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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2019
Hate makes a comeback Sick of co-worker’s sick leave
in the Pacifi c Northwest
By NICHOLAS K.
GERANIOS
Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. —
Nearly two decades after the
Aryan Nations’ Idaho com-
pound was demolished, far-
right extremists are main-
taining a presence in the
Pacifi c Northwest.
White nationalism has
been on the rise across the
U.S., but it has particu-
lar resonance along the Ida-
ho-Washington
border,
where the Aryans espoused
hate and violence for years.
The neo-Nazi group was
based near Hayden Lake,
Idaho, starting in the 1970s,
and eventually was bank-
rupted in a lawsuit brought
by local activists and the
Southern Poverty Law Cen-
ter. Its compound was seized,
and supporters dispersed.
But a series of incidents
in recent weeks show far-
right sentiments never really
left the conservative region.
In the county that is home to
Hayden Lake, for instance,
Republicans last month
passed a measure express-
ing support for U.S. entry
of a prominent Austrian far-
right activist who was inves-
tigated for ties to the sus-
pected New Zealand mosque
gunman.
In 2018, at least nine hate
groups operated in the region
of Spokane and northern
Idaho, including Identity
Evropa, Proud Boys, ACT
for America and America’s
Promise Ministries, accord-
ing to the Southern Poverty
Law Center. The center does
not track how many mem-
bers belong to each group.
Keegan
Hankes,
a
researcher for the Southern
Poverty Law Center, said
the number of hate groups
is growing across the U.S.,
driven in part by a toxic
political culture. The human
rights group counted 784
active hate groups in the U.S.
in 2014 and 1,020 in 2018.
In
particular,
white
supremacist groups are
growing because of fears that
the country’s racial makeup
is changing. “That drives a
ton of anxiety,” Hankes said.
These new far-right activ-
ists are more scattered than
the ones who used to gather
at the Aryan Nations by the
dozens, experts say.
“It is no longer neces-
sary to go to a compound in
Hayden Lake, Idaho,” said
Kristine Hoover, director
of the Gonzaga Institute for
Hate Studies in Spokane.
With the proliferation of
social media, groups “form
in dispersed locations”
and gatherings are “more
covert,” she said.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Karl Wolf raises his arm in a Nazi salute in 1998 as he marches
through the streets of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Nearly two decades
after the Aryan Nations compound was demolished, far-right
extremists maintain a presence in the Pacifi c Northwest.
In late April, a self-de-
scribed “American Nation-
alist” named Brittany Petti-
bone appeared at a meeting
of Kootenai County, Idaho,
Republicans to ask for help
to bring her boyfriend, Mar-
tin Sellner, to the country
from Austria. Pettibone, 26,
said Sellner wants to marry
her and live in Post Falls,
Idaho.
Pettibone was a big pro-
moter of the hoax known
as “Pizzagate,” telling her
online followers Hillary
Clinton and other high-pro-
fi le
Democrats
were
involved in satanic rituals
and child sex traffi cking tied
to a Washington, D.C., pizza
restaurant.
Sellner is a leading fi g-
ure in the extremist “iden-
titarian” movement, which
espouses a white national-
ist ideology and has swept
over Europe amid an infl ux
of migrants and refugees. He
has confi rmed he exchanged
emails with the suspected
New Zealand shooter, who
donated money to Sellner’s
group. But Sellner denies
involvement in the attack.
Despite his background,
the Kootenai County Repub-
lican Central Committee
passed a resolution urging
the federal government to
allow Sellner into the United
States. The resolution said
the government revoked
Sellner’s travel privileges
“for political reasons,” and
demanded those privileges
be reinstated.
Faced with criticism for
giving Pettibone a platform,
Kootenai County GOP Chair
Brent Regan blamed the
press. “In its lust for scandal,
the media has stretched the
committee’s simple act of
kindness into headlines that
are too bizarre to be fi ction,”
he wrote in a recent op-ed.
Also last month, The
Guardian published internet
chats from 2017 in which
a Washington state legisla-
tor and three other men dis-
cussed confronting “left-
ists” with a variety of tactics,
including violence, surveil-
lance and intimidation.
The messages prompted
Washington House Dem-
ocrats to demand that the
Republican lawmaker, Rep.
Matt Shea of Spokane Val-
ley, be reprimanded for a
history of far-right speech
and activities. While Shea
did not propose violence, he
did not speak up when vio-
lence was proposed, Demo-
crats said.
House
Republican
Leader J.T. Wilcox of Yelm
responded that Shea should
not be punished before
investigations are com-
pleted. The House, led by
Democrats, will conduct an
independent investigation of
the lawmaker.
