KCRCC to settle defamation suit against Committeeman Dan Gookin
Feb. 26—The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee has reached a settlement agreement in a defamation lawsuit against one of its precinct committeemen, Chairman Brent Regan announced at the party's monthly meeting Tuesday night.
Committeeman Dan Gookin's insurance company, State Farm, will pay the committee $25,000.
The KCRCC filed the suit against Gookin in Kootenai County District Court in October 2023, alleging Gookin defamed the KCRCC by claiming it committed criminal acts.
"His recent statements have crossed the line from protected speech into unprotected defamation because they accuse KCRCC of rigging its 2023 candidate 'rating and vetting' process, perpetrating a fraud on its members, and violating campaign finance laws — things which simply have not happened," a KCRCC news release said when the suit was filed.
In an interview, Gookin said he told his insurance representatives that he did not agree with the decision and encouraged them to negotiate a lower amount. Ultimately, it was the insurance company's decision based on projected costs of going to trial.
"I don't have to apologize," said Gookin, who is also a Coeur d'Alene city councilman.
Gookin said he was surprised to hear Regan announce the settlement at the meeting, because he has not signed the agreement yet, as he is waiting on his attorney to provide the paperwork.
The agreement was reached through pre-trial mediation, Regan said.
"Basically, I did a bunch of mean tweets," Gookin told The Spokesman-Review in November 2023, calling the suit "an election ploy" to distract from his campaign for re-election on the city council. His tweets were factual, he said.
James Hanlon's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Sheriff remains 'optimistic' about tracking down Wenatchee father wanted for killings of his daughters
Jun. 4—The Chelan County Sheriff's Office is "optimistic" it will locate a man accused of killing his three young daughters at a campsite and fleeing the scene, sheriff Mike Morrison said at a news conference Wednesday evening. "My message is still the same," Morrison said. "Turn yourself in ... We will not relinquish our efforts. Do us right for your kids." Travis Caleb Decker, 32, is charged with the murder and kidnapping in connection to the deaths of his children, Olivia Decker, 5; Evelyn Decker, 8; and Paitlyn Decker, 9, from Wenatchee. The girls were found bound and asphyxiated in an embankment at the Rock Island Campground near Leavenworth, according to previous reporting from The Spokesman-Review. Their father has not been seen since last week when he failed to return the children to their mother after a planned visit. Decker, who is homeless and only allowed day visits unless an exception is made, is said to have borderline personality disorder for which he did not take medication, according to court records. He has never failed to return his kids to their mother before, and the children generally enjoyed being with him, court records say. Investigators later found his white truck and miscellaneous supplies at the campground, along with plastic bags and zip ties. The discovery led to a near-statewide manhunt. Morrison said during the news conference they are "optimistic" they can track his location, even though Decker is a military veteran with elite wilderness survival skills. He went through survival school as a kid and had more training in the military, Morrison said, and his family told investigators they believe he is able to live "off the grid" for more than two days. The Chelan County Sheriff's Office wrote in a news release they don't believe Decker is armed, but consider him dangerous. Aerial units from the Spokane County Sheriff's Office are assisting Chelan County in the search across the Okanagan Wenatchee National Forest, along with federal law enforcement. The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit were also called in and have rendered "good leads" about Decker's mindset and thought process at the time of the killings, Morrison said. Multiple tips have come in, including sightings from McCall, Idaho, but were determined not to be Decker, the sheriff said at the news conference. Agencies have swept fast-moving creeks, steep terrain, cellphone data and financial documents for clues. The sheriff's office also has limited resources, Morrison added, but the assistance Chelan County, most of which is not accessible by road, has received from statewide agencies statewide gives him confidence. "We are up for the challenge," he said. "We are aware of our terrain ... And we are not doing it alone." As of Wednesday afternoon, the Decker family's GoFundMe has raised more than half a million dollars. "Their light touched so many, and the pain of this loss is immeasurable," the post says about the Decker girls. The girls and their family are the "motivating force" behind the rigorous search, Morrison said Wednesday. The agency has set up a tip line for people with knowledge or sightings of Decker to submit information. The Chelan County Sheriff's Office has posted a $20,000 reward leading to his arrest. Decker was last seen wearing a light-colored shirt with dark shorts, has black hair and brown eyes, is 5-foot-8 and weighs about 190 pounds. He may pose a risk if he is approached, police said in a release. If found, call 911 immediately.
Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Boston Globe
How Everett mayor's campaign aide got hired as a $550-an-hour city spokesman
Public relations consultant Dot Joyce — one of three communications professionals city officials said they contacted — said the request from Everett City Hall landed in her inbox the morning it was due. She did not bother to bid. 'A thorough response to a request of this nature would have taken us longer than eight hours to produce,' she said. The city did contact her again a few weeks later, she acknowledged, but she again declined to submit a quote. Advertisement In the end, the lone bidder was Regan Communications Group, which was already working for the mayor's campaign and submitted a detailed, 11-page proposal right on time. The flaws in the procurement process are detailed in public records sought by the Globe amid broader scrutiny of DeMaria's use of taxpayer money. A state investigator reported in February that DeMaria had improperly received $180,000 in bonuses, with the largest payments hidden in an unrelated section of the city's budget. DeMaria, a Democrat first elected mayor in 2007, has refused to return the bonuses and insisted he did nothing wrong. He used city-paid lawyers to push back against the report until city councilors balked at paying his legal fees. Advertisement as any city's communications director would, or specifically that of the mayor, who faces reelection this year. Regan confused matters further Regan declined to answer questions for this story or even to say whether he is currently doing work for the city. His firm provided a statement that said: 'Regan Communications Group, as a matter of policy, does not publicly discuss contracts, privileged communications, or work process related to clients.' Regan is working for the mayor's November reelection campaign, which has paid his firm $17,000 since March, state campaign finance records show. DeMaria declined to comment for this story. His chief of staff, Erin Deveney, said that for the 2023 contract, the city initially reached out only to Regan, who had done communications work for the city in the past. (That year marked the first time he was also working for the mayor's campaign, according to campaign finance records.) When Regan's quote exceeded $10,000, she said, the city had to seek other vendors. Under state law, government agencies must seek competitive quotes from at least three vendors for contracts expected to cost between $10,000 and $50,000; more expensive work requires competitive sealed bids or proposals. The intent is to prevent favoritism and to promote competition. The procurement officer, also under the law, must keep on file the names, dates, and proposed cost of every quotation sought. Advertisement In 2022, the city had lost its communications director, who resigned under pressure after a leaked meeting video showed her To dispel the potential 'appearance of conflict of interest' when he hired Regan, DeMaria filed a public disclosure in March 2023 that suggested the appointment was temporary, until a new full-time communications director could be hired. DeMaria also wrote that the city had solicited quotes for the work in accordance with state procurement law. 'The only vendor who responded to the solicitation was Regan Communication Group,' DeMaria wrote. 'Regan Communication Group is not being awarded the contract with the City because of my involvement with them.' In response to a question from the Globe, Deveney said three additional firms had been notified of the job: Dot Joyce Consulting; Seven Letter Communications; and Grant Communications Consulting Group. However, Grant Communications told the Globe it could not find any record of a request for quotes from Everett. Seven Letter Consulting received an inquiry around the time Joyce received her second email from the city and days before DeMaria disclosed he was hiring Regan. None of the three firms responded. The city also never provided the Globe its initial request for quotes, which offered the one-day turnaround deadline, and which the Globe obtained independently. Advertisement The vice president of the Massachusetts Association of Public Purchasing Officials said the process sounded flawed. In soliciting services, he said, municipalities should give vendors about three weeks to digest requirements and develop a proposal. 'One day? That's totally inappropriate,' said the official, Michael Richards. But if only one company bid, then technically, the lone respondent was the lowest quote. 'In a roundabout way, I don't think it's illegal,' said Richards. 