Free Republic

Former NFL quarterback and woke activist Colin Kaepernick last fall likened the NFL draft to a slave auction: “What they don’t want you to understand is what’s being established is a power dynamic. Before they put you on the field, teams poke, prod and examine you searching for any defect that might affect your performance. No boundary respect. No dignity left intact.” But Kaepernick has been longing for years to subject himself once again to the tyranny of those who are responsible for this horrific indignity, and now he may have his best opportunity yet: Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll...

Washington state plans to ban most non-electric vehicles by 2030, according to a newly signed bill by Gov. Jay Inslee. The bill says that all vehicles of the model year 2030 or later that are sold, purchased, or registered in the state must be electric. “On or before December 31, 2023, the interagency electric vehicle coordinating council … shall complete a scoping plan for achieving the 2030 target,” it reads.The bill covers a lot of transportation issues in the state and is a part of a larger $16.9 billion transportation package called “Move Ahead Washington,” which Inslee described as a...

Captain Heidi Parr, the first woman to be promoted to captain, leads the all-female crew at Station 2. “When (little girls) see us, they love it," she said.Upon joining the Vancouver Fire Department, Parr felt welcomed into the “brotherhood,” as she formed bonds with fellow academy members through studying, testing and being hired together. However, she was pleased to finally see a crew like hers come into fruition, she said. Parr and her team work hard to be physically strong for emergency situations. There are people who would assume that someone small wouldn’t be capable of being a firefighter, Parr...

According to a public statement made by the city of Redmond, Washington, on Friday, March 26th, Andrew Bert Hammond, 50, was arrested by police in Redmond as part of an undercover operation where they used decoy profiles on location-based social networking/dating apps. He is charged with four counts of communication with a minor for immoral purposes, second-degree attempted rape of a child, and third-degree attempted rape of a child. Hammond currently is detained at King County Correctional Facility and held on a $100,000 bail. According to the report Andrew Hammond is employed as a fourth grade elementary school teacher at...

A federal judge this week denied a temporary restraining order sought by environmental groups that would block grazing in six eastern Oregon pastures. The Capital Press reports U.S. District Judge Michael Simon said the plaintiffs haven’t shown that turning cattle out on the pastures will cause irreparable harm to sage grouse or to rangeland research. He said continued grazing isn’t likely to irreparably harm the ability of environmental plaintiffs to enjoy undisturbed sagebrush grassland, since the pastures have long been grazed and are rested on a rotating basis. The case was filed against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management by...

A Washington state lawsuit is part of a larger effort nationwide to make the cost of detaining illegal aliens unsustainable, with the goal of crashing the system. . Whenever a Supreme Court vacancy opens up, we are reminded of the Left’s interpretation of the U.S. Constitution as a living and breathing document. Put another way, America’s 233-year-old charter is subject to the editing and revision of nine judges in the most undemocratic of the federal government’s three branches. While the Court is often asked to interpret the Constitution, we are seeing increased pressure from activists and bureaucrats to reshape the...

Jonathan Choe, a veteran reporter for the ABC television affiliate KOMO in Seattle, has written an essay on Medium claiming he was fired for his coverage of a rally by the controversial Proud Boys group.

Republican Joe Kent is running on a populist platform for a seat in Congress, but first he must win his Washington state GOP primary against incumbent Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler and her corporate donors. “She’s getting money from Google, she’s getting money from Amazon, she’s voting for amnesty … she’s supporting H-1B visas,” Kent told Breitbart News. *** “It is something, I think, that we haven’t done a good job of on the right is talking about the moral obligation that we have to our own people,” he said. “Hey, what is the purpose of having a country? Are we...

It's InstaGram so you have to click on the link to read the statement. PAAUNow Instagram

A Washington school board butted heads over a new student discipline policy that considers a student’s race before deciding on a punishment. The Clover Park School District debated its new “culturally responsive” student discipline policy. It means student discipline would not be consistent based on conduct. Instead, a school considers a student’s race and background. It would likely offer harsher punishments to white students, even if the conduct is identical to that of a black or Hispanic student. The disparate treatment is championed in the name of inclusion. But it’s not just a Clover Park School District controversy. The culturally...

A bill limiting the way schools can conduct active shooter lockdown drills was signed into law on Thursday by Gov. Jay Inslee. HB 1941 makes it so that schools in Washington cannot conduct drills involving “live simulations or reenactments of active shooter scenarios that are not trauma-informed and age and developmentally appropriate.” That means that students, teachers, and school staff must be alerted to any drills related to school shooting safety beforehand and that drills cannot directly mimic the presence of a shooter on school grounds, instead, focusing on basic lockdown procedures. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Amy Walen, points...

