The Noble Foundation founder Ophelia Noble must sell and pay proceeds from house and car she purchased with charities’ money
VANCOUVER — A Clark County Superior Court judge has approved a judgment of more than $1.4 million against former directors of three Vancouver-area charities as a result of Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s lawsuit. Founder Ophelia Noble and the former directors of The Noble Foundation misused charitable funds that were meant to serve communities of color and low-income individuals in southwest Washington.
The foundation and its charities almost exclusively raised money from state grants and major philanthropic organizations.
Noble failed to account for more than $1 million of the foundation’s charitable funds in violation of Washington’s Nonprofit Corporation Act. Examples of Noble’s misuse of charitable funds include paying herself hundreds of thousands of dollars, using charity money to buy a vehicle for her personal use, and directing The Noble Foundation to buy her father’s house and reselling it to her at a deep discount. The other directors — Douglas Noble (Noble’s father), Alice Prejean (Noble’s mother), Joann Hampton and Alyce Noble (Noble’s daughter) — violated their own responsibilities to the organization by enabling Noble’s misconduct, approving and at times financially benefiting from it.
The order requires Noble and the other directors to jointly pay $25,000 for misusing the charitable funds. Noble must sell the house and car she unlawfully purchased with the charitable funds and repay the proceeds — a combined value of approximately $400,000. Those resources will cover part of the cost of the Attorney General’s investigation and lawsuit. They will be used toward future enforcement of laws protecting charitable assets.
Noble is also banned for life from operating or managing a charity in Washington. The other directors are banned from charity management in Washington for the next 10 years. The remaining $1 million in civil penalties are suspended as long as Noble and the other directors follow the law and comply with the terms of the judgment. If they do not, they will be required to pay the $1 million, plus interest.
“Ophelia Noble and the charities’ directors failed the communities they were supposed to serve,” Ferguson said. “My office will continue to be a watchdog ensuring that charities follow the law.”
Assistant Attorneys General Rose Duffy, Robby Staley and Joshua Studor; Paralegals Savannah Krug, Kristina Winfield, Lauretta Dunn, Mary Barber and Ashley Totten; Legal Assistants Nathan Pinard and Avery Gault; and Investigators Bau Vang, Michelle Bigos-Taylor and Rebecca Hartsock handled the case for Washington.
Ophelia Noble, family benefited from nearly $1 million in misused funds
Ophelia Noble started The Noble Foundation in 2012 to serve communities of color in Vancouver, Kelso and Longview.
In 2019, the charity expanded rapidly, securing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Washington State Office of Financial Management as part of a state effort to encourage members of undercounted Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities to register for the 2020 Census.
The foundation continued to grow when the pandemic hit. Its directors created and managed a second charity, Our Place/Nuestra Casa Multicultural Center. Our Place established community centers and provided emergency rent assistance, vaccine outreach and other pandemic relief services.
With increased attention around racial justice and policing issues, the charities’ directors created a third charity, Southwest Washington Communities United for Change. Southwest purportedly focused on organizing protests and trying to increase participation and political representation for BIPOC communities in Clark and Cowlitz counties. It brought in several hundred thousand dollars from grantors interested in establishing a BIPOC-led political organization serving southwest Washington.
The charities received approximately $1.5 million from major philanthropic foundations, including the Northwest Health Foundation, Social Justice Fund Northwest, the Satterberg Foundation, the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington, Group Health/Inatai Foundation and the Seattle Foundation.
Beginning in 2019, Noble used her position as executive director to misappropriate large sums of donated charitable funds from the charities’ accounts.
The Attorney General’s investigation revealed that Noble and her family received direct, documented payments or benefits of nearly $1 million. Some examples:
In July 2021, Noble caused the charities to pay her $355,000 in “back pay” for “contract services” purportedly provided between 2015 and 2021. There is no documentation that any lawful contracts existed, any money was owed, or that these payments were approved by the entities’ boards.
The charities paid Noble’s consulting company $310,000 for unspecified “executive director services” that were never approved by the entities’ boards.
$200,000 was either withdrawn from the various charities’ bank accounts without explanation or issued to unknown individuals in the form of cashier’s checks. Only Noble and the directors were authorized signers on these accounts.
