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The man suspected of setting a fire that destroyed hundreds of Spokane homes and forced 60,000 people to evacuate was contacted by law enforcement last summer for two fires but never arrested, according to court documents. Detectives say Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, was wearing the same green shirt, which says “Who needs luck, I have charm,” at one of last summer’s fires as the wind-driven Old Trails fire started Saturday on the West Plains that rapidly moved east, ravaging neighborhoods in northwest Spokane. Law enforcement contacted Farinacci shortly after the fire started Saturday and released him without charges. They later...

There’s been a real mess brewing in the city of Seattle, and things have just about reached a fever pitch. Criminal activity has reached an all-time high within the city, thanks to an inept Mayor, Katie Wilson, who can’t seem to figure out how to benefit her police department more. But then came a terrifying act – a mass shooting during the Bite of Seattle food event – on Sunday evening that has managed to leave three dead and a toddler wounded. The police have acted quickly enough to apprehend a suspect, but they are still investigating the matter. But...

After the high of the Declaration of Independence, wartime reality set in for the founders.Michael O’Hanlon is a defense and strategy analyst at the Brookings Institution and the author of “To Dare Mighty Things: U.S. Defense Strategy Since the Revolution.”Despite the heady moment in Philadelphia with the Declaration of Independence’s approval in early July, 1776, that summer was a tough one for the nation’s founders, George Washington in particular. The rest of that year — until Washington crossed the Delaware River and won the Battle of Trenton on Dec. 26 — would go down as the worst period of the...

It's been eight days since two gunmen opened fire at the Bite of Seattle food festival on July 26, killing two and injuring four others, including a toddler. In the immediate aftermath, serious questions were raised about the city's response to the attack, specifically about the fitness of its socialist mayor, Katie Wilson, and the whereabouts of its AWOL police chief, Shon Barnes. From RedState's coverage last week: As RedState has previously reported, crime is so bad under Wilson's watch that residents have begun putting up walls and other kinds of barriers to keep criminals out of their neighborhoods. And...

Former Seattle police Chief Shon Barnes will receive roughly $700,000 for resigning from the Seattle Police Department, according to his resignation letter. Barnes, who was relieved of his duties on Friday, agreed not to sue the City of Seattle under the terms of his optional resignation agreement. By the numbers: Seattle will pay Barnes a lump sum of 18 months of his salary at his hourly rate of $179.54, along with 12 months of health insurance valued at $2,525.99 per month. The agreement also states Barnes does not have to repay his $50,000 recruitment bonus or his $60,000 relocation package...

The Brief:A 37-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of intentionally starting the Old Trails Fire in Spokane County. Investigators say the wildfire has burned more than 3,600 acres and destroyed hundreds of structures, though the suspect is not believed to be linked to two other major fires. Authorities have not identified a motive, and all three major Spokane County wildfires remain 0% contained. SPOKANE, Wash. - A 37-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of first-degree arson for allegedly starting the Old Trails Fire, one of three wildfires in Spokane County that have destroyed hundreds of homes. The suspect is...

Multiple houses reportedly on fire as fast-growing Old Trails Fire pushes east into city of Spokane, Washington state

Divided panel deepens nationwide circuit split and sets up another potential Supreme Court immigration showdown. The notoriously liberal Ninth Circuit handed the Trump administration a major setback Thursday, ruling 2–1 that illegal aliens apprehended inside the United States generally cannot be subjected to mandatory detention without access to a bond hearing while they fight deportation. In Rodriguez Vazquez v. Bostock, the divided panel affirmed a lower court ruling in favor of a class of illegal aliens detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. The majority, led by Trump-appointed Judge Daniel Bress and joined by Clinton-appointed Judge Margaret...

Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes was relieved of his duties Wednesday night by Mayor Katie Wilson, five different sources tell FOX 13 Seattle. According to sources, Barnes began texting individuals Wednesday night discussing his dismissal. Barnes had been scheduled to conduct 1-on-1 interviews with Seattle media Wednesday afternoon, but those interviews were abruptly canceled. At 6:30 p.m., he appeared at a silent vigil for victims of the Bite of Seattle shooting. He left abruptly, and sources tell FOX 13 he had a meeting with the mayor after the vigil, which is when he was asked to resign. The backstory: On...

Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton has been fined and suspended from attending the team's next five home games, the WNBA confirmed to Fox News Digital. The suspension and fine come after Keaton allegedly called a pair of teenage Sophie Cunningham fans "f---ing insane" during a game on Tuesday, independent Seattle-based journalist Brandi Kruse told Fox News Digital. Kruse was in the arena and accompanied the girls, who were there to watch Cunningham and the Indiana Fever take on the Storm. Cunningham addressed the incident involving Keaton in an X repost of Fox News Digital's report late Wednesday night.

