Free Republic

Washington Governor Jay Inslee has announced that state law will require hospitals to commit abortions in emergency situations, in advance of an upcoming Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court is expected to give a decision in the Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States cases in June, which will determine whether or not Idaho emergency room doctors can intentionally end the lives of preborn children by abortion for allegedly “medically necessary” reasons. The Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) previously sued the state of Idaho, arguing that Idaho’s Defense of Life Act violates the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active...

SEATTLE — Seattle Police are investigating after a man was found shot in a stairwell in the Mount Baker neighborhood. A 911 caller alerted police to the shooting in the 3600 block of 34th Avenue South at around 2 a.m. on Sunday. When police arrived, they found a 22-year-old man alive but seriously injured. Despite aid from officers and the Seattle Fire Department, the victim later died at Harborview Medical Center. According to Detective Brian Pritchard, there was an altercation that occurred before the shooting, but detectives couldn’t share more information about the circumstances as the homicide investigation is still...

As Democrats make their case to voters around the country this fall, one challenge is that some of the bluest parts of the country — cities on the West Coast — are a mess. Centrist voters can reasonably ask: Why put liberals in charge nationally when the places where they have greatest control are plagued by homelessness, crime and dysfunction? I’ll try to answer that question in a moment, but liberals like me do need to face the painful fact that something has gone badly wrong where we’re in charge, from San Diego to Seattle. ...the truth is that too...

The King County, Washington, Prosecuting Attorney's Office has charged a man with second-degree murder and assault, both felony counts, for allegedly shooting a teen he thought was holding a gun and who he believed was about to rob a sporting goods store. Aaron Brown Myers, 51, told police he believed the 17-year-old victim had a gun and was going to rob a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in the Seattle suburb of Renton last Wednesday as the teen headed toward the retailer with two others, according to court documents filed by the prosecutor, Leesa Manion. The boy was holding an...

Three Washington teens could face ten years in jail after being arrested for making skid marks on an LGBT rainbow road mural while riding e-scooters.

Bill Anders has died, apparently piloting his own plane. He was the astronaut who took the iconic photo of the whole Earth from the Moon on his trip around it on Apollo 8, which was the actual moment when we won the space race. And it became the icon for the environmental movement, for good or ill. I consider myself privileged to consider him a friend, and I’ll explain why anon, but for now, farewell, yet another hero of that era, who (unlike many of his Apollo cohorts) understood how important commercial space was. I was at AIAA SciTech Forum...

SEATTLE (AP) — Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic “Earthrise” photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed Friday when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90. His son, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Greg Anders, confirmed the death to The Associated Press. “The family is devastated,” Greg Anders said. “He was a great pilot and we will miss him terribly.” William Anders has said the photo was his most significant...

Retired American astronaut William Anders, who was part of the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, has died after his small plane crashed into Puget Sound in Washington State. The 90-year-old died after the small aircraft he was piloting crashed near Orcas Island on Friday, resulting in a fireball as the plane hit the water. Officials with the United States Coast Guard Pacific Northwest said the crash happened just before 11:45am on Friday. Video footage shot on the Sound shows the plane flying high in the sky before it plummets as it begins a dive. Just before the plane began to...

Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders' plane crashes northwest of Seattle. Search and rescue underway

Three teenagers have been arrested after they allegedly vandalized a Pride flag-painted intersection in Spokane, Washington by leaving skid marks with the Lime scooters they were riding on. Police received a 911 call about multiple people on scooters "causing damage to the newly painted Pride mural" on June 5 just after 9 pm, according to the Spokane Police Department. Four suspects were reportedly seen damaging the mural, while several witnesses said that one of the subjects yelled obscenities at them before leaving the area. Officers said the damage to the mural was "black scuff marks consistent with scooter wheels," and...

