Washington State health officials are seeing a positive trend in reducing the number of new coronavirus cases since the peak in mid-July. Secretary of Health John Wiesman stated, “There is good news. We have a great deal of work obviously left to do, but we are showing some success in our efforts such as increasing the use of face coverings and seeing an encouraging decline in daily new case counts.” (News Tribune)

The Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission has decided that all incoming police officers will be taught Active Bystandardship for Law Enforcement (ABLE). Former King County Sheriff and current commission head Sue Rohr said ABLE training is aimed at stopping bad police behavior at the beginning, by encouraging officers to intervene immediately if they witness a fellow officer acting inappropriately. (MyNorthwest)

In an incredibly direct and hard-hitting op-ed, Seattle University Professor of Criminal Justice Jacqueline B. Helfgott states the Seattle City Council owes outgoing Police Chief Carmen Best an apology and that excluding her from the council’s recent discussions on the police “was a targeted, personal, anti-feminist, anti-Black, mean-spirited, retaliatory, punitive attack on our city’s first Black female police chief.” In an op-ed in today’s Seattle Times, the professor, who has a long history of working with the Seattle Police Department, stated that the council’s recent actions “are an embarrassment that show mind-boggling disrespect and devaluation of our police chief and that have potential impact for recruitment and retention of women and women of color in law enforcement and SPD.” (Seattle Times)

Many leaders within Seattle’s Black community were upset with the actions of Democrat city council members that forced the resignation of the first Black woman to be Seattle’s police chief. Rev. Harriet Walden blamed Councilmember Kshama Sawant and stated a white woman would not have been treated the same way. Even the local chapter of Black Lives Matters attacked the city council’s actions, stating, “It does nothing to further our fight for authentic police accountability and the safety of Black lives, that the first Black woman to hold the position of Chief of Police of the Seattle Police Department has been forced out of her job by the Seattle City Council. Racism is racism,” (Seattle Times)

Even national Black leaders are critical of the actions of the Democrats on the Seattle City Council. Rev. Al Sharpton stated the council’s actions will increase violence in black neighborhoods and will “put us in harm’s way to fit some purest latte liberalism that they advocate.” Sharpton went on to say these liberals “want to be our new masters.”  While it seems everyone in the country has an opinion about the radical actions of the Seattle City Council, there is an extremely small group of people who have remained quiet. Governor Jay Inslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, and Washington State Democrat Chair Tina Podlodowski have all abdicated their roles as both state leaders and party leaders by remaining silent over the reckless actions of their fellow Democrats on the Seattle City Council. Racist actions by the council don’t matter to them.  The safety of people who live in high crime areas is not important to them. The public safety of 775,000 Seattle residents is not important to them. The breaking of campaign promises to increase police funding is not important to them. Allowing violence to determine public policy is not important to them. The only thing important to these politicians is their own political future and thus they are not publicly taking sides on an issue that is ripping apart their party. To Jay Inslee and company, silence is golden. .(Morning Joe via Carmen Best’s Twitter account)

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has appealed the recent decision of a King County Superior Court judge to allow a recall effort against her to go forward. Judge Mary Roberts allowed one charge (out of seven originally proposed) against Durkan to move forward to the petition stage.  The petitioners allege Durkan failed to implement new police procedures after law enforcement used tear gas and other chemical agents during the recent riots.  Durkan states police procedures are the responsibility of the police chief. If the court upholds Judge Roberts’ decision, then recall advocates will need to collect 50,000 signatures to place a recall on the ballot. We should note, Mayor Durkan’s term ends in 2021. (Seattle Times)

Like many companies during the COVID-19 pandemic, REI has learned the value of having their employees work remotely, and thus have abandoned its plans to open a new corporate headquarters in Bellevue. President and CEO Eric Artz stated recently that the company “learned that the more distributed way of working we previously thought untenable will instead unlock incredible potential. This will have immediate, positive impacts on our ability to attract and retain a diverse and highly skilled workforce.” The company plans to sell its corporate headquarters site and instead will instead have multiple “headquarter” sites around the region. (Bellevue Reporter)

The Yakima School District began checking out laptops to all students to prepare for distance learning in the new school year. Students without internet connections can also check out a WiFi router.  Even though it is not mandatory for each student to possess a school laptop, it is strongly encouraged.  All computers will be configured with licensed software that enable the student to participate in class instruction and the software cannot be transferred to a non-school device. (YakTriNews)

A court hearing on the sufficiency of recall allegations against Benton County Sheriff Jerry Hatcher has been postponed by at least a week. Members of the Benton County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild has filed the recall petition against Hatcher, who they accuse of tampering with witnesses, intimidation, discrimination, and retaliation.  The court needs to determine if the allegations are legally and factually sufficient to proceed with the recall effort. (Tri-City Herald)

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