One of the crazy and expensive government projects which is seriously being promoted by Seattle’s Left-wing loonies is to construct a lid over I-5 through downtown Seattle.  It is the latest incremental proposal in progressives’ long-term goal of closing I-5 through the city and rid everybody of the freedom to drive their own cars, while forcing everyone to ride government-controlled mass transit.  While proponents of this extremely expensive proposal (even before the predictable massive cost overruns which occur in nearly every single massive government construction project) assert the positives of having a large park (which will cover the lid) in the center of the city, we can strongly suspect it will simply become another large encampment due to Seattle’s liberal homeless policies. (Click to read full Shift article)

Governor Jay Inslee uses non-scientific data analyzing methods to overstate the impact of his $2 million vaccine lottery.  The COVID lottery represents a relatively small amount of state funds (especially in a state annual budget that has soared beyond $60 billion from the $36 billion Inslee inherited when he became governor in 2013), but Inslee resorted to bad math to try to make his program look good. It is actually an extreme exaggeration to claim that his lottery is the sole reason for a 28% increase in Washington State residents becoming vaccinated.  The governor has embellished vaccination figures due to a growing belief (even from his normally supportive friends in the liberal media) that the vaccine lottery is “a dud.”

The problems with Governor Inslee’s claims are twofold. First, the method which Inslee’s staff determined that “nearly 30,000 more people” became vaccinated is based solely on guesswork.  The state simply guessed the number of people who would be vaccinated if no lottery was introduced, and then subtracted that number from those who actually received the vaccine.  Any scientist will tell you that guessing the number of your “control group” (i.e. the number of Washington residents who would be vaccinated without a lottery) is not a proper method for determining the effect of the variable (i.e. the vaccine lottery).

The second problem is that the governor is stating that the lottery alone is responsible for any increase in vaccination and that all other factors played absolutely no role in people choosing to be vaccinated.  Thus, to Governor Inslee, all the national, state, and local public service announcements (many featuring famous personalities), the large number of businesses who offered discounts to vaccinated customers, the efforts to make vaccines even easier to obtain, the rising public concerns about the Delta strain of COVID, the freedom of not being forced to wear a mask, peer pressure,  and opening up vaccines to younger people, all had no impact in any increase of vaccination, and that the state’s vaccine lottery was the only determining factor.

Remember, as we reported before, the vaccine lottery has drawn so little attention that one of the grand prize winners did not know it was taking place (other grand prize winners all received their doses before the lottery was announced) and that 40% of the lottery prizes went unclaimed.  While the governor claims data dictates many of his actions, he has repeatedly shown that he only pays attention to the data that has been manipulated to support his partisan or self-serving actions. (Seattle Times and Shift)

Two Bellevue police unions have broken from their historic neutrality in political campaigns to endorse first-term Bellevue City Councilmember Jared Nieuwenhuis in his race against wealthy liberal activist Ruth Lipscomb.  The Bellevue Police Officers Guild and the Bellevue Police Management Association have both decided to make Councilmember Nieuwenhuis the first Bellevue City Council candidate the organizations have endorsed.  In a media release, Nieuwenhuis stated he believes these unique endorsements occurred partly because Lipscomb participated in last summer’s protests which turned violent in Bellevue (causing damage to many small businesses) and that she has been a vocal proponent of Bellevue duplicating the Seattle City Council’s defunding of the police department. This irresponsible and hasty action has led to over 300 well-trained officers leaving the Seattle Police Department, and to skyrocketing violent crime rate with nine murders during June.  It is not surprising that Lipscomb’s largest campaign contributor is the Washington State Democrat Party (along with a bunch of rich liberal Seattle contributors). (Jared Nieuwenhuis Campaign media release and Washington State Public Disclosure)

A feature-length documentary about the 1940 collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge will soon be available on some streaming services and at selected theaters.  The award-winning “700 Feet Down” details the historic collapse of the bridge, and shows the modern ecosystem that has grown around the fallen structure in the Tacoma Narrows’ waters. The film be will streamed on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube and other services starting July 27^th, and will be shown at a few local movie theaters. (News Tribune)

A headline in today’s Tacoma News Tribune is an excellent example of the damaging “group think” that governs the region’s liberal elites and the local media who blindly follow their instructions.  The headline states, “New chancellor named for UW Tacoma. She’s known for her commitment to diversity, equity.” Sheila Edwards Lange, the incoming chief for the University of Washington’s Tacoma campus, has an impressive resume (currently the President of Seattle Central College, after several top positions at the UW), and diversity is certainly a worthy objective, shouldn’t the primary concern for any publicly-funded educational institution be on education credentials, and not on how well they conform to the liberal establishment’s latest partisan talking points? Not once in a nearly 600-word article was there any mention of what Chancellor Edwards Lange will do to improve education for the students, but did mention “equity,” “diversity,” and even “climate issues” several times. (News Tribune)

The City of Battle Ground will decide next week whether it will be the fourth city in Washington State to ban any form of income tax.  Councilmembers for the city, just a few miles Northeast of Vancouver, will vote next Monday evening on a proposal to ban an income tax.  Battle Ground Mayor Adrian E. Cortes said, “There’s absolutely no reason to impose an income tax in our community. Period. This policy sends a clear message to our residents and small businesses that we’ve got your back.” If the council supports the measure, Battle Ground will join Spokane, Spokane Valley, and Granger (Yakima County) as Washington State cities which have banned a local income tax.  (Washington Policy Center)

Columbia Basin College (CBC) will give $1,000 scholarships to 10 randomly chosen students who have received the COVID vaccine.  While Governor Inslee believes his $2 million vaccine lottery is solely responsible for anyone receiving the vaccine in Washington State (see story above), similar offers like this one from CBC have taken place all over the state sponsored by various businesses, schools, and organizations. These more realistic opportunities to win prizes likely have a more tangible impact in encouraging people to become vaccinated than the very remote possibility of winning a statewide lottery.  Along with the scholarship, the Moses Lake college is also offering $50 gift cards to the first 100 students who become vaccinated at a “pop-up” vaccine clinic today. (Tri-City Herald)

The Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Agency, and several Snake River stakeholders are working on methods to keep the river cool enough to provide safe conditions for steelhead and chinook salmon returning in mid-August.  This annual process to help increase the salmon population has become more difficult as the result of the extreme heat in June, which forced the earlier-than-usual release of colder water contained in nearby reservoirs to lower temperatures during the sockeye return through the river. (Lewiston Tribune)  

Just as Suzi LeVine was trying to escape the mess she had created at the Washington State Employment Security Department, by obtaining a high-paying job in the Biden Administration, she and her husband were making large political donations to Democrat politicians and organizations.  The LeVines could have made the substantial contributions to U.S. Senator Patty Murray’s campaign and the Democrat National Committee at any time, as that is certainly legal, but suspiciously the donations were made just as Suzi LeVine was seeking a federal job.  This has certainly raised plenty of eyebrows, though it’s really just the latest example of Democrats (who claim to be fighting various types of “privilege” on expensive government programs) rewarding those who have the “privilege” to financially assist liberal endeavors. (Click to read full Shift article)

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