“At the end of the debate, it was clear. After eight years, Inslee still doesn’t have a grasp of what it takes to be a leader in Washington State, and certainly provided no vision for how a third term would be better. Culp, the underdog in this debate, came out barking and showed why he has become a favorite of people who have met him on the campaign trail.  It’s no wonder that Jay Inslee only wanted one debate in this campaign, because that debate showed it’s time for new leadership in Olympia.” To read the full article, click on the link. (ShiftWA.org)

Maybe today, we will promote Jay Inslee from Governor Zero to “Governor 50”, based on  the well-respected CATO Institute’s biennial review of the nation’s governors and their fiscal policies.  Not surprisingly, Governor Inslee was ranked dead last, but even worse there was considerable distance between him and #49 on the list, Oregon’s Kate Brown (proving that those of us in the Pacific Northwest have much to learn about picking governors).  CATO assigned scores to each governor for how they have managed their fiscal responsibilities.  New Hampshire’s Governor Chris Sununu received a 75 score and Iowa’s Kim Reynolds earned a 71.  The grades slowly cascaded down to the three governors who received the think tank’s lowest rankings:  Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker obtaining a 30 score, Brown a 29, and our own Jay Inslee nearly fell off the charts with a 19 score.  In explaining Inslee’s incredibly poor ranking, a CATO spokesperson said, “On taxes and spending, Jay Inslee has been the worst governor in the United States for many years. It’s really unfortunate for Washington’s economy and for its citizens.” (CATO Institute’s Fiscal Policy Report Card)

House Republican Leader J.T. Wilcox (R – Yelm) posted on Facebook a thoughtful review of last night’s debate.  Wilcox praised the media members who asked questions of the candidates and also provided his assessment of the candidates’ debate performances.  On Inslee’s presentation, Wilcox said, “Many also got to see the Governor Inslee who gets frustrated and resorts to cheap tricks. Trying to win a debate by repeating Trump, Trump, Trump, calling 40% of the voters a belittling name and deliberately conflating national and state issues to demonize groups rather than addressing individuals and issues.” Yep, that pretty much describes Inslee. (Representative J.T. Wilcox Facebook Post)

One quick side note on last night’s debate of gubernatorial candidates – we noticed KOMO TV pulled a major faux pas by running an ad from the Inslee campaign at 7:57 PM, just minutes before the 8:00 PM debate start.  Traditionally, a broadcaster will refuse to schedule political ads during its coverage of debates, especially from one of the participants in the debate.  We can only hope KOMO’s sales department charged the Inslee campaign a hefty rate for the ad’s unusual and favorable placement.  (For a full review of our debate coverage, please read our review.)

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) released new guidelines for when prep sports can resume.  Unfortunately, though the WIAA provides clear parameters for each sport to resume, the guidelines will disappoint many who were hoping for Fall sports to begin play by November.  The WIAA provided two variables in determining when each sport can begin practice and play.  The first variable is the phase the Washington State’s Department of Health has assigned the school’s county.  The second variable is the level of contact that occurs in participating in an activity. For example, golf is “low-risk”, softball is “moderate-risk, and wrestling is “high-risk.” Debates must even be the highest risk of all, given that Governor Inslee refused to actually appear on the same stage as his opponent. (Everett Herald)

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan doesn’t like anyone questioning her authority, so it’s no wonder she is embracing the tired liberal technique of yelling “you’re a racist” at anyone who dares criticizes an action that involves a Black person  Durkan assigned the politically charged label to those who questioned her administration spending $150,000 to hire Andre Taylor, a man who served time for his involvement in the sex trade, to serve as the city’s “street czar” during the CHAZ takeover last summer.  Even though there don’t appear to be any mentions of Mr. Taylor’s ethnicity in media reports on his criminal past, Mayor Durkan responded to a question about the reports by stating, “I actually think they’re racist.”  Yet, we can all agree, that if a conservative public official had hired someone who “recruited” young women into the sex trade, no matter their skin color, feminist Jenny Durkan would rightfully be first in line to question and condemn the action.  Yet, since it was the liberal Dukan who committed this act, she wants us all to move along, and pretend there is nothing to see here.  (MyNorthwest)

