Tag Archives: Washington

Oregon Congressman submits bill limiting the ability of Forest Service and BLM to create travel management plans

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Representative Walden of Oregon. (House Photo)

Representative Walden of Oregon. (House Photo)

WASHINGTON — Greg Walden of Oregon (R-2 district) introduced H.R. 1555, yesterday, which purports to require the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to obtain the consent of the local affected communities prior to implementing any travel management plans affecting access to National Forest System lands.

The Summary and Text of the bill is currently not posted so it is unclear how much limitiation will actually be included.

Congressman Walden wrote a letter earlier this month to Randy Moore and Jim Pena, U.S. Forest service Foresters for Region Five and Six, respectively. The letter was signed by all members of the Oregon delegation, five members from Washington State and one from California.

The letter complained about the manner in which the Forest Service holds their input sessions. The letter complains that the input sessions were urban focused and limited access to rural dwellers who would have difficulty traveling to the site to give their input. The letter stated:

For over 30 years, the Northwest Forest Plan has profoundly impacted the communities within our districts and any revisions to the plan will have a similar effect. Holding only three listening sessions disadvantages our constituents in these rural communities. Many of our constituents would have to travel several hours and hundreds of miles to participate. The cost and time commitments involved would likely present an unacceptable hardship for many residents who would otherwise participate in these sessions.

Forest Service notices usually include electronic and mailing addresses for input, as well.

The current title of the bill is:

To stop implementation and enforcement of the Forest Service travel management rule and require the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to incorporate the needs, uses, and input of affected communities, and to obtain their consent, before taking any travel management action affecting access to National Forest System lands derived from the public domain or public lands, and for other purposes.

Government wonders: What’s in your old emails?

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r99U5.AuSt.91By Lindsay Wise
McClatchy Washington Bureau – February 11, 2015

WASHINGTON — If you’ve been remiss in cleaning out your email in-box, here’s some incentive: The federal government can read any emails that are more than six months old without a warrant.

Little known to most Americans, ambiguous language in a communications law passed in 1986 extends Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure only to electronic communications sent or received fewer than 180 days ago.

The language, known as the “180-day rule,” allows government officials to treat any emails, text messages or documents stored on remote servers – popularly known as the cloud – as “abandoned” and therefore accessible using administrative subpoena power, a tactic that critics say circumvents due process.

As you rush to purge your Gmail and Dropbox accounts, however, be forewarned that even deleted files still could be fair game as long as copies exist on a third-party server somewhere.

Read more at MC Clatchy DC

Washington legislator calls for Sheriff of Spokane Valley to apologize for MRAP remark

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matt-sheaWASHINGTON – While citizens have not yet received an explanation for three mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles apparently being stored around Mohave County, a larger controversy was sparked this month by a comment by a Sheriff’s Deputy in Spokane, Washington.

Alex Jones of Infowars released a news report concentrating on a statement made by a Spokane County deputy. Apparently the officers were shopping for Christmas gifts for underprivileged children with the vehicle when a citizen approached and conducted a phone recorded video. Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich responded to the report complaining that only a second of video was used and not the whole interview. Jones released an edited copy of the whole video on his YouTube channel.

The remark made by 20-year veteran deputy and former Army member Jerry Moffit was

Well, it’s like you said. I mean, we’ve got a lot of constitutionalists and a lot of people that stockpile weapons—a lot of ammunition.

When asked, next, if the officer thought that people had the right to carry have those weapons, Deputy Moffit responded:

Well, its the United States.

The Sheriff in a KXLY report stated:

There is no way this equipment will ever be used against any law abiding citizen. It will never be used to come and take your guns away.

Those assurances probably will not serve to assuage concerns in light of police unconstitutionally rounding up weapons after the Katrina debacle in Louisiana.

The surprising thing about the MRAP vehicle is that they are in places where one would not even think to look. NPR reported that the San Diego Unified School District acquired one in September of this year after paying the $5,000 shipping fee. Even in Southern California the idea did not seem popular. One reader commented on their web site:

“They can call it a ‘love buggy,’ a ‘student patrol limo,’ or a ‘campus police fun bus’ and then paint it pretty colors, but that doesn’t change the fact it’s a piece of military equipment that is unnecessary and sends the message that local officials are at war with students.”

