The News Tribune editorial board asks when Jay Inslee will use his bully pulpit to end teacher strikes. The better question is, why do they think he would take the slightest action that might upset the unions, given his “well-known, deep support for (and from) teachers unions”? The paper hopes Inslee steps in to broker deals, like Chris Gregoire did during Tacoma’s teacher strike in 2011. “If Gov. Jay Inslee is stressed about this or planning to play an active role in ending the chaos, you wouldn’t know it from his social media accounts,” the paper noted. On the most burning political issue of the moment, Inslee has said pretty much nothing…but that’s the kind of leadership we’ve come to expect from him. (Tacoma News Tribune)

The state needs to step up and get serious about wildfires, the Union-Bulletin says, and that means forest thinning. “Given that the state’s annual budget is now hovering in the $25 billion range, diverting a few million dollars toward forest-fire prevention would not be outrageous,” the paper argues. A spokesperson for the state Dept. of Natural Resources says the agency will ask legislators for more funding for firefighting and thinning. (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

The head of Seattle teachers’ union says their new 10.5% pay raises – the raises the union just demanded and negotiated – might lead to layoffs in June. Why would the union fight for raises that might mean some of its members are laid off? Because it hopes legislators will come along and bail them out. “When [the union president] was asked why the teams would approve a 10.5 percent raise if it could trigger layoffs, she responded: ‘We think we can work hard enough to not let that happen.’” Meaning: She’s hopeful the Legislature will say “never mind” and let districts pass large local levies again, obliterating the McCleary compromise. (Seattle Times)

A Tacoma city councilmember used his city title while promoting his new real estate career, and now the city’s Board of Ethics will decide if that was OK. “Ethics are really important to me,” Deputy Mayor Anders Ibsen said. “…Never in a million years would I misuse my position for private gain.” Part of the issue is who received Ibsen’s email. One complainant said they only knew Ibsen through city politics. “Were it not for his role on the City Council, he would not have my email address and I would not have received this solicitation.” (Tacoma News Tribune)

Dori Monson says Sound Transit’s plan for a $300 million bus station along I-405 in Kirkland is “criminal corruption.” Monson says projections show the station is a colossal waste of money. “Sound Transit’s own projection if they build this bus station is that it would start off in 2024 with only 300 riders a day and by 2040 would carry fewer than 1,000 people per day. For $300 million. And that’s because Sound Transit is criminally corrupt.” (My Northwest)

Kennewick’s city council had a scrap over whether the city should pay a councilmember’s legal fees to fight a recall effort. The council voted 3-2 to help Councilmember Steve Young defend himself. A judge tossed out most of the recall complaints against Young but allowed one, “saying it’s up to citizens to decide if Young violated the Washington Fair Campaign Practices Act” when in 2014 he forwarded to the city manager an email invite to a fundraiser for Congressional candidate Dan Newhouse. Kennewick’s mayor called the accusations against Young “frivolous.” (Tri-City Herald)

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