'It's not how I would do it.' The work that Regan billed the city for in 2023 included meetings with the attorney representing DeMaria in his personal defamation suit against a local newspaper and 'continuous research and strategy in an effort to change the image of the City of Everett after all of the negative publicity.' At the time, the Everett School Committee had just voted not to renew the contract of the school filed suit against the city and mayor, alleging racism, sexism, and retaliation. Two years earlier, at his request, DeMaria had become a voting member of that school committee. Regan bills the city of Everett $550 an hour for his work on his firm's behalf, records show. His work for the city did not end after the city hired a full-time communications director in August 2024. That director, who left last month, was being paid $115,000 a year. The city offered Regan a new $40,000 contract in 2024 — apparently avoiding competition entirely this time. The city could not provide the Globe with any proof that it sought quotes from other vendors. Regan got another $10,000 purchase order from the city for work later that year, public records show. Regan's 2024 duties included promoting DeMaria's victory in a defamation lawsuit against a local newspaper, which gave the mayor a $1.1 million settlement and forced the Everett Leader Herald to shut down. Advertisement At a budget meeting last week, a city official acknowledged that one recent $10,000-plus payment to Regan came from a line item in the mayor's office budget described only as 'other expenses.' The city's proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which begins in July, calls for 'other expenses' to triple — causing Everett officials to fret that the mayor's campaign spokesman could be paid by the city during an election year. 'It's a conflict of interest to use the public money to pay a communications company that is serving him as a candidate,' said Council President Stephanie Martins. All told, the city has paid Regan Communications $225,675 since 2020, public records show. The Globe first filed a public records request in December seeking documents related to Regan's past work for the city. The newspaper did not receive any records until after filing a second request in March and making successful appeals to the state's Supervisor of Public Records. Stephanie Ebbert can be reached at
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Dynamite blasting for data center construction blamed for Newton County woman's ceiling collapse
Neighbors in a Newton County neighborhood say dynamite blasting being done to build a massive data center is damaging their homes. One homeowner told Channel 2's Tom Regan that their ceiling had collapsed, which could have killed them. Neighbors also told Regan that they've been getting the runaround when they ask who is supposed to pay for the damage. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] At a home just a quarter mile from the construction site, the owner told Channel 2 Action News that repeated blasting first caused her ceiling to crack, then during a blast one day in April, the ceiling fell in. 'It's been a nightmare,' Patricia Shepard said. Patricia Shepard told Regan that daily dynamite blasting at a nearby data center construction site is taking a terrible toll, both on her home and her health. TRENDING STORIES: Governor's office said it will start issuing special tax refund checks this week 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' star Dwight Eubanks diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer 2 shootings at Snellville park leave people injured, families traumatized She said she first noticed cracks in her bedroom ceiling and walls, then a ground-shaking blast broke her window and the ceiling crashing in. 'The blast from the dynamite went off, I heard this thump-thumping,' Patricia Shepard said. 'I could not get into this room, there was so much plaster in front of it.' Patricia Shepard said the blast caused the ceiling to collapse. 'It could have killed me very easily,' Patricia Shepard told Channel 2 Action News. Patricia Shepard's sister, Tina, who lives at the house next door, is worried blasting has damaged her well. 'Well is what I'm concerned about,' Tina Shepard said. 'That the dynamite has done something and the well is not producing like it was.' The 300-acre site is being developed for an Amazon data center. It mostly sits on rock, so to prepare the site, crews have been using dynamite to blast rock formations everyday, around noon, sometimes more than once a day. The Shepard sisters say they've spoken to other neighbors, who complained of sinkholes caused by the blasting as well as foundation damage at their homes. They're worried it's going to get worse. It's also not clear who is supposed to pay for repairs. 'We have been basically given the runaround,' Patricia Shepard said. 'I was more or less told, use your homeowner's insurance. Well, I didn't climb up there with a sledge hammer and do it. I didn't blow up anything outside to do that. They did.' Channel 2 Action News reached out to the City of Covington, where the construction site is located. The city said their employees are acting in full compliance with all federal state laws regulating dynamite blasting. Regan also reached out to the developer and excavation contractor for comment has not heard back. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
