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The Chronicle - Centralia
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Man sent threatening texts to girlfriend before killing her in Pierce County, charges say
A man accused of beating his girlfriend to death Wednesday outside an apartment building in the Stadium District area previously was convicted of murder. Michael Anthony Cooley, 61, was arrested a few hours after the woman's body was discovered near the 400 block of North G Street, charging documents show. The woman's friend told Tacoma detectives that the victim and her alleged killer had been in a relationship since January. Prosecutors charged Cooley with two counts of second-degree murder and third-degree assault in connection with the woman's death outside the G Street Apartments in Tacoma, court records show. The building is where the victim and Cooley resided. The Pierce County Medical Examiner had not released the victim's name as of Thursday afternoon. A plea of not guilty was entered on Cooley's behalf at his arraignment at Pierce County Superior Court on Thursday. Judge Karena Kirkendoll set his bail at $1 million, records show. Cooley previously was convicted of second-degree murder in Virginia in 1985. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison, records show. He has also been convicted of fourth-degree assault and has domestic violence related arrests. Charging documents detail homicide Tacoma police were dispatched at 2:33 a.m. to the building for reports of a death investigation. Tacoma Fire was on the scene where the woman's body was discovered. There was a large pool of blood on top of her head and she appeared to have suffered blunt-force trauma. She was declared dead at the scene, prosecutors wrote. A group of residents was standing in front of the building, including Cooley. Officers interviewed Cooley, as well as the residents, prior to him being identified as a suspect. Cooley told police that he was outside smoking with the woman and that everything was fine at the time, prosecutors wrote. A security guard for the Tacoma Housing Authority told officers that he drove near where the woman's body was found at 12:45 a.m. and saw a man rubbing a female's back, prosecutors wrote. She was lying face down, and the security guard asked him if they were OK. The man replied that they were fine, so the guard drove away. The man was later identified as Cooley. While officers waited for detectives to arrive, one of them found a bloody block of concrete next to the sidewalk. There was a blood trail leading from the location where the woman's body was found to where the block was located. A witness who lives in a nearby building told officers that at about 1 a.m. she walked out on her balcony and heard a man and woman arguing. She believed it was coming from the North G Apartments. She heard a woman yell, "Oh God, no." The witness went back to her apartment and did not think much of it because she "always hears loud voices from the North G Apartments," prosecutors wrote. A resident told police that the victim previously texted her saying that Cooley was sending her threatening text messages. One of the texts sent to the resident read, "Mike told me that he was going to kick the (expletive) out of me." It was sent on April 30, a day before the homicide, documents show. Prosecutors wrote that detectives reviewed video surveillance from the apartment complex camera. The footage showed a woman matching the victim's description at 1:06 a.m. walking outside the front door of the building. A few minutes later, a man walked outside. It appeared that the man pushed the woman and she fell. Then he walked back into the building with a dog. The same man came back outside without a dog and approached the woman who was lying on the ground. He started "manipulating" her body and jacket. The security company car pulled up at 1:26 a.m. and paused before driving away. It came around again before leaving. The man removed the woman's jacket and went back inside the building with it, prosecutors wrote. Detectives went to the back of the building and found a jacket in the trash can with what was suspected to be blood on it, documents show. Detectives spoke to Cooley at his apartment and when they told him they wanted to interview him, he became uncooperative. When the detective tried to grab his hands, he struggled and then was placed into handcuffs. Cooley attempted to slip from the detective, yelled an expletive and spat in his face, prosecutors wrote. During an interview, Cooley allegedly told detectives he had beaten the woman to death. He said that during the incident he was going to help her, but she told him that he was going to go to jail for the rest of his life. Cooley said, "I am not going back," and began to "stomp and kick" the woman, prosecutors wrote. He later said he was "triggered" by something she said and "snapped." Cooley allegedly said he began to "punch and stomp" the woman more than "50 times" until she was dead. He said he removed her jacket because the tread pattern from the shoes could be seen in the blood on the jacket. When asked if he hit the woman with the brick, he said, "I might have," documents show. When a detective asked him if his DNA would be on the block, his alleged response was, "Probably, I didn't bleed," prosecutors wrote. ___ (c)2024 The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.) Visit The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.) at www.TheNewsTribune.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. |