In the latest example of the division within the state’s Democrat establishment, the eight members of the Seattle Human Rights Commission who attended last week’s virtual commission meeting (there are 15 members) voted unanimously to send a letter calling for Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan to resign or be recalled.  The letter cited examples related to police brutality, homelessness, income inequality, and city governance as their reasons for asking Durkan to be like former Mayor Ed Murray, and just quit.  While noting Seattle voters will have the opportunity to remove Durkan in the 2021 elections, the commission wrote, “It is our duty to speak up and speak out for our least privileged community members and not to be complicit in the harm done to them by City leadership. Given this, it is our belief that we cannot wait until November of 2021 to remove Mayor Durkan from office and replace her with a servant-leader who will uphold their duty to protect the rights of all citizens.” We should note the current Democrat infighting continues the trend of the city’s dysfunctional liberal establishment blaming the mayor for the poor results that come from following a (shared) failing ideology.  Seattle’s last four mayors were either removed by the voters or resigned in disgrace, and Jenny Durkan appears to be heading toward the same waste bin of discarded Seattle liberal mayors.  (Seattle Times)

The iconic Elephant Super Car Wash, just Southeast of the Space Needle, has joined the growing list of Seattle businesses which will close due to the city’s anti-business policies and urban blight.  A statement from the company said, “It is with deep sadness that we announce this closure as we have tried to keep this location open, even as it continued to lose money over the last few years. The increasing crime, drug activity and homelessness in and around the car wash has made it extremely difficult to retain staff and attract customers to our business. When coupled with the ever-increasing cost of doing business in Seattle and the city’s ever-increasing, burdensome regulatory demands, we have determined that it is impossible for a small, minimum wage-based business such as ours to successfully operate within Seattle, even one that’s been established since 1956.” This news follows yesterday’s announcement by Bartell Drugs (a century-old family-owned Seattle business) that conditions in Seattle were making it impossible for them to survive, and thus the company was being sold to the national chain Rite-Aid. (Puget Sound Business Journal and Seattle Times)

Republican Pierce County Councilmember Dave Morell successfully passed an extremely unique use of the county’s federal CARES Act funds.  Morell’s proposal (believed to be the first of its kind in the country) would use the $7.5 million earmarked to assist the restaurant industry to pay at least 30% of any customer’s bill (excluding alcohol) during a two-week period in November.  The aim is to bolster the hard-hit restaurant industry by helping restore consumer confidence in dining out. (News Tribune)

The Yakima Speedway owner was assessed a $2,500 fine by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Control Board for allowing 2,000 people to attend races this past weekend.  The speedway’s owner said he needed to open the facility due to the increasing debts he has incurred from being closed for six months.  Normally the Liquor and Cannabis Board elects to “educate” offenders of the state’s “Safe Start” guidelines, and only assesses fines for those who “openly defy the proclamation and potentially threaten public health.” The speedway did not lose its liquor license. (Yakima Herald)

The Chelan-Douglas Health Department’s effort to test a wider sampling of residents continues to draw large crowds at its Wenatchee High School testing facilities.   Local officials are pleased with the community support and are hoping that a larger testing sample will show that a lower percentage of residents are infected with the coronavirus than has been recorded by existing tests.  By demonstrating the region has a lower infection rate, school officials hope to be able to return students to in-person instruction. (Wenatchee World)

For the second time in the past few months, two bison have escaped their enclosure and there is amusing video of them meandering through the South Hill neighborhood of Spokane.  Hazel and Baxter also escaped last July, and made it up to the East Central neighborhood before they were wrangled by police. No word on whether they were wearing masks after their escape to public streets. (KXLY)

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