Free Republic

SEATTLE — The debate over what parents should legally be allowed to know about their children in public schools, known as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” has gone back and forth for the past several years, and on November 3, voters get their say. "Washingtonians should vote no on this issue because it removes common sense protections for students, their families, and even for our schools," mom and Washington State Director for the Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates Courtney Normand said. "Instead of moving towards taking away their rights, we need to empower parents and teach them that their job is...

A Washington state school district has agreed to publicly apologize, undergo religious liberty training and pay $275,000 in attorney’s fees after a lawsuit challenged policies that required elementary school students to keep Bibles concealed in sealed envelopes, according to a Christian education organization whose CEO says children felt pressured to hide their faith. Joel Penton, founder and CEO of LifeWise Academy, told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday that parents described the emotional toll of the Everett School District’s restrictions, which also included requiring families to submit permission slips every week for their children to attend voluntary, off-campus Bible...

SEATTLE — If you stand between Second Avenue and Bell and Blanchard streets, you can glimpse Seattle’s rock 'n' roll past. The area was home to the Crocodile Cafe and Mama’s Mexican Kitchen. Today, a daytime open-air drug market and a sidewalk encampment have taken shape nearby, with several business owners saying they are afraid to speak on the record about what they described as a recent trend. Wilson also said the city is working on neighborhood-based public safety plans. She named Belltown among neighborhoods with persistent safety concerns and said long-term progress requires addressing root causes as well as...

Holly Burns and about a dozen other girls walked away from a cross-country race in Washington on Tuesday. They refused to compete against a male athlete who had started the season racing on the boys’ team. When the race began, half of the girls competing, and the male athlete, took off running. Burns and the other half of the girls slowly walked forward past the starting line, and then into the nearby tree line, sacrificing one of their high school competitions. Footage of the protest has since gone viral across social media, igniting widespread awareness for one of the trans...

When a federal appeals court known for its rock-bottom track record in Supreme Court reviews reinstated California's so-called gender secrecy policies in schools, parents and teachers ran to SCOTUS for an emergency injunction. The gambit worked, prompting a broadside by six justices against lower courts for ignoring a century of precedents. Now a mother and daughter in Washington state are seeking the same shortcut around the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which rejected their plea to force a school district and state athletic association to warn them before the girl unwittingly competes against another male in girls' wrestling, as...

DUPONT, Wash — A 35-year-old woman was booked into the Pierce County Jail after Washington State Patrol said she stabbed two children following a rollover crash on Interstate 5 near DuPont. The crash happened shortly before 9 a.m. Monday on southbound I-5 near Center Drive, Exit 118. WSP identified the driver as a 35-year-old woman from Steilacoom, and the children as ages 9 and 15. WSP said the woman was driving erratically before the crash. According to a state patrol memo, her Volkswagen Tiguan struck a barrier, moved across the freeway and hit a semi-truck before striking another barrier and...

U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal questioned the competence of Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson during the confusion over the news conference after the July 26 Bite of Seattle triple-fatal shooting, new records The Center Square obtained Thursday show. At 10:12 p.m., Jayapal messaged Gov. Bob Ferguson, writing “I’m wondering if we should be there at all. I don’t think she knows what she is doing.” The city's response to the shooting and getting timely information out to the media and public has haunted Wilson's administration, resulting in her requesting the resignation of the police chief and apologizing for a lack of quick...

Seattle has long been a hotbed of crime under Democrat rule, but things have gotten so bad recently that business leaders are publicly demanding change. Seattle has long been a hotbed of crime, open-air drug use, and other antisocial behaviors thanks to the city’s left-wing governance. But things have gotten shockingly worse in recent months following the election of socialist Mayor Katie Wilson last year – so bad, in fact, that major businesses are now publicly pressuring the government to do something about the city’s descent into lawlessness and chaos. On September 10, more than 30 major Seattle companies, including...

The slippery-slope is nearing the bottom now. The City of Seattle wants to keep employers, businesses, and private citizens from discriminating against people who like to sleep around and/or identify as an infinite list of genders. .... Notice how "male and female" has now been struck from the municipal code altogether. The law will "recognize genders outside the gender binary, recognize pansexuality and asexuality as orientations, and include consensual relationships with multiple partners as an element of attitudes, preferences, and practices pertaining to sexual orientation." This idea of normalizing multiple partners is a growing movement on the Left. ... It's...

A 21-year-old man barely survived after he was shot three times during an encounter with a ‘street takeover’ in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood last weekend. Matthew Lanske and his friends had just finished dinner in Belltown when they were confronted by a group of armed thugs participating in a ‘street takeover.’ Lanske was shot twice in the stomach and a third time in the pelvis during an attempted robbery as he heroically tried to protect his friend, who tragically died. After being shot three times, Lanske walked two blocks looking for help. Bystanders filmed him rather than calling 911 for help....