Photos Two Seattle Antifa rioters were sentenced Friday in King County Superior Court for the attempted arson of a Seattle police precinct. One of the rioters, who is the son of a former Democrat lawmaker, was also sentenced in the assault of a police officer with a metal baseball bat during race riots that rocked the city following the death of George Floyd in 2020. Jacob Greenburg, 19, the stepson of former Democratic State Rep. Laura Ruderman, was sentenced to five years in prison for first-degree assault, first-degree attempted arson and first-degree reckless burning. Twitter Screen-shots and links Danielle McMillan,...

Amid rising crime rates, Amazon is reportedly relocating nearly 1,800 employees from its office in downtown Seattle. Homicides, shootings, carjackings and burglaries have all been reported near the office located in the old Macy's building near 3rd and Pine, according to KIRO 7. In an email obtained by KIRO 7, an Amazon spokesperson said due to the high crime rate the company is providing employees an alternative place to work. The spokesperson continued saying, "We are hopeful conditions will improve and that we will be able to bring employees back to this location when it is safe to do so."...

Democrat Representative Kim Schrier of (WA) had some words for Americans upset with President Biden over the rising cost of gas this week, saying in a podcast interview that criticizing Biden — or anyone other than Putin — for the recent record-setting highs for a gallon of gas is "un-American." How fun. When asked about the growing energy and inflation crises in the United States, Schrier said matter-of-factly "I believe a couple things — right now, in the last two weeks — this is Putin. You should be blaming Putin if anybody for this," Schrier said of all-time highs for...

A prolific offender was charged for an alleged brutal assault against a 62-year-old nurse walking out of a Seattle light rail station. Police say the suspect is homeless. Alexander Jay, 40, is charged with second-degree assault. The King County Prosecutor’s Office (KCPO) says surveillance video shows Jay throwing the victim down a flight of stairs multiple times. The victim suffered three broken ribs and a broken clavicle. The media doesn’t mention the accused is homeless. And even though it mattered at the time, the Seattle Times withheld the suspect’s race. The surveillance footage is difficult to watch. It’s a brutal...

Amazon is closing one of its Seattle offices due to an uptick in violent crime, the company told KOMO News. It comes after a wave of deadly shootings in the city’s downtown area, forcing police to set up a temporary precinct and patrol the area on bicycles. “We are hopeful that conditions will improve and that we will be able to bring employees back to this location when it is safe to do so,” it said in a statement. The move will affect about 1,800 employees, though the company said many are working remotely and will be given a temporary...

States among the last to lift the mandate PORTLAND — After spending a majority of the pandemic under statewide indoor face covering requirements, Washington and Oregon will be lifting their mask mandates Saturday — marking a significant step in restoring normalcy. The milestone, which comes two years after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, is on trend with the rest of the country as public health orders were dropped in droves. Oregon and Washington are among the last states to lift mask requirements. “We’re turning a page in our fight against the COVID virus,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee...

A Seattle teachers union is pushing for keeping the district's school mask mandate in place until May, despite the state and county no longer requiring masks, arguing that the forced masking ensures a sense of "safety and normalcy." Seattle Education Association President Jennifer Matter told NPR-affiliate KUOW that the mask mandate should remain until at least May 1, two weeks after students return from spring break, saying there "should be no rush to lift the mask mandate." "We have people who are immunocompromised, we have pregnant educators, we have educators who have children of their own that are under 5...

Seattle police officers fatally shot a man Saturday who "reportedly rammed his car into the Federal building and fired a rifle downtown," the police department said. Police responding to multiple 911 calls reporting gunshot sounds Friday evening found the man "where he had crashed his vehicle into the Federal building," the Seattle Police Department said in a release. Officers tried to speak with the reportedly still-armed man, according to the release, and "for reasons that remain under investigation, opened fire striking the suspect." The man died at the scene. Police have not released his identity.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington state House passed a ban on high-capacity magazines Friday night.The bill passed 55 to 42. It will now move to Gov. Jay Inslee's desk, who has previously said he would sign it.SB 5078 prohibits the sale of gun magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, along with the manufacturing, distribution, possession, import or purchase of high-capacity magazines in Washington state.A high-capacity magazine is defined as an ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition, or any conversion kit, part or combination of parts that can be assembled...