It seems the Everett Herald is nearly as bad as the Seattle Times for failing to hold new Democrat Washington State Representative Clyde Shavers accountable for his many lies to voters, while at the same time providing far more coverage of the campaign lies of a Republican New York congressman. You may recall that yesterday Shift reported that the Times posted nearly 20 stories on the lies of new U.S. Representative George Santos and none on Shavers since the election. The media – and the Democrats, of course — seem determined to let Representative Shavers skate through with no consequences for his lying.

Recall that with nine days left in the 2022 election, Shift broke the story that then-candidate Shavers had repeatedly lied to voters about his military experience, his employment history, his family’s history, and even his residence.  The next day the Everett Herald carried the story, and the paper announced that it was taking back its previous endorsement of Shavers and then endorsed Republican Greg Gilday. Three days later the Herald covered Shavers’ only comment on his many lies, when he released a bizarre statement in which he failed to take responsibility for his fabrications and selfishly blamed the scandal on his father’s conservative leanings.

Since these pre-election stories the Herald’s only coverage of Shavers has been on the daily vote tallies and one letter to the editor about the Democrats’ failure to vet their candidates.  Yet a search of the Herald’s website finds that the paper has carried at least four editorials about the lies of Republican Congressman George Santos. One would think the Herald would have more to say since Representative Shavers’ district (the 10^th Legislative District) takes in Northwest Snohomish County, Southwest Skagit County, and all of Island County.  Evidently the Herald believes it is acceptable for 10^th LD residents to be served by a Democrat official who repeatedly lied in order to obtain his position and now refuses to talk with the media. The paper is also apparently unconcerned that many Democrat organizations continued to spend even more money supporting Shavers’ candidacy after his many lies were revealed.

Plain and simple, both the Seattle Times and the Everett Herald are clearly displaying their liberal bias by carrying multiple stories and editorials about a Republican official 3,000 miles away but ignoring a Democrat politician in their own backyard doing the same thing.  They have one set of rules for the actions of Republicans and a different set of rules (and far less oversight) on the actions of Democrats. (Everett Herald, 1/9 Daily Briefing, Shift, Washington State Legislature, and Washington State Public Disclosure Commission)

Governor Jay Inslee made his annual speech in front of a joint session of the Washington State Legislature this afternoon where he made a pitch for the state to spend $4 billion to fix the homeless and housing shortage problems which liberal policies he supports have created.  Seven years ago liberal politicians gathered in front of cameras in Seattle and declared homelessness an emergency.  Since then the state’s homeless population has continued to skyrocket (from below 10,000 to more than 25,000 today, despite billions and billions being spent at all levels of government).  The Democrats have used the crisis to dramatically expand the size and cost of government while the problem continues to get worse.  So the governor wants to keep doing the same thing by spending another $4 billion on the problem.

The cost of housing has dramatically increased due to liberal policies.  Homebuilders rightfully argue that it is Governor Inslee’s costly and ineffective environmental policies which have helped cause the housing shortage in the state, which has made home ownership less likely for many residents and has caused rental rates to radically increase.  This captures the essence of many liberal policies – create misery among residents and then say you will fix the problem by raising taxes and increasing the size of government. (Seattle Times, Department of Commerce report on homelessness, Axios, and BIAW press release)

The Seattle Times continued its role as the official public relations arm of the Washington State Democrat Party by providing liberal Superintendent of Public Administration (SPI) Chris Reykdal an opportunity to spin his views on the state’s failing education system.  In the brief article, SPI Reykdal strangely claimed that it is an achievement that students are no longer fleeing the state’s public school system (yet he did admit it was doubtful many of the 50,000 students who have already left would return now that post-pandemic schools are back to “normal”), that school districts have spent most of their federal emergency aid, and that nearly 20 percent of students are not graduating on time.

