Teachers in the Kent School District demonstrate to their students that it is acceptable to conduct illegal activities (such as going on strike) if it means you get more money.
State
Even as Governor Inslee is pushing his extreme partisan agenda to eliminate the 3,500 megawatts of clean hydro-electric energy (equal to the amount of power consumed by Seattle residents) provided by the four lower Snake River dams, he announced that the state would prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 – and thus dramatically increase the demand on the state’s electric power grid. The governor made his virtue signaling announcement via Twitter on Wednesday, as California is expected to announce today the phasing out of gasoline powered cars by 2030. (A bill passed by the Democrat-controlled 2020 Washington State Legislature requires our state to follow California’s rules for zero-emission cars.)
The question arises whether the state’s power grid will be able to provide enough energy for all of the electric cars, especially if wealthy urban environmentalist are successful in their misguided attempts to destroy a key component of the economic vitality of Eastern Washington by removing the Snake River dams. The likelihood of blackouts is already increasing in our state due to energy demands and limited supply. Wind and solar energy is unreliable, especially during heat waves when power is most needed. New developments of large wind and solar farms are beginning to generate considerable protests from the agriculture community (due to loss of already dwindling farmlands) and environmentalists (who are concerned about the loss of grazing and migration routes for endangered species). (KUOW/NPR, Governor Inslee Twitter, Washington Policy Center, and Yakima Herald)
Democrat Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has asked the federal courts to dismiss a 1st Amendment lawsuit filed by Seattle Pacific University seeking to end the intimidation tactics which the AG’s office has deployed against the private Christian college. In early June, the AG Ferguson sent a letter to SPU demanding extensive confidential files and personnel records from the university, under the argument that state investigators needed the evidence to file a discrimination lawsuit against SPU for its hiring practices. The state contends the college, which is associated with the Free Methodist Church, discriminates against gay individuals. The school responded to the AG’s letter by filing a lawsuit against Ferguson asserting, “The attorney general is wielding state power to interfere with the religious beliefs of a religious university, and a church, whose beliefs he disagrees with. He is using the powers of his office (and even powers not granted to his office) to pressure and retaliate against Seattle Pacific University.” Seems pretty much what Bob Ferguson always does. (CenterSquare)
Western Washington
Teachers at the Kent School District began an illegal strike this morning (the district’s first day of school) demanding even higher wages, and their union demanded the district hire even more union employees (who will pour more union dues into their bank accounts, to give to Democrat politicians). The South King County district is the fifth largest in Washington State with an enrollment of more than 25,000 students. While it is illegal for state and local government employees to strike, there is currently no penalty for conducting such a strike, which is the lack of accountability which Democrats like their laws. In 2009, a King County Superior Court ruled that the teachers must end the illegal strike they conducted that year, but to no avail.
Will this action by the teachers’ union cause even more parents to find educational alternatives for their children and remove them from the state’s failing public school system? More than 41,000 Washington students have already left public schools in the past two years, and the disruption in families’ lives caused by the teachers’ strike will likely force more to look at private schools or homeschooling alternatives. (Seattle Times, 2009 King County Superior Court ruling, and Washington Policy Center)
The increase in violent crime is one of the major reasons for a dangerously low supply of blood and platelets. This is yet another negative ripple effect of the failures of liberal public safety policies, which have resulted in record-breaking violence in the region. Local blood banks say they are “running on fumes” and they are concerned about their supply heading into the Labor Day weekend. Through June, there have been 40 homicide victims in Seattle and more than 170 non-fatal shooting victims in King County. Type O blood is especially in short supply. Bloodworks Northwest is encouraging possible donors to contact them to schedule an appointment before next week’s Labor Day weekend. (MyNorthwest)
The Washington State Department of Transportation revealed that the Cathlamet ferry would be out of service until at least the end of the year, as it will undergo repairs for damages caused by its recent crash at the Fauntleroy ferry dock. This is not good news for ferry service passengers who have been forced to withstand a record-breaking number of cancelations thanks to Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate. His misguided decree has left the ferry system severely short staffed and unable to provide vessels with enough certified crew members to set sail. Ferry officials recently stated that it could take up to 18 months for the Coast Guard to certify enough workers to replace the 132 who lost their jobs due to the governor’s unilateral mandate. The multiple month loss of the Issaquah class vessel further depletes the number of vessels available to the state’s system and increases the likelihood that passengers will be stuck waiting at a Puget Sound ferry dock due to sailing cancelations.
Ferry officials also stated that it could take months before they make public the cause of the July 28 accident at the West Seattle ferry dock. Many have speculated that Governor Inslee’s vaccine mandate may have contributed to the accident, and are now concerned that the state will wait until after the November elections to reveal his involvement in the accident. (Seattle Times, MyNorthwest, and KING5 News)
The local cannabis industry is gearing up for battle with a major labor union which is seeking to obtain funds collected by raising marijuana taxes even higher. The cannabis industry lobbyist detailed in a Seattle Times op-ed a scheme developed by the powerful United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) to increase the tax on cannabis products by an additional 10% so that the union could “train” cannabis workers. The extreme UFCW was behind the recent $4-per-hour “hazard pay” the Seattle City Council gave to grocery workers.
Seattle’s tax on cannabis is already the highest in the country and the new tax would raise it to almost 60%. Not only are cannabis businesses worried about the impact of even higher taxes, but they are concerned that “outsiders” with little or no understanding of the complexities of the cannabis business believe they are capable of “training” their employees. It is interesting to note that while the op-ed criticizes the actions of the UFCW, not once does it mention the union by name. (Seattle Times and Washington Observer)
The Snohomish Regional Drug task Force reported that there were 40 drug overdose incidents during the two-week span between July 26 to August 8th. Previously there were just 10 overdose incidents during the month of July – and fentanyl was involved in 58% of the latest cases. Drug overdoses continue to rise since the Democrats in the Washington State Legislature irresponsibly decriminalized possession of such lethal drugs as methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl following the Washington State Supreme Court’s Blake decision in early 2021. (KIRO7 News)
Eastern Washington
Pam Lewison of the Washington Policy Center states that one of the communications problems for the agriculture community is that many farmers do not take the time to explain all the climate-friendly practices they perform, and that many of the projects are complex and “difficult to distill it down into something that’s easily palatable and easily understandable.” Lewison noted that Agriculture contributes the lowest percentage of Greenhouse Gas emissions of any industry currently being tracked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lewison said farmers are more concerned about the day-to-day operation of their farms and not in spending time publicizing their achievements. (Pacific Northwest AG Network)
We just received word that Governor Inslee and U.S. Senator Patty Murray’s taxpayer funded report on the Snake River dams has finally been released. After missing previous deadlines, the past-due “report” aligns with the Democrats’ irresponsible and unscientific position to tear down the dams and eliminate the clean energy they produce and remove the efficient and climate friendly transportation system they provide to deliver inland products to world markets. We will have more on this report tomorrow. (Governor Inslee media release)
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