The presence of the MRAP vehicle and statement by the deputy sparked protest rallies in Spokane in which no buildings were burned or property damaged. There were no reports of anyone being intentionally beaten and no police officer were shot execution-style. One video was released of a speech by Washington State representative Matt Shea who represents the Fourth District.

In the video, he said, “I do want to say, and I want to thank, the Sheriff Deputies in Spokane Valley who contacted me this week, and who said, ‘We don’t agree with the Sheriff. We would never arrest Constitutionalists because we are Constitutionalists’.”

Representative Shea mocked the response of the Sheriff that the statement was taken out of context saying that there is no context that would justify the statement that caused the controversy. “A real leader would have said, ‘I’m sorry’,” Shea said.

He also referenced a Senate hearing in which Rand Paul asked why the national government was giving bayonets to police departments.

Shea asked what training the deputy received which would embolden him to make such a statement. He noted that on May 11, 2007 Sheriff Knezovich brought in the Southern Poverty Law Center in to train the Sheriff’s department. He said that the Sheriff did not know the content of the training even though a picture of the Sheriff was included in the slide show.

This is not actual evidence that the Sheriff did know what was contained in the training. A cursory view of the SPLC web site, however, shows that they are an anti-constitutional organization spewing government propaganda against so-called militia groups. They are probably the group referenced as “A prominent civil rights organization” in the Right Wing Extremism memorandum issued by Department of Homeland Security director Janet Napalitano.

The Sheriff, in the interview, indicated that the use of the word Constitutionalist was unfortunate and the word extremist should have probably been used. The memorandum and the SPLC does not differentiate between the two, however. About five years ago, a video of FEMA training was leaked in which the facilitator stated that the founding fathers were terrorists.

Representative Shea ended his rally speech by saying:

So today we call upon the Sheriff of Spokane Valley to apologize to the community. To apologize to the American People. To conduct a constitutional rights class.

SEE ALSO:
A School District Bought An 18-Ton MRAP Because The World Is Insane by Michael Ballaban
KXLY Spokane

Oregon Compounding Centers, Inc. Issues Voluntary Recall of Unexpired Sterile Products in Oregon and Washington

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Wilsonville, Ore. – Oregon Compounding Centers, Inc., dba Creative Compounds, is voluntarily recalling certain unexpired human and veterinary sterile products to the consumer level due to lack of sterility assurance.

The company has not received any reports of product contamination or adverse events to date, but is issuing this voluntary recall out of an abundance of caution following a recent inspection which identified an issue with sterility assurance. If there is microbial contamination in products intended to be sterile, patients are at risk of serious infections which may be life threatening.

“We are fully cooperating with health officials,” said Denise Burnham, R.Ph., owner and pharmacist. “We deeply regret the impact this voluntary recall has on our customers, but patient safety is our highest priority.”

All recalled products have a label that includes the Creative Compounds name as well as a lot number. The recalled products were made from July 1, 2014 through September 22, 2014, and distributed to health care facilities, physicians, and patients in two states, Oregon and Washington.

The recall does not pertain to any non-sterile compounded medications prepared by the pharmacy.

All unexpired lots of the following sterile compounded products are subject to the recall:

Continue reading →

Kidde recalls hard-wired smoke/CO2 alarms

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smoke-alarm-recallWASHINGTON – Kidde United Technologies is recalling three of its hardwired smoke alarms. The recall affects 1.2 million units sold in America and about 112,000 units in Canada. The units were sold through various retailers, such as Home Depot and City Electric Supply, and on line from January 2014 through July 2014 for between $30 and $50.

This recall involves Kidde residential smoke alarm model i12010S with manufacture dates between December 18, 2013 and May 13, 2014, combination smoke/CO alarm il2010SCO with manufacture dates between December 30, 2013 and May 13, 2014, and combination smoke/CO alarm model KN-COSM-IBA with manufacture date between October 22, 2013 and May 13, 2014.

The units are hard-wired into a home’s electric power. The il2010S and il2010SCO come with sealed 10 year batteries inside. The KN-COSM-IBA model has a compartment on the front for installation of replaceable AA backup batteries.

