A Seattle Times report reveals that the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) knew about fraudulent benefits claims for weeks, yet Jay Inslee failed to take corrective measures as his administration allowed over $576 million to be stolen from taxpayers – one of the largest heists in American history.  Many legitimate employers reported to the ESD that fraudulent claims were being filed (including one pretending to be Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins), yet the state failed to protect taxpayer funds for many more weeks. Thus far, the best defense that Inslee’s hand-picked ESD Director Suzi LeVine has floated for the colossal failure of her agency is that a few other states were also victims of the scam (yet none at the scale of incompetence which took place in Washington).  This is the “It happens to everybody” defense – as LeVine was essentially spinning it, “A couple of other states failed a little, so it is OK that the Inslee Administration failed a lot.”  Meanwhile, the Washington State Auditor’s Office is expected to complete five separate investigations into ESD’s historic failure, but none will be completed until long after the November elections. After all, who would want to know about how much money Jay Inslee lost in this fraud before deciding whether to hire him for another term? (Seattle Times)

According to a survey of Washington State Legislators conducted by the Washington Policy Center, 25 Senators and 47 Representatives support a special session of the legislature to “address the budget deficit.”  Here’s the math – 72 partisan members from both parties who returned the survey all said they support a special legislative session, while 75 members failed to return the survey.  This demonstrates that no member of the legislature who thinks Gov. Inslee’s executive orders are the best way to run state government and thus opposes a special session was willing “to go on the record” by returning the survey.  According to the state’s constitution, a special session can be convened by the governor or by a 2/3rds supermajority of each legislative chamber (33 senators and 66 house members). (Washington Policy Center)

The region’s smaller hospitals, which serve medium-sized and rural communities, have experienced serious financial setbacks from the coronavirus pandemic, and are concerned about the “tough decisions” they will need to make if Governor Inslee were to again impose restrictions on their ability to serve non-COVID-19 patients.  Hospitals have had to go through the expense of protective equipment and additional staffing while also being denied the revenue from treating non-emergency patients. Many smaller hospitals have lost millions of dollars which the CARES Act failed to cover. (Everett Herald)

Bowling centers across Washington State held “Rally for the Alley” events this weekend to encourage Governor Inslee to allow them to re-open their businesses.  Bowling alleys say they have implemented safety procedures that are more comprehensive than other businesses which the state has allowed to reopen.  Yet any relief at this time is already too late for some lanes which cannot afford to keep operating.  Glacier Lanes in Everett has announced that it will be closing its doors after 63 years, due to the financial losses experienced during the coronavirus outbreak. (Vancouver Columbian and Everett Herald)

The Washington State Department of Corrections placed a convicted child rapist in the same cell as the older brother of one of his victims, which resulted in the murder of the child rapist.  Both convicts were from Cowlitz County and were housed at the Airway Heights Corrections Center near Spokane. The inmate who is accused of the prison murder said that after he found out his cellmate was convicted of raping his sister, he asked to be moved.  He was denied his request by administrators and that his rage built after the rapist often recounted the stories of his crimes. (YakTriNews/Spokesman Review)

Q13’s “The Divide” host Brandi Kruse points out in a commentary some of the many hypocrisies of the Seattle City Council in its decision to slash the police budget.  Kruse states, “What the Seattle City Council says it wants and what the city council is actually doing are two completely different things.” Among the long list of hypocrisies are 1) Many of the current council members who support slashing law enforcement’s budget (specifically Lisa Herbold, Dan Strauss, and Andrew Lewis) campaigned in 2019 on a promise to increase funding for the Seattle Police.  2) The councilmembers want Seattle to be more diverse, yet their actions will result in the firing of the force’s newest police officers, who are the most ethnically diverse. 3) The councilmembers want the police to be more transparent, yet their cuts will slash the budget of the department’s public information department.  4) The councilmembers say they want the police reform discussion to be led by Black community leaders, but the white Seattle City Councilmembers are not including the Black Police Chief in the discussion.  5) They want to help the homeless, but the cuts will leave more people living on the streets.  So, given these hypocrisies, why are the councilmembers continuing to push forward on this radical policy change despite the obvious harm it will cause?  Because councilmembers refuse to admit making rash promises to protestors was a mistake.  As Kruse concludes, “To those councilmembers there is no price too high, not even if that price is people’s lives. And if it means they don’t have to admit that they were wrong, that is a check they are more than willing to cash.” (The Divide with Brandi Kruse)

Two senior sheriff’s department officers will be facing each other to replace long-time Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor in the November general election.  Department spokesman Ed Troyer received 53% of the vote in last week’s primary, while Cyndie Fajardo, who runs the sheriff’s emergency response team, received 20%.  Both candidates are having to answer questions regarding roles they took in recent controversial actions. Troyer is responding to allegations he provided false information following the death of Manuel Ellis. Fajardo’s responsibilities include supervising the sheriff’s drug unit, which has been accused by the prosecutor’s office of falsifying records and conducting improper searches.  Current Sheriff Paul Pastor was appointed to the position in 2001, before it became an elected office. (News Tribune)

Hundreds of Seattle Police supporters gathered in front of Seattle City Hall on Sunday to oppose the radical plan from the Democrats on the Seattle City Council to defund the city’s police department.  The Seattle Police Officers Guild organized the event and claims to have over 150,000 signatures on an online petition opposing the council’s actions. There are legal questions that still need to be resolved by the council before it is expected vote on the measure Monday afternoon (Q13 News)

Good news for fruit farmers, and consumers, as the 2020 apple crop is estimated to be slightly better than last year’s crop.  A recent survey revealed that if farmers are successfully able to operate under safety restrictions, they expect to harvest 134 million 40-pound boxes of apples.  Gala, Red Delicious, and Fuji are expected to be the leading varieties. (iFiberOne)

The City of Wenatchee Mayor says the city can expect to have a $1.5 million dollar sales tax revenue shortfall due to the coronavirus pandemic.  The city can also expect to lose an additional half million dollars from the loss of gas and hotel taxes.  Because of a $6.5 million reserves and rainy day fund, the city expects to weather the shortfall. (Wenatchee World)

We thought this was this was a serendipitous, two of the Democrats who represent portions of Puget Sound’s suburban communities in Congress, both sent out fundraising emails within a couple of hours of each other with the exact same subject lines.  Both 1^st District’s Suzan DelBene and 8^th District’s Kim Schrier basted out fundraising appeals last Wednesday with the title “The results are in.”  This could either be a sign that they have the same fundraising consultant who is using a cookie-cutter approach to raising money, or both have staffs that think exactly alike. (DelBene fundraising email and Schrier fundraising email)

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