While the paper mentioned that teachers’ salaries continue to skyrocket, reporters failed to ask the SPI about the impact the pay raises will have on school budgets (Seattle Public Schools is projecting a $300 million deficit over the next three years due to teachers’ salaries and declining enrollment) and how districts will likely be asking state taxpayers to bail them out.  The Times also failed to ask about the dropping test scores or about school officials risking the safety of children by not cooperating with law enforcement when a dangerous person enters school property. The Times also failed to ask about the Republican push to provide more options to parents by once again sponsoring School Choice legislation. Next exactly a balanced views on the state’s rapidly declining public school system. (Seattle Times, KIRO-TV, and Washington Policy Center)

The latest failed policy idea from The Stranger is to significantly raise taxes even more to pay for school budget deficits caused by teachers’ unions.  Never mind that the other radical policies The Stranger promotes have caused a significant increase in the number of people suffering from homelessness, drug addiction, drug overdoses, and becoming victims of crimes.  Or that its preferred policy “solutions” have caused thousands of Seattle’s small businesses to close or move, housing prices and rental rates to dramatically increase, and the City of Seattle budget to be millions of dollars in the hole.  We are not sure why anyone should listen to the paper’s latest idea to dramatically increase taxes even more, allegedly for education.  Evidently those at The Stranger are completely unaware that the size of the state’s budget has more than doubled since Governor Jay Inslee took office and that it is  Democrat legislators who have continued to reduce education’s share of the state budget since the Republicans controlled the Washington State Senate in 2017. But those at The Stranger are typical of most liberals who raise taxes first, ask questions later.  (The Stranger)

The 2023 Roanoke Conference is quickly approaching, but there is still time to register to attend the largest annual gathering of Right-leaning activists, elected officials, and operatives in the Pacific Northwest.  The conference will take place January 27 – 29 in beautiful Ocean Shores.  This year the featured speakers will be Dispatch contributor Sarah Isgur and Fox News Commentator Guy Benson.  The Roanoke Board has just released the agenda for the 2023 gathering and, as always, the conference will be confronting some important issues.  From the conservative approach to effective environmentalism to what Republicans need to do to win elections in Washington State, there will be many panel discussions on the important issues facing those who lean Right.  Please visit the conference’s website to learn more and to register. (Roanoke Conference and Shift Newsmaker Interview)

KTTH Radio host Jason Rantz strongly criticized the Seattle Public School’s (SPS) for its recent announcement that it is suing social media platforms due to the mental anguish the district says they place on students.  Rantz states, “It’s a frivolous lawsuit meant to garner attention and, if (the district is) lucky, cover a portion of their budget the district doesn’t want to pay for.” Rantz also asserts that the mental anguish placed on the students when the district refused to return to in-person learning was far greater than what Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram have caused.  There was a 24% increase in mental health related visits to emergency rooms for 5 – 11 year olds during “distance learning,” and a 31% increase in teenagers’ visits.

Rantz also points out that the district’s insistence in ramming liberal viewpoints on race and gender identity and telling children to keep secrets from their parents are also causing confusion and mental anguish for students.  We can also ask why isn’t SPS filing a lawsuit against the Seattle Teachers’ Association for conducting an illegal strike which kept students out the classroom for a couple of weeks and is forcing them to delay or cancel summer plans because the school year must now go into July.

What about the mental anguish when school district administrators who refused to do anything about a large homeless encampment only a few feet away from the students’ playground?  Or what about student anguish over school officials refusing to cooperate with police when a mentally ill intruder came onto the grounds of an elementary school and stole children’s possessions?  Before the Seattle Public Schools starts blaming distant social media companies for students’ mental issues, school administrators might want to clean up their own act.  (MyNorthwest, KING5 News, and KIRO7 News)

Spokane County will be forced to negotiate union contracts once again behind closed doors due to the recent Washington State Supreme Court decision that the City of Spokane could not force unions to negotiate in public despite 77% of local voters supporting the idea.  After City of Spokane voters in 2019 overwhelmingly supported open collective bargaining with government unions, the Spokane County Commissioners passed the same transparency requirement at the county level.  The government employee unions took the City of Spokane to court and last month the nine liberal members of the State Supreme Court ruled against open government and forced the city to negotiate in secret with the unions.  That anti-transparency ruling by the court also impacted Spokane County and the few other local governments which had previously passed laws forcing open collective bargaining sessions. (Spokesman Review)

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