It was less than a month ago that Shift provided the latest lowlights regarding the sorry state that is the state of a key component of Washington’s highway network- our ferries. What seemed then as rock bottom turned out to be just another bump on the way down under the “leadership” of Governor Jay Inslee, as the Seattle Times is now reporting that “Washington’s ferry system hit a low point over the weekend as yet another boat had to be taken out of service, leaving the fleet with just 14 working ships out of 21 owned by the state.”

There are multiple reasons being handed out for this latest failure, from a misplaced focus on “green” ferries and ones built by local campaign donors (as opposed to vessels that could be delivered quicker) to bad luck as the “Chimacum ferry, among Washington State Ferries’ newer boats, was docked Saturday morning after a rod broke in one of its engines.” What can’t be denied is that the state knew it was sailing into rough waters.

Consider that even the State Labor Council, normally one of Inslee’s biggest cheerleaders, is left to point out the failure that the “Seattle-Bainbridge and Kingston-Edmonds runs, the two busiest runs in the system, are both down to a single ferry today,” meaning “the only revenue-generating WSF runs have been cut to half-service today.” Unfortunately, with the repair timeline being set at “weeks, not days,” you can read on to see that there are “no shortcuts to fixing the fleet” after a decade of mismanagement here… Shift, Seattle Times, The Stand.

It’s sometimes hard to keep track of all the various ways that Gov. Inslee has made energy more expensive in this state, from his carbon tax to his Low Carbon Fuel Standard to his electric vehicle mandate. His latest attempt to charge you more money to heat your homes and cook your food is coming to the forefront in the next month, with Axios-Seattle reporting that “Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has pledged — along with other governors — to quadruple the number of electric heat pumps in U.S. homes by 2030” and is proposing “a de facto ban on natural gas” to get his way.

Fortunately, federal courts have slowed down the governor’s partisan push to ban gas stoves and other things he doesn’t like, meaning “Washington state officials are now pursuing a different strategy for residential and commercial buildings that doesn’t strictly require heat pumps in new buildings.” You can read on to see how the word “strictly” is key and that the state wants to make the rules “pretty hard to achieve without heat pumps” here… Axios-Seattle.

Voters across our state are being faced with government requests for more money to address homelessness, among other issues. Now, as the votes are being mailed in, Crosscut examines how “(H)ousing shortfalls and homelessness hang heavy over this year’s Nov. 7 election. And how voters cast their ballots will help determine future responses by local governments across the state in both areas.”

Candidates are offering different remedies to get people off the streets since, as one pollster notes, “(V)oters don’t perceive a lot of progress in dealing with them.” In the absence of progress, you can read how much this could cost you, depending on where you live and what passes, here… Crosscut.

If you thought that the state legislature was pretty inefficient at doing its job already, just wait until you see the Democrats’ latest idea for improvement – unionizing the staff! Of course, not everybody can have their dues siphoned off for political activities they may not support. As the Washington State Standard points out, current recommendations are that “(E)mployees of the state Legislature will be able to unionize next May, but not every one of them should be allowed to do so.”

You can see how this Democrat-inspired law is pushing the pro-union envelope, as only “Maine and Oregon allow legislative employees to unionize, but their laws are not as expansive as what’s envisioned in Washington.” You can read on to see how “expansive” will certainly turn into “expensive” here and how Democrat legislators will protect themselves in ways they will not protect the public by insisting on “language to bar negotiations on overtime during session and to prohibit strikes at all times” here… Washington State Standard.

Some local commentators just can’t let facts get in the way of ideology, as is demonstrated on the Seattle Times editorial page today. The paper is so committed to its climate change hysteria that it is demanding the rejection of a pipeline that will lower carbon emissions in other places and rationalizes that Washington should put a stop to the project even if it will “just pass through the state to other places” because “that is immaterial.”

Evidently, something is only “material” if the Times editorial board writers agree with the political agenda. However, even they are left to admit that our “state’s residents are paying more at the gas pump to help reduce climate-altering greenhouse gases” and highlight “the sacrifices Washington’s residents are making to address the gravity of climate change” though they refuse to connect the dots for readers to assign some blame here… Seattle Times.

If you think that local elected officials are actually helping criminals succeed in Seattle, here’s something that will back up that perception. Look to this story from KOMO 4 that “Seattle police will begin implementing the nation’s first policy that governs the use of police patrol ‘ruses,’ a statement an officer knows is not true but may be helpful to an investigation.”

Evidently, the city doesn’t want to confuse criminals with ‘ruses’ because “(E)ffective public safety requires community buy-in.” You can read on to see where criminals can buy in here… KOMO 4.

Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies – like their ban on police pursuits – have effectively blocked law enforcement officers from doing their jobs, impacting rising crime rates. That’s why it’s no surprise that when we asked Shift readers to let us know which of our many Halloween costume ideas they found the scariest, they chose the “Soft-on-Crime” Fighter.

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