The Inslee Administration finally admitted that its vaccine mandate is a major factor for why the Washington State Ferry (WSF) system is severely understaffed and why hundreds of thousands of commuters have been stuck at Puget Sound docks due to last-minute cancelations of sailings, due to vessels not having enough certified workers.  The Inslee administration finally was forced to admit this obvious truth in a backhanded manner last week, as not even the governor’s team could deny the negative impact resulting from 132 Washington State Ferry workers being “separated’ from their jobs due to Inslee’s politically motivated and unscientific mandate.

The governor’s spin machine still continues to reach for other excuses for the massive service disruptions, but even if these explanations are true, they would demonstrate a different disturbing management failure for the governor. The administration has been pushing the narrative that an aging workforce has caused the WSF to not have enough certified workers. If this is true, then why didn’t the state prepare for this by having enough new trained and certified workers ready to replace these expected-to-retire employees? (Click to read full Shift Article)

An informative new report from the Washington Policy Center gets into the details of why an income tax is unconstitutional in Washington and why the State Supreme Court has rejected numerous previous attempts to impose a state income tax.   The report is also critical of the games being played by liberal income tax advocates who seek to define a tax on income made via capital gains as an “excise tax” (and thus probably constitutional) despite all 49 other states and the Internal Revenue Service accurately defining a capital gains tax as an income tax.  The report provides the argument that if liberal income tax advocates want to impose an income tax on Washington residents, then the “proper way” is to do so with a constitutional amendment. “Claiming an income tax is instead an ‘excise tax’ to set up litigation in hopes the state supreme court will now say that we don’t own our income is disingenuous at best and highly contemptible of voters and the norms of governing.” (Washington Policy Center)

The illegal teachers’ strike currently being conducted by the Kent Education Association has cancelled three school days and district administrators will decide this evening on whether to take the union to court to force the union bosses to end their unlawful activities.  District officials assert that the union orchestrated the unlawful strike and thus is in breach of contract.  The school board of the state’s fifth largest district (with more than 25,000 students) is scheduled to vote tonight on a recommendation by district staff to file a lawsuit against the union.  The district was forced in 2009 to take the union to court to end a teachers’ strike that year.

The union is demanding higher wages and benefits, smaller classrooms (and thus more forced-dues paying teachers), and wants the taxpayers to fund the hiring of more dues-paying counselors to “improve students’ mental health.” We should note that the annual salary for 40% of the Kent district’s teachers are currently more than $100,000 a year. (Kent Reporter, 2009 King County Superior Court Ruling, and The Center Square)

The increase in violent crime continued this weekend in Seattle, with multiple incidents occurring throughout the city. One man was murdered and another injured on Saturday evening in South Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood, another man was found dead on Sunday due to a homicide in North Seattle, and multiple violent attacks occurred throughout the weekend in Downtown Seattle.  Public safety advocates placed the blame for the rise in violent crime on the actions of the city’s liberal leaders whose shameful conduct toward first responders in recent years have caused a mass exodus of Seattle police officers (and the inability to recruit replacements despite offering large signing bonuses).  Crimestoppers’ Jim Fuda asserted, “When you have 40% less officers able to respond to the street, it is going to cause an uptick in crime.” (KIRO News and Seattle Times)

The Seattle Fire Department (SFD) front line workers due to the anti-science vaccine mandate continues to be a contributing factor for the massive amount of overtime taxpayers are being forced to fund.  Almost 100 SFD workers were separated from their jobs due to the mandate imposed by outgoing Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan last year (following Governor Inslee’s unscientific and politically motivated mandate).  This has resulted in a record-breaking $37.7 million in overtime to be paid to those who remain employed by the department.  Because the fire department is the first to respond to the numerous overdoses, health problems, and fires at the city’s many homeless encampments, the SFD has responded to a record-breaking number of calls, and thus the necessity for keeping the department fully staffed in the most expensive manner, through overtime. (Seattle Times)

A Seattle Times editorial praised the improvements made by new Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison, stating that Seattle voters “should feel gratified that they made the right choices in the last election,” by electing her and rejecting the city’s extreme liberal criminal justice policies which have led to the massive increase in lawlessness in the city.  The moderate City Attorney Davison and her team, advised by former U.S. Attorney Brian Moran, have brought about many necessary changes to an office which became inept in prosecuting criminals during the 12 years of being “led” by the liberal establishment’s Pete Holmes.  During her first eight months in office, Davison has filled empty staff positions and reorganized office resources to reduce filing decisions from four months down to just three days.  Faster response to criminal activity is leading to a reduction in crime.  The office has also increased the number of misdemeanor cases filed, letting criminals know this behavior is no longer being tolerated by her office.  (Seattle Times)

There has been an increase in the number of human encounters with wild bears as more people move into rural areas of Washington State.  These engagements have become most prevalent in the state’s Northeast corner, and has led to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife issuing guidelines about bear encounters and encouraging people to notify authorities when they come across bears.

In a related story, wildlife authorities in Colorado are encouraging people to be wiser in their storage of food and garbage, for once a bear associates humans as a source of food, they will keep returning and thus increase the likelihood of dangerous interactions.  So far this year 63 bears have been euthanized in Colorado due to their increased forays into human areas.  In Washington, this has the potential to becoming another contentious conflict (similar to the current disagreements over the reintroduction of wolves) between environmentalists who seek to protect bears that don’t live by them and residents who seek to protect their families and livestock from bears that do live by them. (Northwest Public Broadcasting and Denver Post/Seattle Times)

Shift’s Newsmaker Interview was with GOP House candidate Paige Jarquin, who is challenging longtime Democrat State Representative Drew Hanson in the 23^rd Legislative District (North Kitsap).  Jarquin persevered to overcome early difficulties in her life (including being a 9^th grade dropout, with three children by the time she was 20 years old) to become a college graduate who owns her own successful small business (with her U.S. Marine veteran husband) and actively helps others by volunteering in her community.

Jarquin provided well-developed and responsible answers to some of the state’s top issues in her interview. She revealed her ideas on how the state can help people like herself who face tough challenges at the beginning of their adult life. She outlined both short-term and long-term fixes to the Democrats’ failed public safety policies, which Jarquin believes have “embolden criminals to commit crimes.” The mother of three and grandmother of eight illuminated several proposals she supports to improve parental involvement and transparency in our children’s education and explained her backing of some of the “Let’s Go Washington” initiatives which would use the state’s tax surplus to provide tax relief to struggling Washington households. Finally, the self-described “book junkie” shared her favorite books in several different genres she enjoys. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

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