Many liberal activists are joining the conservative movement for government transparency, and to make public the negotiations between governments and public sector unions.  Liberals have joined the movement due to their desire for more transparency of police contracts.  Conservatives have been pushing this popular idea in order to hold elected officials accountable for their “negotiating” actions with unions that are major donors to their campaigns, and to bring fiscal responsibility to the bargaining process. (Washington Policy Center)

The Freedom Foundation has filed a lawsuit challenging Governor Inslee’s authority to mandate that everyone must wear a mask in public.  A Foundation spokesperson said, “If people choose to wear a mask, that’s their choice. But Inslee is going after otherwise law-abiding citizens when there are rioters destroying Washington cities such as Seattle with no punishment in sight.” The lawsuit contends that Inslee’s orders go against Washingtonian’s freedom of conscience, which is protected by the state constitution. (YakTriNews)

By one researcher’s count, Governor Inslee issued his 200^th COVID-19 related proclamation on Tuesday, and nearly all were done without consulting members of the state legislature.  With Inslee’s leadership capabilities limiting him to work almost exclusively with his employees and campaign contributors, the opinions and wisdom from many community leaders are being ignored.  As a result, many people are losing faith in the governor, and thus many have difficulties following his orders. This is manifesting itself by many Washington residents expressing concerns with the governor’s statewide mask mandate.  (For the record, the governor’s 200^th proclamation extends many of his previous orders for another 30 days to August 6^th.) (Governor’s Office List of Proclamations, Membership list of Inslee’s “Safe Start” Advisory Groups, and July 7^th Proclamation)

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) announced it is moving back by two weeks the start of all fall high school sports, due to the coronavirus outbreak.  Football will now begin September 5^th and all other sports will commence September 7^th.  The WIAA said they will make further announcements on July 22^nd. (WIAA Statement)

A local economist predicts Seattle’s new “JumpStart Seattle” (i.e. a modified “Tax Amazon”) tax will lead to a “massive” exodus of employers.  Economist Matthew Gardner predicted, “We’re going to hear several announcements over the next couple of weeks of some massive expansion by Amazon into Bellevue. Really, it’s going to become one of those really bad-kept secrets.” (MyNorthwest)

The Seattle City Council is debating a tax proposal from Mayor Jenny Durkan which will raise the sales tax by 0.1% to fund bus service.  In a rare and unexpected sign of fiscal responsibility from a Seattle lawmaker, Councilmember (and Transportation Committee chair) Alex Pederson said, “I don’t think it’s prudent to increase a sales tax during the recession.” If the council does approve the tax, it will go before the voters in November. (Seattle Times)

In another shocking development, King County Executive Dow Constantine is seeking to halt the implementation of a contract with transit workers, which included bonuses and pay raises over the next three years. As opposed to Governor Inslee, who just gave state workers a 3% pay raise with more days off, Constantine and a few members of the county council are concerned about any increase in payroll as county tax revenues plummet. If a new agreement is not agreed upon, then the tentative contract would go to arbitration. (Seattle Times and Shift)

Tacoma police officers will begin to wear body cameras in early 2021.  A renewed call for video evidence of interactions between law enforcement and the public has arisen after the death of Manuel Ellis in March, while he was in police custody. The Tacoma Police Department is expecting to pay $1.2 million dollars to purchase the cameras for 255 officers, hire personnel to download and maintain the videos, and train police officers on their use. (News Tribune)

After Snohomish County officials removed a homeless encampment from county property, the residents merely moved to a nearby vacant lot, and are now causing problems for local businesses.  Local employers, many of whom recently reopened their businesses, say the new encampment scares off prospective customers. The police say the new encampment is illegal, while the owner of the property claims it is a temporary fix until a permanent solution is developed. (Everett Herald)

Instead of focusing on saving the Seattle employers who were forced to board up their windows, many are concerned about saving the murals which covered the wood.  Many Seattle businesses were forced to board up their windows, due to potential vandalism while being closed because of the coronavirus pandemic and/or the subsequent riots.  Street artists painted murals on many of these boarded up windows, and now museums, art galleries, and charities are seeking to save many of these pieces as businesses slowly start to reopen. (Crosscut)

The Seattle Mariners will begin play (in empty stadiums) starting July 24^th and will only play teams from the American League West and the National League West in the shortened 60-game season. There will be several rule modifications for this truncated season, including using a Designated Hitter in all games, pitchers entering a game must face a minimum of three hitters, and, in extra innings, each team starts its half of the inning with a runner at 2^nd base. My, oh my. (News Tribune)

Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers has introduced legislation that would speed up the federal application process for hydroelectric dams and declare the power the dams create as a “renewable energy.”  By reclassifying hydroelectric energy as renewable, the federal government would be required to purchase it under current laws. Because what is more renewable than water running downhill? (Spokesman-Review)

Yakima Mayor Patricia Byers has donated to the legal defense of the first Washington State business fined for violating Governor Inslee’s “Safe Start” orders.  Anytime Fitness, in neighboring Selah, was fined $9,639 by the state’s Department of Labor & Industry for operating before the state allowed Yakima County gyms to reopen.  Ironically, a GoFundMe account (in which Mayor Byers donated $10) was able to raise $9,680 for the gym’s legal defense (just slightly more than the state fine). (Yakima Herald)

Chelan and Douglas county health officials are asking for volunteers for a “random” testing of the coronavirus.  (Can it truly be a “random” test if people must agree to volunteer?) The health department mailed out letters to random Wenatchee area households asking people to participate in the study, which is seeking to determine the infection rate in the counties.  The test is free, but people can refuse to participate. (Wenatchee World)

Do you have your Governor Zero mask yet?  Send us a picture of you wearing the mask and we might publish it.  Send it to [email protected], for we love to see our readers express their views about our governor.  We sold out of our first batch of masks in early June, and we are almost out of our second order.  Buy yours today by clicking on this link. Only $25, with proceeds going to support Shift and the Northwest Republican Community Fund’s support for Hopelink (which is assisting those who have lost their income due to the coronavirus outbreak). (Governor Zero Mask and NWRCF/Hopelink)

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