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Black Hills High School teacher named Regional Teacher of the Year
Andrew Landowski, the band teacher and music coordinator at Black Hills High School in the Tumwater School District, has been named Regional Teacher of the Year by the Capital Region Educational Service District (ESD) 113. Landowski will now be one of nine candidates chosen by their respective ESDs who will be considered for Washington State Teacher of the Year. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction will select and announce the state winner in the fall. The selection committee chose Landowski for the award because his dedication to students and the arts stands out, according to the ESD news release. Among his winning attributes, Landowski has had nearly 20% of his students selected for All-State ensembles this year, according to a news release from the ESD. He has had students compete in state solo and ensemble events every year of his teaching career. And he has served in multiple roles and on committees that foster and support music education and development at district and statewide levels. "Mr. Landowski is not only an outstanding educator but also a compassionate mentor, a collaborative team player, and an inspirational leader," Black Hills principal Dave Meyers said in a statement. "His unwavering commitment to student success and his tireless efforts to create a positive and inclusive learning environment make him an exceptional candidate for the Washington Teacher of the Year award." Student Catherine Meierbachtol said in a statement that Landowski works hard to help students thrive as a group of peers. "We learn skills from each other, and when we get older, we teach the younger kids what we were taught. "Mr. Landowski creates incredible leaders, especially in our drum majors, but mostly, he creates an incredible team. He gives us reasons to want to do well. I'm really thankful that, before I get too old, I get to learn how to be on a team that truly takes care of each other." The Capital Region Educational Service District 113 includes school district in Thurston, Mason, Grays Harbor, Lewis and Pacific counties. ___ (c)2024 The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) Visit The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) at www.theolympian.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. |
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State park nearly doubles number of campsites in preparation for 100th anniversary
Schafer State Park has expanded its campground in preparation for its 100th anniversary as a state park, the state Parks Department has announced. Washington State Parks is wrapping up a two-year renovation of the historic park on the Satsop River near Elma. Schafer's new campground has 30 sites that add to its 38 existing sites and campground, according to a Parks news release. The renovations also include a new restroom building, welcome center, reservoir for the park's potable water system, landscaping, entry road and roads through the campgrounds, according to the state.. Schafer is included on the National Register of Historic Places. It officially became a state park in 1924 after a logging company donated the land to the state. Its structures were developed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s. The park's new features were built in the original National Park Service rustic style to match the historic WPA-built structures in the park, according to the parks department news release. "There is a lot of history at this park," said Angela Galli, Schafer park ranger, in a statement. "There are multi-generational families and folks who have been coming to Schafer since they were 3 years old. It's a place you can come to with your family, to relax, enjoy the river, camp, float and fish." To commemorate the park's centennial anniversary, a public event is planned for July 20 with a free food truck, yard games, live music, storytelling, square dancing in period costumes, museum exhibits with historic artifacts, and other family-friendly activities. ___ (c)2024 The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) Visit The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) at www.theolympian.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. |
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Thurston County sheriff plans to pilot GPS trackers, grappler nets in pursuits this summer
Thurston County Sheriff’s Office deputies will get to try out GPS trackers and grapple nets in vehicle pursuits later this year. The Board of County Commissioners approved purchases of both technologies on Tuesday. Sheriff Derek Sanders had been seeking approval from the board to buy and pilot a small number of trackers and nets in anticipation of rollbacks of state laws limiting police pursuits. Sanders previously advocated for the rollbacks, which the state legislature passed in February. The changes are expected to go into effect in June. When addressing the board, Sanders said deputies will resume pursuing more people who flee from them to "try and get our criminal stuff under control." However, he said he still wants to mitigate risk where possible. "We know that police pursuits do result in injury and death sometimes," Sanders said. "Anytime that we can invest in this stuff to prevent