Seattle's police chief now refers to gangs as 'small groups' in the wake of a mass shooting in the city that killed three. Shon Barnes repeatedly used the term during a press conference Monday, hours after Sunday's massacre at the Bite of Seattle food festival that is believed to have been gang related. He told a press conference that a motive remains under investigation but that it was 'certainly group activity.' Seemingly referring to gangs, the police chief added: 'We have small groups that appear to be at odds with each other.' 'In our city, 0.01% of the population is...

SEATTLE — A judge ordered a 15-year-old held in juvenile detention Monday in connection with a gunfight at a crowded Seattle food festival that killed three people and injured at least four others. Prosecutors said the gunfight involved the 15-year-old, a 19-year-old man who died at the scene and possibly a third person. The 15-year-old is being held on suspicion of three counts of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. He had not been involved in a criminal case before in the county, King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Casey McNerthney said. “At this...

Washington — Sen. Lindsey Graham is being remembered in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, with an afternoon funeral at the National Cathedral and an arrival ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in the morning. President Trump will deliver his eulogy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are also expected to attend Graham's funeral. Graham, a four-term senator known for his close relationship to the president and his hawkishness on foreign policy, was a key player in a number of major bipartisan agreements before his death on July 11. He had just returned from a trip to Ukraine, where he...

What does it take to reveal a contradiction? In at least one case, it is a deformed raccoon sashaying across Seattle, delightfully unbothered. Unless you make your home somewhere deep under a rock, you know I am referring to Jimothy—who else?—the feral hunchback whose viral sightings have injected a ray of sunshine into the land of perpetual drizzle, and also across the globe. What is it about him? Or her? Or them? There may be multiple Jimothys, after all: other little trash pandas likely afflicted with short spine syndrome, giving her/him/them the rounded back that has captured the attention and...

Multiple people were shot at a food festival in Seattle on Sunday night, sending families running for their lives. Rapid gunfire was heard at around 6pm at Seattle Center, which was hosting the Bite of Seattle food festival over the weekend, the Seattle Times reports. Early reports suggest at least six people were shot, including possibly a child. The victims were then transported to Harborview Medical Center, according to KING 5.

Idaho Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson recently signed on to a renewed attempt to overhaul the visa program for agricultural migrant workers. The proposed legislation includes a change long-sought by Idaho’s dairy industry leaders — it would allow year-round agriculture producers to access workers, instead of just for seasonal labor. “This is an issue that I’ve been working on for probably 20 years with the dairy industry in Idaho and the challenges they face,” Simpson said at a June 30 press conference to announce the legislation. The bill, H.R. 9535, would make several changes to the H-2A visa program, which...

A 21-year-old socialist and unpaid former NYC Council intern who claimed she was axed after demanding she and her peers get paid $32 an hour with full health benefits — and plans to sue the Council — was born into wealth. Mina Farahmand — who worked voluntarily last year to help get fellow silver-spoon socialist Zohran Mamdani elected mayor – is the daughter of a prominent surgeon and grew up in a palatial six-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom home on 30 acres in Colville, Wash. Her father, Mehrdad Farahmand, is a general-surgery specialist at Providence, the largest health care provider in Washington State....

A Washington state Democrat hoping to unseat a longtime member of Congress is facing a revolt from within her own party, after reportedly saying she left LGBTQ+ rights off her campaign website because she feared alienating Muslim voters. Seattle Red first reported that Democrat organizations were reconsidering their endorsements of Melissa Chaudhry, a progressive Democrat challenging longtime Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., in Washington's 9th Congressional District, after comments she made during an endorsement interview with The Stranger. When asked why her website did not mention LGBTQ+ issues, Chaudhry replied, "because a lot of Muslims do not feel that way, unfortunately,"...

The combination of anti-Semitism and violence on the left deamands attention. It is a toxic brew. Democrat Washington Rep. Adam Smith provides a recent example in connection with his vote against aid to Israel this week. Matthew Shea reports at Jewish Insider (links in original): Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, indicated he voted to cut off military aid to Israel in part because of sustained personal threats against his family and his staff, part of what he described as a violent and relentless campaign of intimidation by far-left anti-Israel activists. Smith voted...

This will leave you sleepless in Seattle. Seattleites are abuzz over sightings of a deformed raccoon whose truncated backbone gives it the appearance of a creature not of this earth. The stubby critter, dubbed “Jimothy” by locals, is being tracked online as excited residents share videos of him traversing backyards and balconies in the Emerald City. “For our 13th anniversary, [we] were graced with the presence of Jimothy the raccoon with short spine syndrome. Praise Jimothy!!” one fan captioned an Instagram video showing him darting along a suburban yard and up a set of stone stairs. Though he hasn’t been...