In 2020, Noble directed The Noble Foundation to purchase her father’s house for approximately $200,000, but she put her name on the deed as well as the charity’s. The following year, she paid the charity $100,000 for its interest in the home. When the charity transferred title to Noble in 2022, the house was worth at least $324,000, meaning Noble gained $224,000 in equity. There is no evidence the charity’s board appropriately reviewed and approved these transactions, which were clearly a conflict of interest for Noble.
In 2020, Noble used The Noble Foundation’s money to purchase a 2019 Nissan Armada, which she used as her personal vehicle. She used the charity’s funds to make upgrades to the vehicle and cover maintenance and gas.
Noble, her family and other directors used the charities’ money to fund over $65,000 in additional purchases that lack a clear connection to the entities’ charitable purposes, including for gift cards, meals, groceries, gas, travel, cellphones and personal clothing.
Other charity lawsuits
The Legislature identified the Attorney General’s Office as the agency tasked with enforcing the Nonprofit Corporation, Charitable Solicitations and Charitable Trust Acts. These laws ensure that nonprofits and entities that solicit charitable donations or manage charitable assets follow the laws adopted by the Legislature. These laws ensure that funds intended for charity are not misused.
The Attorney General’s Office’s Charitable Assets Protection Team specifically focuses on charity cases involving the misuse or misappropriation of funds solicited for a charitable purpose.
Other enforcement actions include:
A $300,000 judgment against a family that operated a group of sham charities purporting to help cancer patients and vulnerable children but used the donations to enrich themselves.
A $1 million judgment against charities that claimed to help veterans over what a judge ruled was “deceptive” and “abusive” conduct.
A million dollars recovered for a veterans’ nonprofit after its leadership failed to pay wages to its veteran employees. The director used charity funds for her own personal expenses, including gambling at casinos. As a result of the Attorney General’s case, the executive director and board members were removed from the nonprofit and barred from working for any Washington nonprofits in the future.
A $495,000 judgment against two companies that made more than one million robocalls in Washington state for scam charities. The $495,000 payment went to legitimate charities.
Visit ftc.gov/charities for more information on how to avoid charity scams. Consumers who believe they have been affected by a charity’s deceptive conduct may file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office at https://www.atg.wa.gov/file-complaint.
IN OTHER STATE NEWS:
Washington state eliminates harmful chemicals from thermal receipts.
Collaboration between agencies helps reduce harmful chemicals
OLYMPIA, WA – The Washington State Department of Commerce has replaced thermal receipts containing harmful bisphenols (BPA & BPC) with a safer, phenol-free alternative, a major step toward protecting public health and the environment./WA DEPT. of COMMERCE
Kaiser Aluminum combatting legacy contamination with UV light.
This summer, Kaiser Aluminum’s Trentwood facility started up a full-scale pump-and-treat system to destroy polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in groundwater they pump from under their aluminum-casting facility./DOE
State unemployment rate dips in October despite job losses
OLYMPIA – Washington’s economy lost an estimated 35,900 jobs (seasonally adjusted) in October even as the monthly unemployment rate decreased slightly to 4.7%./ESD
https://esd.wa.gov/about-us/press-release/2024/october-2024-monthly-employment-report
WDFW invites feedback on design for new Elliott Bay Fishing Pier on Seattle Waterfront./WDFW
UTC rail safety team concludes Wallula derailment response.
LACEY, Wash. – Rail safety inspectors from the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) have concluded their investigation of a recent train derailment near Wallula, Washington, involving five refrigerated railcars along the Columbia River./UTC
https://www.utc.wa.gov/news/2024/utc-rail-safety-team-concludes-wallula-derailment-response
NEWS FROM OUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION:
Cantwell, Murray, Larsen, Kilmer Announce $44.5 Million to Boost WA State Port Infrastructure
Major improvements coming to Ports in Tacoma, Bellingham, Port Angeles, Anacortes, and Neah Bay./From a press release issued 11.13.24
After Three Years, Historic Infrastructure Law Delivers Nearly $10B for WA Roads, Bridges, Ports & Airports
Interactive map shows county-by-county breakdown of every transportation project in WA funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; Nationwide, $288B in BIL funds remain to be allocated by the federal government in FY25 or later./ from a press release issued 11.13.24
Senator Murray Condemns RFK Jr. Nomination, Urges Senate Republicans to Join Her in Opposition
Murray, a longtime congressional leader on health care, forcefully opposes RFK Jr.’s nomination
Washington, D.C. —Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement in response to President-elect Donald J. Trump announcing his intention to select Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS)/ Press release issued 11.14.24
Senator Murray, National Advocates Spotlight Menopause, Health Inequities, and the Need for Bipartisan Action
Murray: “No woman should have to face menopause alone or figure out their health care by themselves—but we have a long way to go to change that reality.”
