Do You Recall These 10 Horrible News Scandals This Year in WA?

Trigger Warning

The following stories list 10 of the worst news scandals in WA state that shocked us. Some of these scandals are about violently graphic offenses and/or stem from sexual assault crimes.

1 . Dr. LaRue in Clark County

After over a decade of sexually assaulting some of his patients, chiropractor Mark LaRue was finally put in prison for rape and indecent liberties.

The county prosecutor at that time said no crime had been committed, so the chiropractor got away with sexual assault for years, but now he's in prison for at least the next 32 months.

2 . COVID-Relief Scammers

Close to $7,000,000 was fraudulently obtained by 5 Washington state scammers who lived in the cities of Fife, Seattle, Bonney Lake, and Pacific.

This story was wild. The accused had pretended to be landlords and renters in need of Economic Injury Disaster pandemic relief rental assistance and Paycheck Protection Program funds, including sending themselves fake eviction notices.

3 . O'Reilly Auto Parts Pregnancy Shaming

Some 22 women formally accused some WA state O’Reilly Auto Parts franchisees of cheating them out of scheduled hours, wages, and other punitive acts in the workplace. State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed official charges against the company on their behalf.

After being sued, O’Reilly Auto Parts changed their company maternity policies to prevent future discrimination of pregnant employees.  

4 . Middle School Licking Competition

Parents in Kennewick were horrified when they learned about a “licking competition” between staff and students at Desert Hills Middle School.

Some parents called it a "horrifying" and "highly vile" incident. Embarrassingly, this story made national headlines.

5 . Pac-12 Poppycock

OSU and WSU decided to take control of all the Pac-12 Board (and the money), meanwhile the other 10 schools in the Pac-12 said, “Aht-Aht!” to that idea.

Thus, a scandal was born!

6 . WA State Attorney General Bob Ferguson Sues Facebook & InstagraM (Meta)

It takes a lot of huevos to take on a famous billionaire and 2 of his social media apps, but some 41 state attorneys general sued Meta for "knowingly included features in its social media apps that are harmful to children’s health."

Those attorney generals banded together to sue Zuckerberg like they were the Avengers swooping in to fight Thanos in Endgame!

via GIPHY

7 . Mass Shooting at The Gorge

Two young people were tragically killed when a madman began randomly shooting during an EDM festival at The Gorge. Others were injured.

There have been 13 mass shootings in Washington state in 2023.

8 . Tragic Murder-Suicide in Vancouver

It was horrifying to learn about the recent murder-suicide of Rouse family members. They lived in a quiet section of the Orchards neighborhood in Vancouver.

A GoFundMe has been created to help the surviving family members cover funeral costs.

9 . 40 Years in the Pen for White Swan Man

Washington state residents were truly sickened and shocked to learn about the story of a White Swan man.

His heinous acts got him convicted to “180 months in federal prison for one count of Sexual Abuse of a Minor and 40 years in prison for one count of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child.”

10 . Mysterious Home Explosion

It’s not often that a home explodes, let alone a home in Washington state. A house in Bothell exploded in a quiet suburban neighborhood. Homes not far from the explosion were affected by the impact, including a garage door that came flying off the house of one nearby neighbor.

It's still a shocking story because we still don't know why this house blew up in the first place.

MORE TO READ:

• The 1 Question About Oregon That Stumped Everybody on Jeopardy

• Heads Up: Goodwill Stores Will Not Accept These 10 Things in WA

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