that, I think is a pretty good investment on behalf of the county." County documents describe each technology as a "high-speed pursuit alternative" that is intended to reduce the risk to deputies and the community. The GPS trackers attach to a fleeing vehicle after being deployed from a mechanism mounted on the front of a patrol vehicle, according to county documents. Deputies can then disengage from the pursuit and continue following the suspect vehicle's location data through a mapping platform. The grapple nets are also mounted on the front of a patrol vehicle. When deployed, the net gets caught in the rear tire of a fleeing vehicle, tethering it to the patrol vehicle. This allows the patrol vehicle to force the vehicle to stop without performing a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver. Such a maneuver can cause a fleeing vehicle to spin out and damage both the patrol vehicle and fleeing vehicle, Sanders said. "They don't change the appearance of the patrol car," Sanders said. "They're both going to still have push bars on them. The StarChase unit is very discreet up in the bumper. The grappler just looks like a normal push bar until it folds down." The board approved purchases of five tracker units from a company called StarChase for $42,796 plus shipping and handling. They also approved buying six grappler units from Stock Enterprises for $48,663 plus shipping and handling. During an earlier Tuesday meeting, Sanders told the board he intends to absorb the cost of the purchases with staff vacancy savings in his budget. Sanders said his office is applying for a state grant to either purchase more tracker and grappler units or additional pursuit alternative technologies in the future. The board had to approve the purchases Tuesday because they were single source purchases, meaning they were sought without competitive bidding. Commissioner Emily Clouse abstained from the vote. Though she commended Sanders for exploring safer pursuit alternatives, she said she has fiscal concerns about buying these with county funds rather than grant funding. "My concern is that relying on vacancy savings will provide short-term coverage for the expense but could negatively impact the general fund in the long term as we go into contract negotiations later this year," Clouse said. Commissioner Wayne Fournier called the previous restrictions on police pursuits a "failed experiment" and thanked Sanders for his efforts. "This is you looking out and trying things that are outside the box to ensure that you can do your job safely," Fournier said. In addition to liability concerns, accidents during police pursuits can destroy patrol vehicles, requiring the county to buy costly replacements, Commissioner Carolina Mejia said. She said she looks forward to seeing the new technology when it arrives. "I like the approach of making it a pilot program instead of just equipping all the cars to see if it works for our community," Mejia said. "We'll see once the grappler comes on board." Sanders told the board he expects the grappler and tracker units to be ready for use by July to allow for shipping, set-up and training. ___ (c)2024 The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) Visit The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) at www.theolympian.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. |
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Thurston County court records detail the similarity of the two alleged rapes by same suspect
A 43-year-old man accused of raping two people he lured from downtown Olympia is being held in the Thurston County jail in lieu of $750,000 bail. Jerome Lamont Shumate attended his preliminary appearance in Thurston County Superior Court on Wednesday. Sheriff's Office detectives and elements of the county's SWAT Team arrested Shumate on Tuesday. The Sheriff's Office alleges Shumate approached people in downtown Olympia and lured them to a residence on Quinault Drive Northeast near Lacey where he raped them at knife-point, according to a Wednesday news release. His arrest reportedly occurred after a months-long investigation and the county Narcotics Task Force confirmed his location at the residence. Judge Anne Egeler set the bail amount after finding probable cause for two counts of first-degree rape. In doing so, she determined the court could not be sure he would reappear in court, he may interfere with the case and there existed a substantial danger he may commit violent crime if released. The jail log initially indicated detectives arrested Shumate on suspicion of first-degree rape, first-degree rape of a child and failure to register as a sex offender. However, court records indicate the two victims are adults and Egeler did not find probable cause for first-degree rape of a child. Shumate also is wanted in Kitsap County for allegedly failing to register as sex offender. Shumate's adult criminal history dates back to 2000, according to court records. Most recently, he was convicted third-degree rape, second-degree assault and third-degree rape of child in a 2020 Thurston County Superior Court case. If charged by prosecutors, Shumate must return to court at 9 a.m. May 14 for his arraignment hearing. The Sheriff's Office, which believes there may be other victims, urges anyone who may have experienced a "similar ordeal or any form of sexual assault" to contact a deputy via dispatch at 360-704-2740 or email at detectives@co.thurston.wa.us.
