Internal Democrat polls must indicate the allegedly non-partisan SPI Chris Reykdal is in severe trouble in his race against hard-charging challenger Maia Espinoza.  The panicked education establishment, consisting of the Washington Education Association and the Democrat Party, were forced to call in Governor Jay Inslee and even far-Left Seattle Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal to lob false accusations at Espinoza. (BTW – is it a sound political strategy to fight the message that Reykdal is too extreme to lead our schools by having Representative Jayapal, who makes Bernie Sanders look moderate, lead his defense?)  Reykdal is rightfully taking heat for the failure of the Washington State school system he allegedly “leads” being woefully ill-prepared for the technological necessities of distance learning, and then not including any online educators in his “Reopening Schools 2020-2021 Workgroup” membership.  Many have criticized Reykdal’s office for not adequately assisting school districts as they attempt to resume in-person instruction this Fall.  Reykdal is also the author of the very controversial “Sex Ed for Kindergartners” legislation, which led parents to successfully collect a record-breaking 266,000 signatures (despite government imposed signature-gathering restrictions) to place Referendum-90 on the ballot to overturn the law.  Reykdal has also received significant criticism for bringing partisan politics to his non-partisan office by posting his infamous tweet on 2019 election night, when it became evident I-976 (car tabs initiative) would pass, demanding Democrat legislators “step up” and punish counties which supported the measure.  Espinoza is taking all the Democrats’ typical negative tactics in stride, saying, “if that’s what you’re falling back on, then clearly we’re doing something right.” (KOMO News, SPI Reopening Schools Workgroup Membership, Shift’s Newsmaker Interview, Twitter, and Shift’s Newsmaker Interview)

Despite Governor Inslee’s endless rhetoric that recent wildfires were caused by climate change, even other liberal politicians are realizing that the failure to manage our forests properly is the true culprit.  While Inslee keeps pushing his false (and unscientific) political agenda, others are seeking ways to prevent future large-scale fires.  Many are looking at the success tribal governments have had with “intentional fires”, where a small amount of forest and brush are burnt to prevent larger and more destructive fires.  While many states have incorporated intentional burns into their forest management plans, some experts believe more burns – and less inflammatory climate rhetoric – are needed. (Northwest Public Broadcasting and Shift’s Newsmaker Interview)

As unfortunately expected, Boeing announced that it would be cutting more jobs, up to approximately 19% of its workforce, as the company navigates its way through the severe financial crisis in the airline industry.  Boeing will reduce its current 161,000-member workforce by 31,000 workers, with its Commercial Airplane division expected to take the biggest hit. While it is not known which states will be impacted the most, it is easy to believe that states where the governor has expressed a desire to work with the airline manufacturer will likely fare better than the states where the governor has gone on national TV and called the company muggers and blackmailers. (Seattle Times and KUOW/NPR)

A new report from the Washington Policy Center details how the demise of I-976 (the 2019 car tab initiative) is a failure, across many levels of government, at enacting the will of the people.  The report explains how Sound Transit, the legislature, the initiative process, the Supreme Court, the office of the Governor, and the office of the Attorney General each failed in their responsibility to serve the people.  The report states, “The people, who are supposed to be in charge, do not want to pay high car tabs and have said so repeatedly – yet no one in government will allow their will to be enacted.” (Washington Policy Center)

City councilmembers want to allow addicts to shoot up their drugs at current city social service centers, because their liberal policy solutions have failed miserably.  Previous attempts to set up dedicated “safe-injection sites” failed for many reasons, so councilmembers are now proposing to use current government-run health facilities as places where addicts can “safely” use their drugs.  There are still legal and public opinion obstacles preventing this silly idea from becoming a reality, but as this past year has proven, the current Seattle City Council is not influenced by the rule of law or the views of the citizens. (Seattle Times)

The Vice President for the Downtown Seattle Association says the city needs to do more to make people feel safe in returning to downtown to work and shop. The refrain must sound familiar: the growing problem of homeless individuals taking over parks is a major concern.  The city needs to establish a workable plan to clean up the accumulation of garbage in these parks, and fix lights and public bathrooms. City workers often need police escort when they remove garbage and perform maintenance in city parks (not that City Council chair Lisa Herbold would care about that). (MyNorthwest and Seattle Times)

The Pierce County Council improved its unique idea to help restaurants hammered by the COVID close-down, by adding take-out and curbside orders to the county’s offer to pay for part of the meal.  The plan, introduced by Republican Councilman Dave Morell, allows consumers to help determine how the county allocates its $7.5 million share of the federal CARES Act funding, by giving diners a 30% discount on their orders and the county reimbursing the restaurants 50% of the total bill (excluding alcohol). The offer will occur between November 8-12 and November 15-19. Originally it was only for dine-in patrons, but with the increase in coronavirus cases, the council voted unanimously on Tuesday to extend the promotion to include safer options. (News Tribune)

After public pressure, the Kennewick School District will “re-evaluate” its previous decision to delay the start of in-person instruction for its middle and senior high students.  Two weeks ago, the school board decided to wait until February to bring back secondary students to their schools, due to the number of different classes they take daily.  Yet, because of complaints from parents and students, Superintendent Dr. Traci Pierce announced the district would now look at ways to modify schedules to reduce student’s interaction with each other, and limit the number of classroom changes made during the day.  The board will make some decision at its next scheduled meeting on November 18^th. (YakTriNews)

The remaining two members of the Yakima County Council have interviewed and heard public testimony from the three finalists seeking to replace Commissioner Norm Childress, who passed away in September.  The three finalists (health care director LaDon Linde, human services administrator Autumn Torres, and Sunnyside City Councilmember Jim Restucci) have a diverse set of backgrounds and job skills.  They were selected by Republican Precinct Committee Officers, since Childress was a Republican. The current councilmembers must make their selection before November 15^th. (Yakima Herald)

(Click on link to read short blog post)

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson takes a stand for breaking the law, stops the City of Olympia from removing people living in cars and recreational vehicles parked illegally along Ensign Road. Yet another clear example that liberal politicians and liberal laws are preventing those who want to keep their community clean, healthy, and safe. (Shift Post)

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