ICYMI: Senator Murray introduces bipartisan legislation to boost menopause research and expand training and awareness around menopause./From a press release issued 11.13.24
WORLD< NATION< BUSINESS
WORLD:
In Briefing to Security Council, Committee Chairs Report on Counter-Terrorism Activities, as Speakers Stress Need for Coordination in Fight against Scourge./UN PRESS RELEASE
https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15899.doc.htm
Chemical Weapons Re-emerging Despite Having Fully Destroyed Stockpiles of Convention Signatories in 2023, Secretary-General Warns in Victims Remembrance Day Message
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare, observed on 30 November./UN PRESS RELEASE
https://press.un.org/en/2024/sgsm22457.doc.htm
Commitments Must Be Translated into Action, Secretary-General Tells High-level Event on Ending Violence against Children, Stressing Ridding World of Menace within Grasp./UN PRESS RELEASE
https://press.un.org/en/2024/dsgsm1952.doc.htm
Highlights from the COP 29 Global Methane Pledge Ministerial./STATE DEPT.
https://www.state.gov/highlights-from-the-cop-29-global-methane-pledge-ministerial/
Remarks Following Briefings by Chairs of Subsidiary Bodies of the UN Security Council./USUN
NATION:
Remarks by President Biden and President-Elect Trump in a Meeting./WH
Related video: Biden, Trump meet for transition talks [FULL COMMENTS]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDHMYooA2kI
DOD Will Work Quickly to Meet President's 'Surge' Commitment to Ukraine Support./DOD
Justice Department Launches Disability Rights Investigation into Unnecessary Institutionalization in Michigan’s State Psychiatric Hospitals./DOJ
U.S. Department of Education Announces Final Beta Testing Period for the 2025–26 FAFSA Form
Building on successful testing results since Oct. 1, the Department will expand the online beta testing period to all users later this month, before officially releasing the form./DEPT. of ED
In 2024, FHA Supported Homeownership for More Than 790,000 Americans
Annual Report to Congress shows the Biden-Harris Administration has removed barriers to homeownership and helped borrowers with hardships while maintaining a well-capitalized Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund./HUD
https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_24_300
BUSINESS:
Biden-Harris Administration's Inflation Reduction Act Tops $1 Billion in Clean Energy Investments to Nearly 7,000 American Farms and Rural Small Businesses./USDA
Pharmaceutical Company QOL Medical and CEO Agree to Pay $47M for Allegedly Paying Kickbacks to Induce Claims for QOL’s Drug Sucraid./DOJ
Economic Outlook
Chair Jerome H. Powell
At Conversation with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Dallas, Texas./THE FED
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/powell20241114a.htm
US Departments of Labor, Commerce release skills-first hiring guide to help employers hire, promote workers based on skill, knowledge./Dept. of Labor
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osec/osec20241113
Many businesses must report beneficial ownership information to Treasury by Jan. 1; free webinar can help./IRS
IN FOCUS & LOCAL MEETINGS
IN FOCUS: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Projects Stewarded by Interior Department Supported More Than 28,000 Jobs, $3 Billion to the Economy Last Year
Report highlights how President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is creating good-paying jobs, revitalizing infrastructure and growing the economy.
WASHINGTON — Today, ahead of the third anniversary of President Biden signing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Department of the Interior released a new analysis that estimates that investments from the Law supported more than 28,000 jobs and contributed more than $3.3 billion to the economy in fiscal year 2024.
