15% of Washington’s work force are state employees, yet less than 1% of the unemployment claims during the COVID-19 outbreak are government workers. Yes, there are many public employees who are performing essential jobs which protect our citizens.  For this, they have justly earned our collective gratitude and support. Yet, state and local governments are seeing a tremendous reduction in tax revenue while they continue to pay non-essential workers.  This is already becoming a financial burden on taxpayers. When will governments start acting like the economy has changed for them, as well as the private sector? (Shift)

Maia Espinoza has announced that she is running against hyper-partisan and divisive Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, and was last Friday’s Newsmaker Interview in Shift.  Espinoza shares her thoughts on the Reykdal-pushed (and controversial) Sex Education bill that passed the legislature this year (and the subsequent Referendum 90 campaign), the “embarrassment” of our state’s lack of preparedness to use technology to educate our students during the COVID-19 crisis, and the financial impact of teacher pay raises on school districts and taxpayers. (Shift)

The Washington State Department of Employment Security’s computer crashed over the weekend, despite the state having weeks to prepare for the new applications.  The system was swamped by new visitors when it went live on Saturday evening.  State workers had not prepared the system to handle the number of applicants. Who could have predicted that? (Seattle Times)

In a sign that Washington Governor Jay Inslee has failed to adequately explain his “stay-at-home” policies and has appeared to play political favoritism with some of his decisions, more than 2,500 protesters demanded that they be allowed to go back to work.  Many of the protestors were commercial and residential construction workers who are upset that they are not allowed to work while government-funded construction projects continue.  Others are upset that they have lost their paychecks while very few government workers have lost their taxpayer-funded wages. (KOMO News)

Legislators from both sides of the aisle, and from both legislative chambers, are asking that Governor Inslee remove the needless ban on commercial and residential construction projects.  The governor continues to discriminate against private construction workers while allowing government-financed projects to continue.  Governor Inslee has failed to provide any scientific or medical reason why one set of workers can work while other workers (who perform the exact same task) must sit at home collecting unemployment benefits (if they can get through the state’s broken phone system). Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville) also noted that Governor Inslee agreed to a pact with California and Oregon to work together to return employees back to work.  Schoesler pointed out that the other states allow commercial construction and Washington should follow suit.  (NW News Network and My Columbian Basin)

Law enforcement agencies have taken an unofficial stance of not ticketing those with recently expired tabs, while Governor Inslee procrastinates helping those with past due payments.  The governor had previously stated, “We will consider that,” when asked if the state could delay payments on Washington’s excessive car tab charges, but has yet to do anything to relieve the financial burden on Washington vehicle owners.  Meanwhile many local police agencies have not been ticketing drivers with car tabs which have expired in the past couple of months.  As a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department stated, ““We all realize the difficulties our communities are facing.” (KING5 News)

An online petition has collected more than 5,000 signatures to allow golfers to return to golf courses and bring employees back to work.  Golfing was one of the last activities to be banned by Governor Inslee’s stay-at-home orders and is seeking to become one of the first activities to be allowed to resume, with players adhering to strict set of health guidelines. (Change.org petition)

A rally to allow recreational fishing is planned for next Saturday morning, alongside the I-90 bridge on Lake Washington.  The organizers are asking participants to use social distancing and healthy practices as they gather in their boats to call on Governor Inslee to lift his ban on sport fishing.  The organizers provide extensive guidelines on how to protest while staying healthy. (Let Us Fish Facebook page)

Due to many school districts being unprepared to educate students online (often because of roadblocks put in place by teacher unions) and the state providing no guidance to educators, teachers are having to come up with their own curriculum. Yet, since there is no state requirement to track student progress or evaluate teacher instructional plans, there is no way to determine if the current education method is working. (Seattle Times)

The United States Supreme Court will not hear the legal challenge from landlords over Seattle’s controversial “first-come, first-served” application process for new tenants.  Thus, the measure which passed the Seattle City Council, in 2016, will be allowed to stand.  This was one of the initial tenant rights laws passed in Seattle which will result in fewer housing units on the market and increase the cost of living in Seattle. (Seattle Times)

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich says that the City of Seattle’s economic policies will soon make the city look like Detroit.  “If you raise taxes on everybody who’s creating money, and then you give the money to people who are not creating money, you’re going to attract a lot more homeless people, and you’ll attract a lot more illegal immigrants.” Gingrich said. “This is a recipe for absolute disaster.” (MyNorthwest)

With more people staying home, air quality near roadways have improved in Pierce County, yet it has worsened in residential areas.  This is due to more people using wood burning stoves to heat their homes during the day and having outdoor fires in the evening.  The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is asking people to refrain from burning outdoor fires and charcoal barbeques to protect those who suffer from asthma or other respiratory conditions. (News Tribune)

Judge Ed McKenna, the presiding judge in Seattle’s Municipal Court, has abruptly decided to retire instead of continuing to fight Seattle’s elected officials over their soft-on-crime policies.  The judge said he is concerned on how these policies impact the safety of law-abiding citizens. “Changes on the city council, the thoughts of our local prosecutors, the pressure that is being placed on judges because they are elected individuals, there’s a whole host of issues that I think, combined, ultimately result in a detrimental impact to public safety.” (MyNorthwest)

Governor Inslee sent warning letters to Chelan and Douglas county officials over their local ordinances that allow residential construction to continue on pre-existing homes during the state’s “stay-at-home” orders.  The governor informed the commissioners that their local orders ran contrary to his statewide ban on residential construction and that he has implemented a three-step enforcement process for notifying and punishing individuals who violate his orders. (iFIBER One)

Washington’s rural hospitals were on the brink of financial collapse due to the coronavirus outbreak.  Elective and non-emergency medical procedures were prohibited by the state as social distancing measures were put in place.  Rural medical facilities lost their revenues from these procedures, while at the same time needing to ramp up for the coronavirus outbreak.  The federal CARES Act, along with Medicaid loans, are keeping many of the hospitals temporarily solvent. (Spokesman-Review)

The Franklin County Sherriff says he will not enforce Governor’s Inslee ban on small businesses and churches that re-open in a safe manner.  Sherriff Jim Raymond stated that Governor Inslee, “has overstepped his constitutional powers and is trying to control us under the guise of protecting us.” (YakTriNews)

A former history professor is working to build a western replica of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello north of Spokane.  Don Sisson is a former Eastern Washington University professor who scrimps and saves to rebuild a copy of the third president’s mansion near Nine Mile Falls. (Los Angeles Times)

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