Locals Fight Racial Holy War

Two Lynnwood, Washington residents -- Melody LaRue and Jason LaRue -- were among eight people recognized by the World Church of the Creator as 1999's "Creators of the Year." (The WCC is a racist and anti-Semitic group based in Illinois that made it into the national spotlight last July when one of its members, Benjamin Smith, went on a fatal shooting spree -- killing a black man and an Asian man, and eventually, himself.)In WCC's January newsletter, leader Pontifex Maximus Matt Hale (featured in February's Spin) recognized the LaRues for being "shining examples of dedication to their white race" and for distributing thousands of copies of The Facts, a WCC hate-sheet. Melody even got a special nod from Hale for heading up WCC's national women's branch, Sisterhood. She also does a listserv for white home-schoolers. The LaRues sound like a charming couple. In 1995, 22-year-old Jason was charged with malicious harassment and misdemeanor assault for attacking two students at Western Washington University in Bellingham -- a black student and an Asian student. And Melody recently wrote a eulogy for murderer Benjamin Smith, concluding, "Now we all need to work together to pick up where he left off. And we must win this Racial Holy War." The LaRues' dubious honor entitles them to receive their choice of $50 worth of literature, books, and tapes from the WCC. 1998's "Creator of the Year" was the aforementioned Smith. JOSH FEIT


Stir It Up

Two West Coast activist groups are planning to crash Starbucks' annual share- holders' meeting at Benaroya Hall on Monday, February 14. The groups, Global Exchange and TransFair U.S.A., plan to send sympathetic shareholders inside the meeting to lobby other shareholders into adopting better pay policies.Starbucks, a whipping boy of WTO protests, has been criticized by activists for not paying coffee farmers in countries like Guatemala the local minimum wage. PHIL CAMPBELL


Victory for Part-Timers

A Superior Court judge ruled last week that Washington state community and technical colleges were misreporting the number of hours that part-time faculty were actually spending on the job. ["Learning Their Lesson," October 6, 1999.] Hundreds of instructors were being cut out of state retirement benefits because the colleges didn't consider outside work (grading papers, preparing for classes, etc.) to be real work. PHIL CAMPBELL