A male athlete who thinks he’s a woman complained to reporters about the lack of “sportsmanship” he’s received from the girls he is competing against. To recap, Townhall covered how Veronica Garcia, a 16-year-old male, competed in the girls’ 400-meter dash at the Washington State Championship last month. Garcia finished with a time of 55.75, a full second ahead of the runner-up, who is a biological female. Multiple outlets noted that there was silence during the awards portion when Garcia was given first place. Garcia reportedly told The Spokesman-Review that he was “somewhat hurt” that the girls he competed against...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democrats have called for the removal of a statue of anti-apartheid activist and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela after learning the man was also a convicted felon. Calls for the removal grew louder after many noted the eerie similarity to Donald Trump, who is also a convicted felon. "We should never give convicted felons a place of honor in the seat of holy democracy," said Senator Chuck Schumer in a statement. "Nelson Mandela was imprisoned by his own government, which means he was clearly a bad guy who totally deserved it. Tear this dangerous statue down immediately!" Mandela,...

On this date in 1994, an uncooperative Charles Rodman Campbell was lashed to a board to keep him upright, and hanged by the neck until dead at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. According to this Seattle Times timeline of his life and crimes, Campbell had been getting in trouble since he was a child, to the extent that by the time he was seventeen his mother had given up on him and never wanted him back home again. His crimes began with burglary and drug use but quickly escalated into violence. True crime author Ann Rule wrote a...

A bright green fireball illuminated the night sky over Montana, U.S., at approximately 05:45 UTC on May 21, 2024 (23:45 LT, May 20). The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 65 reports from users in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, U.S., as well as in Alberta, Canada. This event follows an exceptionally bright meteor over Spain and Portugal on May 18. The meteor was described as unreal, massive, and a once-in-a-lifetime event. “That’s crazy! Mad props to the person that was able to get this footage,” one eyewitness wrote on X.

By the time Stephanie Hartung returned to her suburban Seattle classroom this school year, the gash on her head, black eye, and bruising all over her body had healed. But she doesn’t know if the anxiety and stress from her attack – at the hands of a 12-year-old – ever will. **SNIP** But an investigation by eight local television stations, working together in seven states, found thousands of teachers across the country have had similar experiences. Nearly 8,300 teachers in 34 states participated in a voluntary survey asking about violent encounters with students, their opinions about possible causes, and possible...

A report recently released by US News & World Report has revealed that Washington and Oregon are among the most dangerous states in the nation. The report, which relied on the latest data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations for corrections outcomes and public safety, put Oregon, the Beaver State, in 46th place while its neighbor to the north came in 39th. According to the data, Oregon had an incarceration rate of 295 per 100,000 residents, and a juvenile incarceration rate of 121 per 100,000 juveniles. The violent crime rate sat at 342 per 100,000 residents, slightly lower than the...

District actively promoted non-religious groups, including a Pride Club and Green Team... A school district that just weeks ago had refused students permission to begin an interfaith prayer club – even though a wide range of other special interest organizations like a Pride club and a Green club were approved – abruptly has reversed itself. "We are very pleased that the Issaquah School District is allowing our clients to start a prayer club at their school this spring," explained Kayla Toney, associate counsel at First Liberty Institute,.. "Schools should always respect the religious beliefs of their students. This is a...

A Catholic school teacher in Washington state says she will not be returning to the school where she has taught for years for the next academic school year because she is marrying a woman. Parents of students at St. Luke School in Shoreline are upset by the school's decision to let go of a talented kindergarten educator who has been with the school for four years. Karen Pala's contract was not renewed by the school's head pastor, Father Brad Hagelin, due to her plans to marry a woman over the summer. In the text of a letter sent to parents,...

A presidential election poll conducted April 16 through 23 by The Bullfinch Group, has the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald J Trump, winning Washington state in a 5-way race with current presidential contenders Joe Biden (D), Robert F Kennedy Jr (I), Jill Stein (G), and Cornel West (I). According to the poll, which is sponsored by The Independent Center, Trump leads with 40%, to Biden’s 35%, Kennedy has 13%, Stein is at 4% West came in at 1%, and approximately 8% of respondents were unsure who they would be voting for president. What may provide some additional insight, is that 45%...

Last night, Antifa & Hamas supporters were given complete control of the center of the @UW campus by the administration & barricades to enforce it. Students were not allowed to walk freely on campus This group of students was told "No Jews Allowed" This is the Little Gaza encampment that @washdems & @shasticonrad @thestranger & @crosscut call "peaceful" Unfortunately, I stopped recording and missed when one of the students face-timed their parents to show them the barricade and said "This is what you are paying $60,000 a year for. Your son isn't allowed to walk on campus"