Pro-equality forum, dance to be held Saturday in Yakima

A Public Equality Forum, sponsored by the Yakima Lesbians and First Fridays advocacy groups, will be held Saturday at Unitarian Universalist Church, 225 N. Second St. in Yakima.

The forum runs from 6 to 8 p.m. and will be followed by an all-ages, alcohol-free dance from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Guest speakers are Washington State Human Rights Commissioner Jerry Hebert and Connie Watts, executive director of Equal Rights Washington.

A donation of $7 is suggested. For more information, e-mail First Fridays at 1st-Fridays@gayakima.com, or call 576-0276.

Sunnyside City Council revises gang ordinance

SUNNYSIDE -- The Sunnyside City Council has passed a new gang ordinance that complies with a new state law.

Sunnyside was the first city in the Yakima Valley to approve a groundbreaking gang ordinance last year, and was quickly followed by Yakima, Union Gap and Grandview.

But the state Attorney General's Office said portions might be unconstitutional, and lawmakers passed a new state gang law that pre-empted any local ordinances.

The new Sunnyside ordinance no longer penalizes parents of known criminal gang members or allows the city to use its public nuisance ordinance to police gang activity.

However, it adds a section on gang-associated graffiti and tagging, which is included in the state law.

-- News service reports