In brief: Court: State of Washington may sue florist who didn’t want to serve gays
RICHLAND – A judge has decided the state of Washington has the authority to bring a consumer protection lawsuit against a florist who refused to provide flowers for a gay wedding.
Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom also ruled Wednesday that the owner of the Richland flower shop can be held personally liable for violating the Consumer Protection Act.
Barronelle Stutzman and her shop, Arlene’s Flowers, are being sued for refusing to sell flowers for a 2013 same-sex wedding.
The judge still has two more motions to rule on in the lawsuit, including whether the facts in the case show the florist violated the Consumer Protection Act and the Washington Law Against Discrimination.
The state attorney general is asking for a permanent injunction requiring Stutzman and her shop to comply with the consumer protection law.
Inslee nominates liquor board members
OLYMPIA – A retired state agency official and a county prosecutor are Gov. Jay Inslee’s picks to fill openings on the state Liquor Control Board.
Wednesday, Inslee nominated Jane Rushford, a former deputy director of the Department of Enterprise Services, to be the chairwoman of the board, and Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge as a board member.
Rushford has a long resume in state government that includes acting director of the old Department of General Administration, senior policy adviser to the Department of Natural Resources and staff coordinator for the House of Representatives. With Senate confirmation, she’ll replace board Chairman Sharon Foster.
Hauge has been elected county prosecutor five times since 1994, which Inslee said gives him the strongest public safety resume of any liquor board member in recent memory.
He would replace board member Chris Marr, a former Spokane legislator.
SCC to host race, law enforcement forum
A forum examining law enforcement and race relations is set for Spokane Community College next week.
The keynote address, “We Can’t Breathe: How Racial Oppression is Choking the Justice out of Law Enforcement,” will be given by Rachel Dolezal, president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP and professor at Eastern Washington University.
A planned group discussion will follow.
The event is set for 7:30 a.m. to noon Wednesday at the SCC Lair, 1800 N. Greene St., Spokane. It’s sponsored by the SCC Student Awareness League and EWU’s Africana Studies Program and is expected to include a resource fair.
EWU professor Scott Finney will open the forum with a presentation on “The History of Law Enforcement and Race in America.”
Dolezal’s keynote speech is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.
Report of gunman shuts down schools
SHORELINE, Wash. – Schools in the Shoreline district just north of Seattle were locked down for about two hours Wednesday after a school employee reported seeing a man carrying a rifle near a school.
No gunman was found, and the superintendent said classes will resume today.
The district decided to close its schools for the rest of Wednesday after the lockdown was lifted, King County sheriff’s Sgt. DB Gates said.
In a statement posted on the Shoreline Public Schools website, Superintendent Rebecca Miner said Shoreline schools plan a normal schedule today.
Three police agencies plan to have enhanced patrols focusing on the schools, Miner said.
The investigation continues, but no suspect has been identified or arrested, Gates said. The employee was only able to provide a general description of a male wearing a dark hoodie and camouflage pants.
District spokesman Craig Degginger said the employee called 911 and the district closed all its schools while sheriff’s deputies looked for the man. Schools were closed from just before 8 a.m. to just after 10 a.m.
State ferry passenger jumps into water
SEATTLE – The crew of a Washington state ferry rescued a man who jumped overboard Wednesday in the middle of Puget Sound.
Spokeswoman Marta Coursey said it happened on the ferry Puyallup as it headed from Bainbridge Island to Seattle.
KOMO reported a woman saw the man jump and alerted crew members, who launched a rescue boat and pulled him from the water.
The ferry was met by medics who took the man to Harborview Medical Center.
Newborn Puget Sound orca a female
SEATTLE – Scientists have determined the baby orca born into an imperiled Puget Sound pod is female.
The infant killer whale was first spotted late last month, bringing new hope for the southern resident killer whale population that spends time in the inland waters of Washington state and Canada. They are an endangered species in Canada and the U.S.
The baby became the 78th whale in the group, which had not had a successful birth in more than two years and lost a female of breeding age in December.
Center for Whale Research researchers have been shadowing the pod.
They say the pod and baby orca, identified as J-50, were swimming Wednesday in waters off British Columbia.
Researchers have not yet determined which whale in the pod is the baby’s mother.