The alarms are white, round and measure about 5 to 6 inches in diameter. Kidde is engraved on the front of the alarm. Kidde, the model number and manufacture dates are printed on a label on the back of the alarm. “Always On” is also engraved on the front of alarms with sealed 10-year batteries.

Consumers should immediately contact Kidde for a free replacement smoke or combination smoke/CO alarm. Consumers should keep using the recalled alarms until they install replacement alarms.

Navajo Code Talkers leader defends Redskins name

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code-talkers-redskins(November 28, 2013)—A leader of the Navajo Code Talkers who appeared at a Washington Redskins home football game said Wednesday the team name is a symbol of loyalty and courage — not a slur as asserted by critics who want it changed.

Roy Hawthorne, 87, of Lupton, Ariz., was one of four Code Talkers honored for their service in World War II during the Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Hawthorne, vice president of the Navajo Code Talkers Association, said the group’s trip was paid for by the Redskins. The four men met briefly with team owner Dan Snyder but did not discuss the name, Hawthorne said. Still, he said he would endorse the name if asked, and the televised appearance in which three of the Indians wore Redskins jackets spoke for itself.

“We didn’t have that in mind but that is undoubtedly what we did do,” Hawthorne said when asked if he was intending to send a statement with the appearance. “My opinion is that’s a name that not only the team should keep, but that’s a name that’s American.”

TM-Red-Skins-590-LI

Read more at NFL.COM

The Results of a Seattle Suburb’s Minimum Wage Hike Deserve a Big Fat ‘We Told You So’

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At the start of the year, the Seattle suburb of SeaTac raised the area’s minimum wage to $15, and the consequences are now starting to be felt. And it’s not just the unions who championed the effort, or those who still have jobs, that are feeling them.

Over the last few months, a few things have happened:

  • Managers have taken more responsibilities on themselves, instead of hiring more workers.
  • Businesses have laid off workers, or eliminated their plans to hire more.
  • Area parking now comes with an added “living-wage surcharge.”
  • Hotels have cut employee benefits, free food, and overtime.

Shocking: when bad ideas are put into place, there are consequences.

Read more at IJ Review

High court ruling favors prayer at council meeting

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MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

council-prayerWASHINGTON (AP) — A narrowly divided Supreme Court upheld decidedly Christian prayers at the start of local council meetings on Monday, declaring them in line with long national traditions though the country has grown more religiously diverse.

The content of the prayers is not significant as long as they do not denigrate non-Christians or try to win converts, the court said in a 5-4 decision backed by its conservative majority.

Though the decision split the court along ideological lines, the Obama administration backed the winning side, the town of Greece, N.Y., outside of Rochester.

The outcome relied heavily on a 1983 decision in which the court upheld an opening prayer in the Nebraska Legislature and said prayer is part of the nation’s fabric, not a violation of the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religion.

Read more at WTOP 103.5 FM, Washington

Obama Urges Marijuana Legalization While American Support at an All-time High

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obama-weedNEW YORK (MainStreet) — Admitting that he “smoked pot as a kid,” in an interview with the New Yorker magazine published this weekend, President Barack Obama urged the legalization of marijuana.

“I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life,” Obama said. “I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.”

With recreational retail sales of marijuana already allowed in Colorado – and soon in Washington state – public favor for legalization is growing.

In October, a Gallup survey reported a majority of Americans (58%) favored legalization of grass, while more than one-third (38%) admitted having tried it.

“With Americans’ support for legalization quadrupling since 1969, and localities on the East Coast such as Portland, Maine, considering a symbolic referendum to legalize marijuana, it is clear that interest in this drug and these issues will remain elevated in the foreseeable future,” the Gallup report said.

Read more at Rolladailynews.com

See Also: Obama: Pot is not more dangerous than alcohol (Boston.com)

Washington Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon Sends Controversial Tweet After Seahawks Loss

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CardinalsThe Arizona Cardinals ended the Seattle Seahawks’ 14-game, 729-day winning streak at home Sunday with a 17-10 victory.

Washington State Representative Joe Fitzgibbon wasn’t happy with the game, which led to a controversial tweet.

KING TV’s Chris Daniels grabbed a screenshot of it:

WA Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon has deleted his #Seahawks related tweet, which referred to Arizona as a “racist wasteland”. http://t.co/SbU9xuCfJE
— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) December 23, 2013

Read more at Bleacher Report