This one's for Inland Northwesterners who defended loopy Colorado prof Ward Churchill's (above) right to speak at Eastern Washington U this spring. The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians has issued a strong statement denouncing Churchill's claims of membership as fraudulent here.

1. Eric Devericks/Seattle Times looks at the Newsweek controversy here.

2. In the "Love Will Find A Way (While Others Hold Their Nose)" department, Mary K. Letourneau and Vili Fualaau have applied for a marriage license here.

3. By examining election records, the Republicans have concluded that there were 875 more absentee ballots counted in King County than there were absentee voters identified in the election, according to the PI, here.

4. A victim of a road rage incident in the Tri-Cities feels lucky that he's still alive, even though he could lose part of his hearing and bullet fragments remain in his head, here.

5. An experiment in the Walla Walla area to preserve water is leading the way in the Pacific Northwest and make it easier for farmers and others to to make it through dry summers here.

6. IMHO-NW: Robert L. Jamieson Jr./PI (Press eroding trust), Dan Popkey/Statesman (More Boise mismanagement?), Kerri Thoreson/Coeur d'Alene Press (Remembering St. Helens), Seattle PI (Only outlaws sell pizzas), and
The Olympian (Healthy tan is an oxymoron).

*Washington allows John 3:16 vanity plate here.

*Hewlett-Packard earnings rise 7% despite severance pay here.

*Glacier Park crews brake through last big obstacle in opening Going-to-the-Sun Highway here.

*The Big Sky Conference voted unanimously to welcome Northern Colorado to the Big Sky Conference here.

Remember to check out Orbusmax for more Northwest News here.

---

---