Why has Governor Inslee decided to be divisive when being a unifying leader would have saved lives during the pandemic?  It seems strange that throughout the past 500+ days the governor has repeatedly made partisan choices instead of seeking ways to unify the state’s residents to combat the COVID pandemic.  This has caused many to lose faith in the governor, thus they have ignored him when his health officials encouraged residents to wear masks or become vaccinated.  Q13’s Brandi Kruse was critical of the governor’s latest divisive comments, when he missed yet another opportunity to be a unifying leader and instead chose to make partisan attack comments which will further irritate many residents, who will feel even less compelled to obtain the vaccine.  The governor claims our goal is to immunize as many Washington State residents as possible against COVID, yet the governor’s divisive actions will result in fewer people being vaccinated. Why does Inslee not see that? (Click to read the full Shift article)

Police “reform’ measures passed by liberal Democrats during the 2021 legislative session could risk the safety of domestic violence victims.  Included among the 13 pieces of legislation which Democrat lawmakers jammed through last session to reward the rampant violence committed by their liberal supporters last summer is a bill which makes it more difficult for law enforcement to detain individuals who could be violent.  This includes many people suffering from mental health episodes and those involved in domestic disputes.  Previously police could detain someone based on a 911 call that was made.  Starting on Sunday (when the Democrats’ “reform” legislation officially becomes law), police will need more evidence that a crime is being committed before detaining an individual.  Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl said, “I think this has gone too far, and I think this is going to create dangerous communities.” apparently, to Jay Inslee and his fellow Democrats, it was more important to placate their extreme liberal supporters than to keep our communities safe. (KXLY)

Mason County Commissioner Kevin Shutty says that the new state police reform measures are erasing much of the recent gains made to help those in a mental health crisis.  In an op-ed, Commissioner Shutty details the advancements Mason County has recently made in handling mental crisis cases with law enforcement, emergency health workers, fire department, and mental health case workers collaborating on methods to deescalate potentially harmful situations and get the person the help they need. Unfortunately, the new police “reform” measures pushed by the liberals removes police officers from many situations (in which no actual crime has been committed) and leaves emergency and mental health workers without the protection they need to do their job.

Commissioner Shutty strongly encouraged legislators to fix this law, writing that “Our first responders – and those they serve – should not have to wait for a serious injury or death for the Legislature to act.” (iFIBER One)

Washington State is again on pace to break records related to drug overdose deaths, yet another sad statistic relating to the governor’s unscientific response to the COVID pandemic.  In 2020, the state broke a decades-old record for the number of drug overdoses deaths, and 2021 is ahead of last year’s pace.  Governor Inslee, unfortunately, shut down one of the most effective methods for assisting those with addiction problems when he banned 12-Step meetings from occurring.  And, despite the fact that a large majority of such meetings use the same facilities as faith organizations, the governor refused to allow 12-Step meetings to resume. Meanwhile, participation in online Zoom meetings quickly declined and very few “newcomers” found the connection they needed via online gatherings. (MyNorthwest and Shift)

Recent campaign mailers and cable ads reveal the themes of the two liberal candidates running for King County Executive.  Incumbent Dow Constantine is unsurprisingly pushing the theme that the county did a great job during the pandemic (yet he does not mention that his staff handed out masks to those who were rioting in downtown Seattle) and that he is a steady leader (despite a terrible record on public safety, environment, and homelessness).

Meanwhile Constantine’s even more extreme opponent, freshman State Senator Joe Nguyen, is trying to hide his even more radical liberal beliefs by claiming the county’s COVID response was subpar and that Constantine’s 12 years in office is enough. (Washington Observer)

Battle Ground’s City Council voted unanimously to become the fourth Washington State city to ban a local income tax.  Battle Ground, a 20,000 resident Clark County city, joins Spokane, Spokane Valley, and Granger as communities which have voted to ban an income tax as a source of revenue.  Battle Ground Mayor Adrian E. Cortes said, “Tonight was a big win for our community. Our council voted unanimously to pass a local income tax ban resolution. In my opinion, while Seattle and Olympia try to go against what the framers of the Washington State constitution intended, we are standing firm in our opposition to a local income tax thus reaffirming our competitive advantage of no local income taxes in the city of Battle Ground”. (Washington Policy Center)

Seattle port observers saw a sight on Monday not seen in over a year – a cruise ship departing for a one-week cruise to Alaska.  Seven separate cruise lines will sail the increasingly popular route, and bring millions of dollars in revenue to the city’s struggling hospitality industry.  All lines are requiring all adults to be fully vaccinated two weeks prior to boarding the ship. (Seattle Times)

Failed liberal policies are causing suburban King County to grow at a faster rate than Seattle.  Reversing a decade-long trend which often saw Seattle growing at twice the rate as suburban communities, state data reveals that 2021 suburban growth rate is now approximately 30% stronger than Seattle’s expansion.

While the reports do not indicate the reasons for this reversal, it is easy to imagine the defunding police actions by the liberal Seattle City Council (and subsequent increases in crime), the city’s inability to respond effectively to the homeless crisis, and liberal housing policies have all scared potential residents into seek living outside city limits. (Seattle Times)

In a temporary setback for Everett, United Airlines announced it will stop flying out of Paine Field in October.  An airport spokesman stated that this was due to the national airline consolidating its services in a post-pandemic market.  The airport did hint that another airline might soon occupy the space which United Airlines is abandoning.  This move leaves Alaska Airlines as the only commercial carrier to fly out of Paine Field. (Everett Herald)

The Washington Policy Center’s Pam Lewison writes an informative Seattle Times op-ed to explain the challenges of running a family farm in Washington State, since folks on the West side often have no clue. While completely clueless Democrat Senate Caucus staffers insult the Washington agriculture community’s work ethic by writing memos that suggests farmers should pay more taxes because they become very wealthy “working less than part-time,” Lewison (recently a Shift Newsmaker Interview) points out the reality is much different.

According to the federal government, 80% of Washington State farms are family operations and not the large corporate enterprises which Democrats want the public to believe. Family members make decisions around the kitchen table, not in corporate offices.  Decisions on crops, equipment, harvesting, and land are usually extremely expensive, and could impact the farm for years, even generations, into the future. Because of the nature of farming, work cannot be delayed and thus the farming community counts on each other to assist when work needs to be done. (Seattle Times and Shift)

Recent fires have led Whitman County Commissioners to consider a ban on camping on county property near the Snake River.  Two separate fires at homeless encampments near the Idaho state line has led the commission to hold a public hearing on August 2^nd regarding an ordinance to impose a trespass charge against violators. (KQQQ Radio)

From the “giving credit where it’s due” department: Because of the clean and renewable energy created by hydroelectric dams, Washington State is already one of the country’s leaders in producing carbon-free power, yet this does not stop radical environmentalists (and Jay Inslee) from wanting to spend more than $33 billion to tear down four lower Snake River dams.  Liberals across the region ignore facts and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists in promoting the myth that removing these dams will magically increase the population of salmon in Puget Sound (and in turn save Orca whales, which depend on salmon for food).  Because facts were inconvenient for a liberal Spokesman-Review columnist, he decided to make false accusations against those who provide actual scientific data in defending the dams. Unfortunately for the columnist, his unprofessional actions were revealed, and his paper was forced to retract his false statements. (Click to read full Shift article)

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