Bloglander

ON INLANDER.COM

Knock down drag out
On the cover this week: We compiled some of the biggest and weirdest fights, riots, scuffles and brew-ha-has in the Inland Northwest.

Shattered ceilings
Paulette Jordan would be the first woman elected governor of Idaho, the first Democrat to hold the office since 1995 and the first Native American governor in the country. But that's not why she's running.


Speak up
A new grassroots spoken-word poetry movement aims to give voice to the voiceless in Spokane.

IN OTHER NEWS

'If I don't make it, I love you and I appreciate everything you did for me'
A student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School texted that to her mother as a man fired rounds into her classmates and teachers. (New York Times)

A football coach reportedly jumped in front of the bullets to save students. He later died of gunshot wounds. (Miami Herald)

A total of 17 people are dead, other are wounded, and police have arrested the suspected gunman, a 19-year-old former student at the school, Nikolas Cruz. He is charged with 17 counts of murder and will appear in court later today. (Sun Sentinel)

Cruz legally purchased a .223-caliber rifle in February 2017 after clearing an FBI background check and had no criminal history. A law enforcement official described the rifle as a "civilian version of a military rifle." (Miami Herald)

Students were not satisfied with President Donald Trump's response to the massacre:

the kids are better than us pic.twitter.com/D1Is2hNDm2

— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) February 15, 2018

With so many of these tragedies, the stories of victims and families quickly fade with the headlines. Last year, the Inlander talked with the mother of Sam Strahan, who was killed by a student inside Freeman High School.

Grandma called the cops
An 18-year-old Everett student was arrested after his grandmother called police and alerted them to the teen's plans to "walk into that class and blow all those [expletives] away," the Seattle Times reports. The boy's grandmother found his plans written in a journal. The teen was arrested but has not yet been formally charged.

Death to death
The Washington state Senate voted yesterday to abolish the death penalty. (Spokesman-Review)

Can I see your ID?
A Seattle-based attorney for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement is charged with stealing the identities of immigrants while they waited for their cases to be processed. (BuzzFeed)

Catch up to Cathy
A Democratic poll indicates that Lisa Brown is closing the gap with her opponent, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. (Spokesman-Review)