“Today’s report further demonstrates how President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is delivering critical investments into the hands of American communities to create jobs and revitalize economies,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “The law is a historic down payment on ensuring that future generations have clean air, drinkable water, fertile soil, and an improved quality of life, all of which are currently threatened by the worsening climate crisis.”
“At the Interior Department, we know that success in implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law means creating good-paying jobs and improving the health, safety and quality of life of Americans,” said Infrastructure Coordinator Winnie Stachelberg. “Today’s reports show that we are delivering real results as President Biden envisioned, growing the economy from the bottom up and middle out.”
The Department also released a three-year anniversary report today, which highlights overall key successes, accomplishments and stories of personal impact as a result of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law contains an overall $28.1 billion over 15 years for the Department’s initiatives, including for combatting legacy pollution, restoring critical habitats, addressing the drought crisis, assisting with wildland fire management, and helping communities prepare for extreme weather events. Many of the programs funded by the law advance the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
Since President Biden signed the law in November 2021, the Department has, among other milestones:
Allocated over $12 billion for more than 2,200 projects across the country.
Plugged over 9,000 orphaned oil and gas wells on state, Tribal, federal and private lands through multiple grant programs, cleaning up toxic legacy pollution and building healthier communities.
Helped states reclaim over 811 acres of dangerous or polluted lands by addressing 130 abandoned mine land hazards.
Supported over 587 water infrastructure and conservation projects in the 17 western states, Alaska and Hawaii, bringing clean drinking water to communities who’ve never had access before and safeguarding the West in the face of severe drought conditions. For example, the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System connected 20 new communities in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota to its system, wrapping up the project a decade ahead of schedule thanks to Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding.
Launched a first-of-its-kind voluntary Community Driven Relocation program with $135 million in funding. By the end of 2024, Newtok Village in Alaska will have relocated and reunited its members in their new, safer community in Mertarvik using funding and technical assistance from the Department and other federal agencies, the State of Alaska, and non-profit organizations.
Advanced efforts to save Hawaiian Forest Birds from extinction, which without intervention were expected to go extinct within the next two years.
Increased fuels management work to reduce wildfire risk, with resilience efforts conducted on over 2.2 million acres.
Broke ground on a new U.S. Geological Survey Energy and Minerals Research Facility on the Colorado Schools of Mines campus to advance collaborative research and continued partnership.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Fiscal Year 2024, by Activity:
The economic estimates released today examine the direct, indirect and induced impact from the Department’s orphaned well program, abandoned mine land remediation program, water infrastructure program, and ecosystem restoration program. These estimates do not capture the totality of social, environmental, and long run operational contributions from the Department’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law activities.
DOI BIL Programs
Contributions to GDP
(in millions$)
Jobs Supported
Water infrastructure $1,446.7 13,015
Orphaned oil and gas well plugging operations $841.2 5,977
Abandoned Mine Land remediation activities $700.9 6,056
Ecosystem restoration1 $339.5 3,643
Total $3,328.3 28,691
CLALLAM COUNTY MEETINGS:
Clallam County work session for 11.18.24
https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11182024-1351
* Clallam County Commission meeting as been canceled for 11.19.24
City of Port Angeles Council meeting for 11.19.24
https://www.cityofpa.us/DocumentCenter/View/15942/11192024-CC-Agenda-Packet
Port of Port Angeles Commission meeting for 11.19.24
https://portofpa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Comm-Pkt-11-19-24.pdf
City of Sequim City Council meeting for 11.18.24
https://sequimwa.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=126
OMC BOARD MEETING FOR 11.20.24
JEFFERSON COUNTY:
Jefferson County Commission meeting for 11.18.24
https://media.avcaptureall.cloud/meeting/26a090d1-ad9a-42cb-973e-1fff6151f384
City of Port Townsend meeting for 11.18.24
https://cityofpt.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=4&event_id=4682
