Seattle Port Commissioner Bill Bryant has officially filed paperwork to run for governor of Washington in November, MyNorthwest notes. Bryant previously announced that he would run as a Republican against Gov. Jay Inslee, who is running for a second term. Today is the last day for candidates to file official paperwork for offices that are on this year's fall ballot. But you won't have to wait until November to vote in the governor's race: Seven other candidates have also filed: Bill Hirt, Patrick O'Rourke, David W. Blomstrom, Mary Martin, Steven Rubenstein, Jonathan Dodds and Goodspaceguy, who may have the most name recognition of the seven.
Thursday saw the first guilty plea from one of the occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife refuge in Oregon this winter. Corey Lequieu, one of the 26 charged with crimes, pleaded guilty for conspiracy to impede federal officers. The charge of federal conspiracy basically means that he was guilty of preventing U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees to go to work at the Malheur National Wildlife refuge. This was a plea deal, his lawyer told The Oregonian. Lequieu may spend two and a half years in jail (and a maximum of six). In exchange, he avoids being prosecuted for other federal charges that may have carried a heavier penalty, such as felony possession of a firearm. Lequieu does not plan to help the government when it comes to prosecuting the other 25 defendants.
The president of Seattle Pride, an organization that puts together LGBT events in the city, resigned Thursday in the wake of a Denny Westneat column in the Seattle Times that exposed a misunderstanding about sponsorship of this summer’s pride parade. The parade has a new sponsor this year in Delta Air Lines. Seattle Pride president Eric Bennett told Alaska Airlines employees that they couldn’t wear Alaska Airlines logos, believing this went against the Delta sponsorship agreement. Bennett, who has been president of Seattle Pride for two years, resigned after apologizing for his mistake.
