May in Review: The Relentless Fight for Truth
During the month of May, the entrenched power structure of Clallam County threw everything they had at this newspaper.
They deployed sprawling campaigns of paper terrorism, attempted to weaponize the civil courts, and demanded unconstitutional gag orders specifically designed to financially exhaust and legally eradicate our reporting.
They failed.
May was a month of massive, precedent-setting victories for the First Amendment and devastating exposures of the institutional rot hiding within our local schools and courthouses.
Because we operate entirely without corporate backing, we do not have to soften the truth to appease the “old boys club.” We stood our ground, kept the cameras rolling, and brought the facts to light.
Here is a look at the deeply uncomfortable truths we uncovered this month.
The Defeat of Prior Restraint and the Fight for Free Speech
When a compromised establishment is threatened by independent journalism, it inevitably resorts to censorship. This month, we fought those attempts on multiple fronts—and secured historic victories for press freedom.
Shaping Statewide Precedent: Beyond defending our own publication, The Olympic Herald successfully petitioned the Washington State Court of Appeals to publish the pivotal Asbach v. Couto decision.
The Collapse of Benjamin Mavy’s Attempted Gag Order: In a resounding victory for the free press, we successfully defeated LDS Elder Benjamin Mavy’s second egregious attempt to silence The Olympic Herald. Furious over our reporting on his documented ties to embattled Clallam County Judge Brent Basden, Mavy dumped a 171-page motion on this publication. He demanded a sweeping judicial gag order to make it entirely illegal for an American journalist to print “identifying information” or “unique contextual details” about his actions, chillingly mirroring the historical 1844 destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor.
Sunlight as the Disinfectant: On May 28, visiting Kitsap County Judge Houser delivered a blistering, on-the-record rejection of Mavy’s demands. Affirming there is “no harassment exception to the First Amendment,” the judge officially declared the proposed order “plain and simple prior restraint” and ruled it entirely unconstitutional.
The Literacy Gap on the Bench: Unfortunately, not all judges understand these constitutional boundaries. We exposed the alarming track record of visiting Judge Cadine Ferguson-Brown, contrasting her history of extreme leniency toward violent offenders with her willingness to bypass the First Amendment and sign a blatant, unconstitutional prior restraint into law.
Unmasking the Courthouse Crisis
The systemic failures within the Clallam and Snohomish County justice systems remain a primary target of our investigative resources:
Judge Basden’s Junk Science: We obtained a staggering January 2025 hearing transcript capturing Clallam County Judge Brent Basden actively enforcing discredited junk science ideologies from the bench. Basden categorized a child’s rational distress over being financially retaliated against by an alleged abuser as evidence of a mother’s “alienating behavior,” exposing the toxic, debunked psychology that governs his courtroom.
The Brian Parker Conspiracy Lawsuit: A sprawling 148-page civil lawsuit was filed against disgraced former Family Court Commissioner Brian Parker. The complaint alleges Parker orchestrated a civil conspiracy alongside prominent Everett attorneys, utilizing a covert financial referral pipeline, fabricating evidence, suppressing security footage, and weaponizing law enforcement to strip a domestic violence survivor of her children.
The Illusion of a Fair Trial: We detailed Melissa Strawn’s 83-page appellate brief seeking to overturn devastating King County orders. Her appeal alleges a court system that prioritized docket management over due process, relying heavily on deeply flawed, state-investigated behavioral assessments by Dr. William Singer to completely invert a domestic violence narrative.
A Disappointing New Appointment: Following Parker’s termination, the Clallam County Superior Court appointed Lorraine Rimson as the new Family Court Commissioner. Observers note she has cultivated a deeply alarming reputation as a Pro Tem for siding with perpetrators over victims—signaling a devastating continuation of the court’s failure to protect vulnerable families.
Institutional Betrayal in Our Schools
Our reporting on institutional negligence within Washington’s educational systems reached a fever pitch this month:
The QVSD “Black Hole”: The Quillayute Valley School District faced intense community outrage after it was revealed that veteran track coach Brian Weekes—who is under an active Title IX investigation for alleged severe boundary violations—was allowed to attend a middle school track meet. Furious parents confronted the Board of Education, demanding an end to the district’s “black hole” of accountability and its localized playbook of bureaucratic suppression.
Superintendent Arrested in Longview: Validating the exact type of administrative cover-ups we have exposed locally, Longview Public Schools Superintendent Karen Cloninger was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including witness tampering. The charges stem from an ongoing police investigation into a reported sexual assault case at Mark Morris High School, where Cloninger allegedly directed employees to handle the matter internally and discouraged contacting law enforcement.
Policing Staff Expression: In Tumwater, we analyzed the constitutional minefield of proposed Policy 5254. By attempting to aggressively police the off-duty, private speech of its educators, the school board is defying binding Supreme Court precedents and the robust free speech protections woven into the Washington State Constitution.
A Financial Infrastructure on the Brink: A highly critical state performance audit revealed that the state relies on an unstable, 17-year-old computer network to distribute $30 billion in school funding. The aging system is at a high risk for “catastrophic failure,” which could severely disrupt cash flow and payroll for all 295 Washington school districts.
Regional Accountability & Justice
We also tracked critical investigations spanning multiple counties across the Pacific Northwest:
Millions Embezzled in Wenatchee: Patrick Alan Bucknum, a former healthcare executive and high-ranking local LDS Stake President, was federally charged with wire fraud after allegedly embezzling more than $30 million from the Community Clinic Network to fund highly leveraged stock trades and a lavish lifestyle.
The Kaiser Permanente Abuse Ring: A sprawling Vancouver pediatric exploitation investigation widened with a third arrest and the suicide of Dr. Michael Wilmington. The fallout has now spilled into civil court, with multiple lawsuits accusing Kaiser Permanente entities of ignoring decades of severe warning signs regarding Wilmington’s abuse of young patients.
LDS Church Claims “No Legal Duty”: We reported on the LDS Church’s stunning upcoming federal court defense in Oregon, where the institution’s legal team will argue it had “no legal duty” to intervene and protect a child from sexual abuse, despite an Oregon bishop’s alleged instruction to the victim’s mother to keep quiet.
Breakthrough in Kendrick Murder: Clallam County authorities arrested 46-year-old Clinton Laverne King on second-degree murder charges in connection with the February shooting death of 73-year-old Danny Kendrick, capping off an investigation that included more than 45 search warrants.
Corporate Accountability: A Washington State Court of Appeals ruling cleared the way for a King County family to sue The Boeing Company, establishing that employers can be held civilly liable for birth defects and injuries to a worker’s not-yet-conceived child resulting from toxic workplace chemical exposure.
Educational Cyberattack: Peninsula College students and faculty were caught in the crossfire of one of the largest educational cyberattacks in history when the criminal extortion group ShinyHunters breached the Canvas learning management system, threatening to release billions of private messages.
We Need Your Support
Last month proved exactly why independent, reader-supported journalism is a necessity. The entrenched establishment in Clallam County attempted to drown us in legal fees and “paper terrorism” because they are terrified of the truths we are bringing to light.
Fighting off unconstitutional gag orders and digging deep into these systemic failures requires massive resources. I rely entirely on you.
If you value this level of fearless transparency and investigative rigor, please consider supporting our legal defense and operational costs by upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time GoFundMe contribution.
Thank you for reading, thank you for sharing our stories, and thank you for standing with The Olympic Herald.