Shea, who rarely speaks
to reporters, did not return
numerous messages from the
Associated Press.
He has served in the state
House since 2008, introduc-
ing bills to criminalize abor-
tion and roll back gun laws
and pushing for eastern
Washington to secede from
the rest of the state. The mil-
itary veteran attracted inter-
national attention in 2018
after a document he wrote
laid out a “biblical basis for
war” against people who
practiced same-sex marriage
and abortion, and instructed:
“If they do not yield, kill all
males.”
In a third case, a nation-
wide arrest warrant was
issued in May for a Stevens
County, Washington, man
who allegedly tried to extort
members of his right-wing
militia group through anony-
mous written threats backed
by insinuations they came
from a Mexican drug cartel.
James “Russell” Bolton,
51, faces at least six charges
of extortion and attempted
theft after he was arrested
recently in West Virginia.
Dear Annie: I am a ing him for a job because can do your job. Hard work
waiter in a restaurant of this. But I’m afraid that without complaining pays
and enjoy my job. I am he will tell the owner of my off in the end.
Dear Annie: I read with
34 years old and strug- restaurant since they are
gled to fi nd work that I still friends. I’m really feel- interest the column by
like before I found this ing sick and resentful. — the 72-year-old man who
was disappointed that his
job. I really love being a Slowly Smoldering
Dear Smolder- 71-year-old girlfriend does
waiter. The cus-
DEAR
ing: You are allow- not show interest in sex.
tomers are mostly
ANNIE
ing the waitress call- Well, as a 70-plus woman,
friendly, the food
ing in sick to make let me tell you that with
is good, and I
you feel sick and declining (and absent)
try to make eat-
resentful. While I estrogen, the thought of sex
ing at our restau-
understand that you is not prime on our minds.
rant an enjoyable
don’t want to do her However, I made a discov-
experience for all
work, she makes a ery a year or so ago when
diners.
good point that you my urologist prescribed an
The owner of
LANE
are making more estrogen cream for my fre-
the restaurant is ANNIE
Creators
money in tips when quent UTIs. I suddenly love
friendly to the
Syndicate Inc.
she is out. If you having sex with my hus-
customers but a
stern disciplinarian to don’t care about the money band again. My sex drive
the cooks, the wait staff and are that concerned with has returned and we are
and the dishwashers and “fairness,” perhaps you going through a second
busboys. He is not mean should look for another job. honeymoon phase. If most
to us; he’s just strict While it might seem like post menopausal women
and not very friendly or the waitress is “faking” her who have no sex drive
approachable. I hardly sickness because of the fre- would check with their doc-
ever talk to him. He quency of her sick calls, we tor they might discover that
scares me a little. The have no idea what is going sex can actually be enjoy-
assistant manager who on. And I am certain that able again.
I am assured by my doc-
hired me four years ago you and the restaurant cus-
was nice, but he left for tomers do not want a sick tor that the amount of estro-
gen in the cream is safe.
another restaurant and waitress serving them.
his replacement is so-so
If you love being a waiter So, a visit with a gynecolo-
— very quiet and always and you love the custom- gist or urologist may be an
trying to kiss up to the ers, then look at this as an easy fi x. So ladies, there is
owner.
opportunity to really show hope out there. — Old and
The problem is that management how well you Happy in Retirement.
there is one waitress who
calls in sick once a week,
every week, no matter
what, and the other wait-
ers and I have to do her
work for her. She has
been with the restau-
rant longer than any of
us. Her sick days are all
over the map. One week
she calls in sick on Tues-
day, and then the next
week Friday. She keeps
changing the days of the
week, but without fail
she takes one sick day
every week.
I told her that when
she calls in sick, we
Exciting opportunity for a skilled customer service
have to do her work for
professional with knowledge of the Seaside, Ore. area.
her, and she replied that
Hours are generally 8-5, Monday through Friday, with
that’s how it has always
weekends off. This position comes with generous
been. “Besides,” she
compensation for someone with the drive and
said, “You can get more
determination to succeed. Benefits include paid time
off (PTO), a 401(k)/Roth 401(k) retirement plan,
tips.”
expense reimbursement and insurances.
Money is not the
issue; fairness is.
Two+ years of customer service experience are required,
or a degree in business, marketing or communications,
I am so fed up with
or a combination of like experience and education.
her and this whole situ-
ation that I am thinking
This is a great opportunity to grow a career working with
about quitting. I am also
business and community leaders in the Seaside area.
We will train the right person!
thinking about calling
the man who hired me,
who is now at a differ-
ent restaurant, and ask-
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