It has been two years since the liberal-only Washington State Supreme Court legalized drug possession in our state, and Democrats in the legislature have been scurrying away from responsibility since then. They have been assisted in this charade by the media, which has raised little connection between the explosion of hard drugs on our streets since then with the Democrats’ actions.

This year, when it appeared Republicans (and public pressure over high-publicity tragedies) might be able to get Democrats to admit their previous failure, and make possession of hard drugs like heroin and methamphetamine a felony again, the far-Left stiffened. No real punishment for just having hard drugs was the liberal line-in-the-sand. And now the Seattle Times weighs in with its support for the lax approach, which it validates by pointing out that “The Republican approach, informed by law enforcement, and the Democrats’ plan, with input from substance abuse experts and law enforcement, have been forged together”, as if the Democrats’ including more than just law enforcement in their thinking made the outcome of Senate Bill 5536 better (and more bi-partisan). Now it’s up to the House to put some real penalties behind hard-drug possession. (Seattle Times)

The Washington Observer (subscription required, but a very worthwhile trial allowed) has a fun take on a subject ignored by the media – how much time Jay Inslee spends fundraising, even during the fundraising freeze that went into effect 30 days before the legislative session started. It’s a good thing Governor Inslee isn’t worried about silly things like his carbon footprint, or he would have to miss the chance to raise money in places like New York and D.C. while other Washington State lawmakers are stuck at home. (Washington Observer)

Much has been written about how Seattle’s policy force shrank during the pandemic/following the George Floyd protests, thanks to countless attacks on the officers by their bosses at the City Council. However, getting less attention is how hard restoring the size of the department will be, when other police departments are in recruiting mode themselves, and don’t always have the drawback of a Seattle City Council in the background. As the Mayor of Kent told KIRO 97.3, “We did quite a bit of work over the last year in recruitment and have a lot of officers lined up or are currently in the academy.” (MyNorthwest.com)

This being Sunshine Week and all, the Seattle Times and other newspapers are seizing the opportunity to push back against the secretive tendency of the Democrats who control the state legislature. But, they just don’t want to admit that it’s the Democrats who are the evil ones here, trying to hide things from the people, like their emails, public documents, etc., instead of following the law. The story mentions “lawmakers who have lost their way”, and although they do admit (deep within the story, nowhere in cartoon) “Emanating mostly out of the House Democratic caucus, lawmakers have started to invoke something called ‘legislative privilege’ ”, the writers are unwilling to connect the readers to the fact that it is the Democrats in control of all the levers of government in Olympia who are committed to as little transparency as possible. (Seattle Times)

The reporter from the Spokesman-Review tries to put a good spin (by confusing readers) on the numbers, by switching between riders returning and overall ridership levels. “Recovery has been steady but slow. By April 2021, ridership had increased by about 34% and by another 21% by the same time in 2022. By January 2023, ridership levels were at about 77% of what they had been three years prior.” Bottom line, three years after COVID hit, about a quarter of already low transit ridership levels have not returned. The return-on-investment is not improving. (Spokesman-Review)

Many traditions were curtailed by COVID lockdowns, among them the in-person meeting of the state legislature, so it was nice to see this reminder from The (Everett) Herald’s Jerry Cornfield that, for the first time since 2019, the legislature will hold a memorial service for legislators who have passed. The list is unusually and unfortunately a long one, led by the distinguished Slade Gorton. The House and Senate will hold a joint session at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to remember the 61 former lawmakers who have died since 2019. You can watch live on TVW. (The Herald)

Time will tell indeed…and will the business community spend money smarter this time?

Gee, 99% of normal sounds a lot like normal…

Are we missing the other journalists speaking out against this type of government censorship?