Weekly devotional
BIBLE VERSE:
Psalm 119:18 (New International Version)
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
Weekly Bible Lesson:
Science Proves the Bible
The Bible begins with these words: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” There are many people in the world who do not believe that statement. Some say God does not exist, and therefore, the Bible cannot be His Word. Sometimes we are led to believe that all true scientists do not believe in God, or the Bible. However, this is not correct. True science is not opposed to the Bible. In fact, science, properly applied and understood, proves the Bible to be inspired. The Bible is not a science book. However, whenever it makes a statement relating to a a scientific principle or fact, it is completely accurate.--TFTW
https://truthfortheworld.org/science-proves-the-bible
Free bible studies (WBS)
https://www.worldbibleschool.org/
Learn English using the bible as text (WEI)
http://www.worldenglishinstitute.org/
(Join us in worship every Sunday starting at 10:30AM Church of Christ)
1233 E Front St, Port Angeles, WA 98362
Come and See
https://www.comeandseefoundation.org/
THIS WEEKS VIDEOS:
Trump RECKONING Coming for the Censorship Regime: Mandate to Fix America Part 1
America has given Donald Trump and the GOP a historic mandate to fix what the Biden-Harris administration broke. But we can’t do it without a serious reckoning. This election was about more than just dinner-table issues: the cost of living, gas, income. CANCER has taken over this nation, and we voted — in RECORD NUMBERS — for President-elect Trump to EXCISE that cancer at every level of the federal bureaucracy. Tonight, Glenn starts a series that looks at everywhere the cancer has spread — the deep state, the media, the Department of Education, EVERYWHERE — and identifies where we want Trump to come in and start cutting. We begin with the country's eyes and ears: the censorship regime and the propaganda-industrial complex, also known as the legacy media.
Glenn takes us back half a century to where it all started, when the biggest progressive minds in the country found out how to brainwash and indoctrinate a select elite class. They now control over 90% of the information that we all consume! This, he explains, is why the Democratic Party went from the party of anti-war, working-class hippies to the party of elite, college-educated war hawks in bed with Big Pharma who think the American people should be “drones.” If Trump doesn’t fix the eyes and ears first, a process that started when Elon Musk bought Twitter, the cancer will just return. Beware deep state, for the Orange Man cometh with very sharp tools.---Glenn Beck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asDGIaocW0E
Mark Levin Audio Rewind - 11/15/24
On Friday’s Mark Levin Show, Charles Barkley is 100% correct – Democrats “lost because y'all stupid” and they didn’t have a plan. Democrats didn’t have a plan for inflation or the border. The Democrats didn’t give Americans a reason to vote for them. Then there’s the media – CNN, MSNBC, the View, and late-night shows which continue to trash Americans and these massive media corporations allow them to spew it.
If they continue their ratings will tank. Also, there’s a clear campaign to destroy Pete Hegseth and his reputation. But Democrats had no problem when John Kennedy nominated his brother to Attorney General, without any serious legal experience. These attacks on Trump’s cabinet selections are not attacks on them – they are attacks on Trump. Later, we have enough home crown criminals, we don’t have to import more. Deportation is what must happen! Yet they blame deportations on President-Elect Trump when Biden and Harris caused this open border. The purpose of immigration is to improve the American society. Finally, Rep Jim Jordan joins Mark and explains that Republicans are the party of common sense. The left lost so badly because their policies are crazy. Republicans are working hard to stop the border crisis, improve the economy, and clean up the mess that the Biden/Harris administration has caused.---Mark Levin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-kahsD7NZU
Sunday morning worship at the Concord Street Church of Christ on November 10, 2024. Chad Landman preached a sermon titled “Protecting Our Families in Today's Digital World”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLdpkUQNXHI
Other News Sources:
Leftism Is a Death Cult--PJ MEDIA
https://pjmedia.com/caskeet/2024/11/16/leftism-is-a-death-cult-n4934349
A Lesson for Democrats — Don’t Be Weird--The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/112011-a-lesson-for-democrats-dont-be-weird-2024-11-15
Ep. 12: RFK Jr. and Trump Unite Against The Radical Left--American Spectator
https://spectator.org/the-weekend-spectator-ep-12-rfk-jr-and-trump-unite-against-the-radical-left-2/
NIGHT OWL COMICS
https://pjrnightowlcomics.blogspot.com/
The Port Angeles Globe is a weekly Publication, every Saturday-- Publisher, Peter Ripley
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