The investigation A probable cause statement describes the investigation into the alleged crimes from the perspective of law enforcement. A deputy encountered the first known victim on Oct. 8, 2023, while responding to a complaint about a person walking in the center of Martin Way East near School Street Southeast. The 43-year-old victim reportedly appeared to be injured and in distress. They dropped to the ground in the fetal position and sobbed as the deputy approached, according to the statement. The deputy took the person to Providence St. Peter Hospital, but the statement says they declined treatment and an exam. The victim reportedly told the deputy that they willingly got in a man's vehicle while trying to buy fentanyl in downtown Olympia. The man, who police allege is Shumate, allegedly took the victim to the basement of the residence on Quinault Drive and offered the victim pills that did not match what they wanted. The victim refused the pills and the man allegedly became angry and began to rape the victim at knife-point, according to the statement. The man reportedly put the knife to the victim's throat and told them to be quiet. The man stopped when the victim began to "contort unnaturally" as a result of a congestive heart failure condition, according to the statement. Shumate reportedly transported the victim to a Walmart on Galaxy Drive Northeast and left them there. Another deputy encountered the second known victim on April 1 while responding to a possible domestic dispute. At the time, the 46-year-old victim reportedly requested a ride from law enforcement after an argument with her husband. While speaking with the deputy, the husband reportedly said his wife had been raped on March 24. He said he transported his wife to Providence St. Peter Hospital to be examined the next day but they had not yet reported the incident to law enforcement. Lacey police initially collected a sexual assault kit from the hospital because the victim reported the assault occurred in the Hawks Prairie area of Lacey. However, the husband later retraced the victim's journey to the address on Quinault Drive. The victim allegedly told the deputy that the man, believed to be Shumate, picked her up from the Intercity Transit Center in downtown Olympia. She said she willingly got into his car after he offered to "hang out and smoke," the statement says. The man allegedly transported the woman to the same residence on Quinault Drive and proceeded to rape her at knife-point as he did with the previous victim, according to the statement. However, the victim also reported being strangled in this incident. The man allegedly demanded she not report the rape and he dropped her off at a KFC on Galaxy Drive, according to the statement. The victim reportedly slept by a bus stop off Marvin Road after missing the last bus that night. Both victims provided similar, but not very detailed, descriptions of the man who allegedly raped them. Deputies later presented both victims with a photograph montage of six people with similar features. The statement says they both identified Shumate from the line-up. Resources SafePlace offers crisis support services for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in Thurston County. The public can contact their 24-hour help line at 360-754-6300. Survivors also may contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673. ___ (c)2024 The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) Visit The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) at www.theolympian.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. |
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Washington man sentenced to 13 years in federal prison in 'Operation Net Nanny' cases
A Clarkston man arrested in an online child-sex sting was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in federal prison. David Elmo Curry's sentence was less than the 25 years prosecutors asked for, but U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Bastian said he was partly constrained in sentencing by federal laws setting the lowest sentence he could impose. "This court's hands are tied," Bastian said, acknowledging a defense argument that Curry had spent more than two years on pretrial release without committing further crimes, but said he had to impose a sentence of at least 10 years on the two charges of trying to entice a minor. But Bastian said he also recognizes that Curry was caught in a second online sex sting while awaiting trial in an earlier case. Curry was convicted by a federal jury in Yakima in December following a three-day trial. Craig Webster, Curry's attorney had argued for two 10-year sentences to run concurrently, followed by five years of supervised release. Curry, 38, was one of 15 men arrested in November 2019 as part of "Operation Net Nanny," an online operation where undercover officers looked for men willing to have sex with minors and arranged for them to meet up with the children at a home in Yakima. Prosecutors said Curry responded to a woman who was looking for a man to sexually "mentor" her 11- and 13-year-old daughters, and following instructions from the undercover detectives, arrived at a Yakima home where he was placed under arrest Nov. 16, 2019. Curry testified that he believed he was setting up a rendezvous with an adult woman, even though prosecutors pointed out that the "mother" corrected him and said the liaison would be with her young daughters, a fact Curry acknowledged in the text exchange. A month later, while on pretrial release, Curry placed an online ad on a meetup site looking for a woman with whom he could have a one-night stand, and he got a response from a woman who then told him she was "almost 14," according to court documents. Curry was living in Kennewick at the time. In reality, Curry was conversing with a detective with federal Homeland Security. While Curry never met to have sex with the girl, he did go out and buy a lubricant the girl had requested. At trial, Curry testified he knew he was talking to a cop all along but decided to string the officer along as a way to waste detectives' time and resources. At the hearing, Bastian denied Webster's motions to dismiss the case on grounds that Curry was not communicating with minors in the one case but rather their "mother," and that the jury was not allowed to consider an entrapment argument. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Murphy argued for concurrent 25-year sentences on both cases, which he said was less than the sentencing guidelines that recommended a life sentence, to be followed by being under court supervision for the rest of his life. Webster said Curry appeared to be a victim of "sentencing entrapment" by the decision to make the children 11 and 13 in the scenarios, which he said allowed prosecutors to seek a higher sentence than if the victim had been 14. He said that Curry cooperated with authorities when he was arrested but appeared to be punished for taking the case to trial. He pointed to another Net Nanny case tried in Yakima County Superior Court where the defendant was sentenced to two days in jail. In that case, Brent Mitchell Atkins entered an "In Re Barr" plea to communicating with a minor for immoral purposes solely to avoid a harsher sentence if he had gone to trial. Murphy said that while Curry answered questions from detectives, he was not remorseful as he went out and committed the same crime weeks later. Webster said that Curry deserved leniency in that he is autistic, has low-self esteem and was susceptible to manipulation by others. Curry, Webster said, had no criminal history prior to Operation Net Nanny, and in the 29 months he has been on court supervision has not broken the law. Curry spoke at the hearing and acknowledged that he had made mistakes and regretted what he had done. ___ (c)2024 Yakima Herald-Republic (Yakima, Wash.) Visit Yakima Herald-Republic (Yakima, Wash.) at www.yakima-herald.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. |
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New federal bill aims to slow pace of work at Amazon, other warehouses
The fight to change warehouse working conditions that has been playing out in state legislatures is now headed to Washington, D.C. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., introduced legislation Thursday that would put new safeguards in place for warehouse workers who are expected to move quickly and face intense oversight, increasing the possible risk of injury. Similar to state bills that lawmakers, including in Washington, have passed recently, the Warehouse Worker Protection Act would ban production quotas that require workers to move at an unsafe pace, skip bathroom or restroom breaks or cut corners in their work in order to keep up with expectations. It would require companies to disclose more information about the quotas workers are expected to meet and to notify them if those standards change. The bill would also authorize the Department of Labor to investigate and intervene if it finds a company is setting a pace of work that increases employees' risk of injury or withholding information about worker expectations. "In short, the Warehouse Worker Protection Act says workers are not disposable resources," Markey said at a news conference Thursday. "Injuries are not just the cost of doing business. The cost of doing business in this country is guaranteeing worker safety and dignity, and not just profits." Lawmakers in Washington passed a similar bill last year that is set to go in effect in July. After a public comment period that ended in April, the state Department of Labor and Industries is still ironing out some of the details. Washington's law applies to companies that employ 100 workers or more at a single warehouse, or 1,000 workers or more at multiple warehouses in the state. At both the federal and state levels, the legislation is aimed at warehouse companies in general but advocates continually pointed to one company where they hope to see the legislation have an impact: Amazon. That's because, advocates said, Amazon has a higher rate of injury than its warehouse peers and has been accused of firing or disciplining workers if they fail to keep up with the strict pace requirements. At the same time, the advocates continued, Amazon has been accused of using technology in its warehouses to closely track its workers' movements and the number of packages that each employee moves. At Thursday's news conference, two Amazon workers who have suffered injuries on the job said the legislation would help ensure they don't have to choose between a paycheck and the risk of getting hurt on the job. "Amazon's business model pushes workers to the brink and creates a culture of fear and competition between co-workers," said Sean O'Brien, president of the Teamsters union, which helped introduce the federal legislation Thursday. The bill is "about ending abusive and arbitrary production quotas that Amazon and other employers are spreading. It's about enforcing transparency and accountability," he said. Amazon disputes those allegations. A spokesperson said Thursday that the company's injury rate has improved over the last few years, and that it has invested more than $1 billion in technology, resources and training to further safety efforts. Amazon does not have quotas in its warehouses, the spokesperson said, and employees are able to see how they are performing at any time. If an employee is struggling, Amazon works with them to offer more training and coaching, the spokesperson continued. On Thursday, after the federal bill's introduction, some business groups began to push back on the proposal. The Coalition for Workplace Safety, a group of trade associations, said in a statement that the new legislation would make it harder for businesses to operate and micromanage warehouses. Marc Freedman, vice president for workplace policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, wrote that the bill would deny employers due process rights for violations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and allow unions too much authority in determining what constitutes a hazard for workers. The legislation is a "bad bill whose time has not come," Freedman wrote. Anticipating pushback from some companies, Markey said Thursday "we won't be able to pass this without a fight." "But we are building a movement here ... We are taking back the rights of warehouse workers." ___ (c)2024 The Seattle Times Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. |
