to make to you, George, and the point I want to make to your listeners, is that we have equal branches of government in this...

Washington does not recognize Easter or Yom Kippur as state holidays. The state of Washington, which does not officially recognize Easter or Yom Kippur as state holidays, became the first state in the nation to recognize the two Islamic holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as unpaid state-recognized holidays when Democrat Governor Bob Ferguson signed the legislation into law this month. “Senate Bill 5106, sponsored by Sen. Yasmin Trudeau (D-Tacoma), adds both Eid holidays to a list of 20 other state holidays. Rep. Osman Salahuddin (D-Redmond) sponsored the companion bill,” Ferguson’s website stated. “The new law does not establish...

'They can’t wait two years for a hearing. They need ... relief right away.' Illegal aliens with criminal convictions in Washington state may soon get an "expedited review" of their application for a pardon or commutation from the governor, thanks to a bill passed exclusively by Democrats. In the last few weeks, both the Washington state House and Senate have passed H.B. 1131, making it ready to send along to the desk of Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson. While the bill addresses a number of issues related to pardons and clemency, it specifically sends those at risk of deportation to the...

Video surveillance captured the attack on a student at Washington State University in Pullman, WA. Both attackers relived of their college jobs. The instructor Patrick Mahoney is now facing assault charges.

A Washington State University (WSU) instructor and PhD student was arrested for allegedly assaulting an engineering student who was wearing a red “Take America Back” hat from the 2024 Donald Trump campaign, according to a police report obtained by “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. The victim, Jay Sani, told Pullman Police that he was walking to a restaurant when the suspect, identified as Patrick Mahoney, grabbed the MAGA hat and threw it onto the street. After attempting to defend himself, the police reports say that Mahoney, along with a second suspect identified as Gerald Hoff, “grabbed Sani and took...