SEATTLE - Seattle small business owners say they are exhausted and running on empty as they struggle to stay afloat in an increasingly expensive city. While local entrepreneurs grapple with thin profit margins and mounting tax pressures, city leaders are attempting to offer a path forward.Business owners seek reliefWhat's next: For neighborhood shop owners, daily operations require making tough calls just to survive."I can't even keep track of all the taxes, but it's crippling," Thompson said.

A teachers' union has been given a harsh reality check by Seattle's new superintendent after threatening to delay the start of the academic year with a strike. Ben Shuldiner castigated the Seattle Education Association (SEA)'s threat to walk out unless a 12 percent pay increase was authorized by revealing the huge salaries that public school teachers in the city already earn. The majority take home $142,584 per year, according to a letter Shuldiner sent to parents on Sunday. Seattle Public Schools (SPS) teachers are paid a base salary of $118,000 for 180 days' work, plus an additional $3,298 for five...

Some things never seem to change. The Mercatus Institute recently released a study about American moving trends, and the overall gist isn’t surprising: those in blue states are still picking up and heading to red ones.States like New York, ranked number one for outbound movers, have long counted their own people as their number one export. Electing socialists like Zohran Mamdani, who are hostile to businesses and taxpayers, probably doesn’t help.According to Mercatus, the number one destination for relocating Americans is the proudly Republican state of Idaho. And as Chris Cargill writes, “Washington was Idaho’s single largest source of newcomers,...

SEATTLE — A 44-year-old citizen of Mexico who federal prosecutors say is illegally in the United States is now in federal custody in Seattle after being charged with returning to the U.S. following removal, a case that authorities say follows years of arrests tied to DUI-related offenses and more recent allegations including rape. Isidro Ocampo-Cayetano appeared in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Wednesday for the federal charge, according to an announcement from First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Prosecutors say Ocampo-Cayetano was arrested and removed from the United States five times between 2007 and 2013, with most of...

Very informative video of the mayor's approval ratings. At 37% it is a historic low for a mayor at the stage of the term.

A hearing on the merits of a recall petition filed against Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is scheduled for Aug. 31 in King County Superior Court as a new poll showed a majority of voters want her to leave office. The 9 a.m hearing before Judge Patrick Oishi was scheduled Wednesday after the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office reviewed the petition by a North Seattle couple, Melinda Jacobson and Dale Osterud, and forwarded it to the Superior Court. The Prosecuting Attorney's Office review is the first step in the review process.

The Seattle City Council unanimously approved an amendment to its budget on Wednesday that would reallocate $300,000 to fund resources for members of the trans community from across the country who wish to move to Seattle. A leading Seattle Democrat argued for the amendment, claiming there is an “ongoing crisis and displacement of queer, transgender, and gender non-conforming people.” “This amendment responds to the ongoing crisis and displacement of queer, transgender, and gender non-conforming people that are seeking refuge from hostile jurisdictions from across the country,” Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck said at the Finance, Native Communities, and Tribal Governments Committee...

SEATTLE—Like New York, this West Coast city narrowly elected a Democratic socialist as mayor last year. On the campaign trail, Katie Wilson pitched an ambitious agenda: lower costs, tax the wealthy and build thousands of shelter units for the homeless. Then came reality. In recent days, the mayor stunned allies and observers alike by proposing a city budget with no new taxes, scaled-back pledges and nearly $50 million in cuts across various departments—all while boosting spending for police officers. The small-c conservative proposal bears little resemblance to the rent freezes, city-run grocery pilots and luxury second-home taxes emerging from Mayor...

A California realtor has been arrested at LAX after being accused of spying for China. Wanying Zhang, also known as "Heather," was busted at the airport Sunday as she tried to board a flight to Shanghai. The 34-year-old, who lives in Irvine, Orange County, is accused of working with handlers from the People's Republic of China to surveil the son of Taiwan's president Ching-Te Lai. 'We have a problem with Beijing using Chinese-Americans for their own purposes in California," AG Bill Essayli said. "They are using them for their own foreign affairs because they are playing the long game to...

A Department of Energy electrical engineer has been arrested on charges of providing support to the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, including by buying materials for homemade explosives and drones and traveling to Yemen, the Justice Department said Thursday. Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, of Richland, Washington, was arrested Thursday and is due to make his first court appearance Friday. Court records do not list an attorney available to speak on his behalf. The FBI says Ellaboudy had a goal of helping the Houthis improve their communications capabilities and traveled last September to Yemen, where the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces are now...