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The Evergreen State College to explore Israel divestment after deal with students
Protesters at The Evergreen State College in Olympia agreed to remove their week-old encampment Tuesday night after striking a deal with administrators that includes the school publicly calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and exploring divestment from companies that profit from "the occupation of Palestinian territories." Three school administrators and four members of the Evergreen Gaza Solidarity Encampment signed a memorandum of understanding at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday after five hours of negotiating inside Evans Hall. As part of the deal, protesters agreed to remove their encampment by 5 p.m. Wednesday or face sanctions by the university. The encampment was cleared by that deadline, said college spokesperson Farra Hayes. The agreement made Evergreen the latest in a small group of colleges including Brown and Northwestern to see a deal between student protesters and school administrators, as students and faculty members stage similar encampments on other U.S. campuses including at the University of Washington. Protests calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory have also recently popped up at other Washington schools such as Gonzaga University in Spokane. At UCLA, Columbia University and other schools, students and faculty members have been arrested and had their encampments raided by police. Evergreen school administrators will review whether to change any study abroad programs or investments as a result of the memorandum, Hayes said. The encampment appeared on April 23 at the campus's Red Square after some students left classes and staged a rally. Several students met with school administrators later that day and presented their first list of demands in writing the next day, Hayes said. Both sides continued negotiating until convening for the final time Tuesday under the supervision of three Evergreen faculty members. "Having it remain peaceful and not escalate like we're seeing elsewhere — we're full of a lot of gratitude for students who were willing to engage that way," Hayes said. "It's really a testament to our academic approach, that if you sit down and you talk, you can find solutions." Alex Marshall, a third-year student at Evergreen who was one of the four students to sign the four-page memorandum, agreed. "In the weeklong period that the encampment was up, no student was arrested, no student was harassed by police and no student has been written up with policy violations," Marshall said. "We're incredibly happy that everyone is safe and that we were able to get through this process without our students having to face police violence." The students' final list of demands was crafted throughout the week by reaching a consensus during meetings at the encampment, Marshall said. The memorandum includes creating four "disappearing task forces" with three students and two faculty members each. One committee will look at the school to revise its investment policies to consider divesting from companies that "profit from gross human rights violations and/or the occupation of Palestinian territories." A second committee will create a policy for refusing grant funding tied to "illegal occupation abroad" or that limit free speech or oppress minorities, according to the memorandum. The two committees will make policy recommendations by fall 2024, after which the college will consider implementing them no later than spring 2026. Two other committees will propose creating a new structure for the school's Police Services Community Review Board, which has oversight of Evergreen's police officers, by fall 2026, and a nonpolice response model for responding to people in crisis by 2030, the memorandum states. As part of the agreement, John Carmichael, president of The Evergreen State College, will email a statement expressing his desire for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the release of all hostages and expansion of humanitarian aid into the region. The college also agreed not to approve study abroad programs in Israel, Gaza or the West Bank while the conflict continues or programs to regions where students could be barred based on their Jewish or Palestinian identity. Meanwhile, two encampments appeared this week at the University of Washington, both run by pro-Palestinian protesters calling on the school's administration to cut financial and academic ties with Israel and Boeing. UW administrators have so far said little in public about the encampments. "We continue to monitor the situation and will respond as appropriate to maintain a safe and secure environment for our campus community," UW spokesperson Victor Balta said Wednesday. Evergreen school administrators may have been more amenable to students' demands because of Rachel Corrie, who was a 23-year-old Evergreen student when she was crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer while she and others sought to protect a Palestinian home from being demolished in the Gaza border town of Rafah, Marshall said. "A lot of the Olympia community got really involved in Palestinian activism and I think that the community and some aspects of Evergreen's culture have been affected by that," Marshall said. "I hope that we can serve as a model to other schools in thinking about how they are going to approach coming to the table with their own students." ___ (c)2024 The Seattle Times Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. |
Portland Business News
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Graffiti, ripped-out fire extinguishers and broken ceiling tiles: Inside the Portland State University library
Protesters occupied the Millar Library at Portland State University on Monday. Twelve were arrested Thursday morning as police cleared the group.
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Eco-friend building in Old Town lands international accolade
An environmentally friendly building in Old Town has become Portland’s first so-called Living Building and the 35th such project internationally.
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