In a 5-4 decision, the liberal Washington State Supreme Court narrowly showed a little common sense and refused a Democrat-inspired request to release over 12,000 prisoners, due to the coronavirus outbreak.  A lawsuit brought on behalf of inmates, many of whom had failed to follow social distancing rules, was nearly successful and could have resulted in the release of 75% of Washington State’s prisoners. The question for the four dissenting judges is: “Why would you reward inmates who failed to follow health and safety rules by setting them free?” (Shift)

Washington residents have thus far seen no benefit in Governor Jay Inslee including the state in the partisan Western States Pact.  On April 13^th, Inslee joined with Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Democrat Oregon Governor Kate Brown to form a Democrat alliance to determine when each state can lift restrictions on their respective citizens’ activities. (The Democrat governors of Colorado and Nevada have since been added to the pact, while even neighboring states with Republican governors have not been included.)  Many Washington State residents were hoping that Inslee, once he had been given the OK by his partisan friends, would lift restrictions in our state that had  not been imposed on the other Western states.  Unfortunately, this was not the case.  Governor Inslee’s ban on commercial construction (Washington was the only state west of the Mississippi to impose such a baseless restriction) and on recreational fishing (Washington was the only state in the country to forbid this activity) were kept in place for almost four additional weeks.  Meanwhile, Washington construction workers lost an estimated $500,000,000 in wages while recreational anglers conducted protests (safely) across the state.  Colorado has already announced it will allow many basic economic activities (while practicing healthy actions) which Washington State has yet to consider.  Many now believe that the only Washington resident who will benefit from the Western States Pact is Jay Inslee.  While the pact promotes itself to be non-political, it appears the true purpose was to provide political cover for the governors. (Governor Inslee’s press release)

Colorado’s Democrat governor (and a member of the partisan Western States Pact) is opening portions of his state’s economy while implementing new safety guidelines.  Governor Jared Polis is allowing hair salons, retail stores, and offices to resume operations starting this Friday.  Each business will need to practice safety measures which the state has outlined. (The Hill)

Governor Inslee has ignored the request to relieve the financial burden of overpriced car tabs, which was passed by Washington voters, yet he releases inmates because they rioted.  In demonstrating that he listens to the concerns of convicted felons, who ignored health and safety rules to riot, but not to law-abiding citizens who use the ballot box to express their opinions, Governor Inslee has failed to lift the financial burden of $400 – $600 car tabs off of Washington residents (which 53% of state residents voted to remove last November).  Meanwhile, Inslee has set free 1,200 inmates because a few of them rioted.  (Washington Policy Center and KIRO TV)

The Washington State medical community sent a letter to Governor Inslee over three weeks ago to allow some elective medical procedures to continue, but until today had been ignored.  The Washington State Hospital Association, the Washington State Medical Association, and the Association of Washington Healthcare Plans signed an April 10^th letter to the governor asking that he allow some medical procedures to resume (performed using safety measures), especially on individuals who are suffering or to stop more serious health problems from occurring.  A spokeswoman for the groups said, “We are way behind other states that already have made this move in recognition that there are many more health needs than COVID.” (Seattle Times)

Republican candidate for Governor Joshua Freed is seeking a federal court order to lift the Washington state prohibition on religious gatherings.  Freed contends Governor Inslee’s ban violates his 1^st Amendment rights of free speech, assembly, and religion.  The former Bothell city councilman believes safety measures can be used while still allowing religious services to resume. (Everett Herald)

The News Tribune has asked its readers to financially help the newspaper which has experienced a sharp decline in advertising.  Because nearly all businesses have shut down or reduced operations due to the coronavirus crisis, there are less advertising dollars being spent.  This has hurt the newspaper business, which was already financially suffering prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.  As a result, the News Tribune has asked its readers to extend their subscriptions and consider donating to a charity that will financially assist the News Tribune.  The paper is hoping to raise over $82,000 “to keep our reporters reporting.” (News Tribune and Local Media Foundation)

In demonstrating there are safe methods to conduct retail business, Costco has announced that it will require all customers to wear masks over their nose and mouths while shopping.  The Issaquah-based retailer stated they will enforce this rule starting May 4^th.  Jet Blue has also announced that all passengers will be required to wear face masks, from check-in to deplaning. (Costco webpage and Seattle Times)

The City of Seattle wasted time and resources to impose a silly ban on park bench sitting – which it has quickly rescinded.  The Seattle Parks Department spent thousands of dollars having city employees nail long two-by-four boards to park benches to keep people from sitting on them.  Immediately residents started to complain and even the city bureaucrats realized how silly their idea was and rescinded the ban.  They are now spending thousands of taxpayer dollars replacing the boards with signs indicating the benches are for those who need them and to practice safety measures. Since accountability allegedly matters in government, could the public official who approved this misguided plan please step forward and defend their decision? (MyNorthwest)

Health officials are saying restrictions can be lifted regionally throughout the state, while Gov. Inslee continues to maintain his non-scientific belief that restrictions need to be removed on all parts of the state at once.  Health officials in Washington’s rural counties, who have seen far fewer coronavirus cases, believe it is safe to lift some restrictions on their communities while still encouraging safe practices. (Spokesman-Review)

Eastern Washington potato farmers are giving away 20 tons of potatoes today in Ritzville.  Did you know that 90% of the potatoes grown in Eastern Washington end up in restaurants? And that due to Gov. Inslee’s ban on restaurant dining, potatoes are now filling warehouses.  Now, farmers have decided to give their product away before it spoiled. Washington State Representative Mary Dye (R-Pomeroy) said there are currently over 30 billion pounds of potatoes in storage. (YakTriNews)

The same so-called progressive legal group that demanded the release of 12,000 Washington prisoners has now filed a lawsuit that could force produce to rot in Washington fields.  Columbia Legal Services has filed a lawsuit in Skagit County Superior Court (because they couldn’t be bothered to cross the mountains) demanding that growers implement rules which would greatly reduce the number of guest workers in the field and could force farmers to cancel their contracts.  If successful, the results could be devastating to state farmers.  A spokesman for the Washington Growers Association says, ““This would be an economic bloodbath for the industry.  We could lose millions and millions of dollars of fruits and vegetables. We could lose half our crops.” But, the liberals at Columbia Legal Services would feel better about themselves for standing up against capitalism. (Yakima Herald)

The Washington State Democrat Party labeled those who were protesting some of Governor Inslee’s restrictive measures as conducting a “Charlottesville-type protest.”  Later in the email, the Democrats hypocritically state, “We MUST put politics aside and come together to save lives.”  While all reasonable people can agree that the protestors should have practiced social distancing, that is no reason to call it a “Charlottesville-type protest,” – where a bystander was killed – especially if you are going to call for people to “put politics aside.”  But we suspect the Democrats only want Republicans to put politics aside, and allow their favorite  governor to create partisan pacts with his fellow Democrat governors to determine Washington’s recovery plan. (Washington State Democrat Party email)

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