The disgraced Suzi LeVine quietly resigned from her cushy Biden Administration job at the Department of Labor last month, after it became evident her past disastrous effort “leading” the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) was going to cause serious difficulties in forthcoming Senate confirmation hearings.  As Governor Jay Inslee’s handpicked selection to lead ESD in 2018, LeVine was responsible for easing security measures at the beginning of the COVID pandemic which allowed foreign criminals to steal more than $650 million (they are still trying to count all the losses) from taxpayers. She then compounded her mistake by interfering with a state auditor’s investigation into her failures.

Evidently President Biden’s operatives believe LeVine’s past performance was too much of a political liability, as the administration struggles to recover from its recent debacle in Afghanistan and a slowing economy.  And, as Shift reported previously, there were also growing concerns about large political contributions which LeVine and her husband made to Senator Patty Murray and the Democrat National Committee around the time she was seeking a job in the Biden Administration. (Click to read full Shift Article and Shift)

There has been a significant increase in the number of Washington State employees seeking retirement information since Governor Jay Inslee stated he would fire state workers if they failed to be fully vaccinated against COVID by mid-October.  The Seattle Times reports that more than 1,800 state workers sought pension estimates since the governor made his latest announcement.  Despite the state achieving its previous goal of having more than 70% of Washingtonians over the age of 16 vaccinated, Governor Inslee, some 556 days after he started running the state by executive decrees, has once again changed the immunization requirements needed to combat the spread of the virus.  Fire fighters, Washington State Patrol officers, ferry workers, and others are threatening to leave their jobs if COVID vaccinations become mandatory. (Seattle Times and Washington State Department of Health)

Tribal governments are building a large war chest to protect the very lucrative sports betting monopoly which was handed to them by Governor Inslee and the Democrat-controlled Washington Legislature who they have rewarded with campaign contributions.  With just a couple more bureaucratic approvals needed, tribal casinos will soon be the only place where gamblers can legally bet on professional and collegiate sporting contests in Washington State, and the tribes want to make sure their non-tribal competitors cannot take a slice of their expected large profits. Non-tribal establishments have threatened a possible initiative to allow sports betting in their facilities.  Thus far, $700,000 has been collected (most of which came from the Tulalip Tribe) by a political action committee organized to protect the tribes’ Democrat-granted monopoly. (Washington Observer)

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) claims Washington State’s new long-term care tax is problematic, and that all of its employees are seeking to opt-out of being covered by the state’s plan. Yet, since the state has yet to finalize the rules for opting out, there is considerable uncertainty if this can be accomplished before the state’s November 1^st deadline.  Also, because of the rush by many individuals to purchase plans (and thus not be required to purchase coverage from the state), many insurance companies have been overwhelmed and have suspended selling plans here, making it even more difficult for Washington consumers to find one that meets the state’s shifting requirements.  Many groups have asked Governor Inslee to delay implementation of the state’s long-term care tax.  Yet, as we have seen multiple times during the past 18 months, the governor will likely only respond if the request comes from one of his major campaign contributors. (Lewiston Tribune)

The Seattle City Council’s slashing of the Seattle Police Department’s budget will likely result in the city having to pay more to provide public safety in the future.  The hastily drafted cuts by the council (passed to reward the violence by liberal activists in 2020) resulted in the mass exodus of well-trained police officers from the department.  Seattle, now in the midst of a surge in violent crimes, must compete with other cities to attract new officers to its force, and is having to offer large signing bonuses will likely need to make large salary increases as well. (Route Fifty)

Could 200 more officers be ready to leave the Seattle Police Department if Mayor Jenny Durkan’s vaccination mandate is implemented?  These departures would leave the department with a very serious staffing shortage, after nearly 300 officers quit their jobs in the past year due to lack of support from liberal politicians at city hall.  Under Durkan’s mandate, all city workers must be fully vaccinated by October 18^th or lose their job.

Some officers refuse to be vaccinated (saying they have not been infected with COVID for the past 18 months, despite doing their job and not being vaccinated) while others are concerned about turning over private medical records to the city.  The Seattle Police Officers’ Guild is currently in negotiations with city officials over the mayor’s vaccine mandate. (MyNorthwest)

All large sporting events occurring in Seattle will require proof of vaccination (or a recent negative COVID test) plus wearing masks in order for fans to attend.   The Seahawks, Sounders, and University of Washington Huskies have all made vaccination/negative testing and wearing a mask a requirement for entry into the stadiums.  Seattle’s new NHL team, the Kraken, has also said that spectators will need proof of vaccination.  As of today, the Seattle Mariners’ webpage does not list vaccination/negative test as a requirement, but the Mariners’ next home game is not until this Friday. (Seattle Times and Seattle Mariners’ webpage)

As the Washington State Department of Corrections continues to move inmates from the Monroe Corrections Complex to other state facilities, many inmates are concerned about contracting COVID. The state is proceeding with plans to close the complex’s reformatory (one of five units housed at Monroe) by October 31^st, as the state’s prison population has rapidly decreased due to capacity restrictions imposed last year due to the COVID pandemic. Despite Governor Inslee continuing to blame conservatives for not being vaccinated, it appears many DOC workers have also refused to be vaccinated.  The Everett Herald reports that only 40% of the state’s prison employees have been immunized.  (Everett Herald)

The Kennewick City Council will be debating this evening a proposal to join several other Washington State cities in banning a city-imposed income tax.  Kennewick could become the sixth municipality (after Battle Ground, Granger, Spokane, Spokane Valley and Union Gap) to make it illegal to impose an income tax on their citizens.  The Yakima City Council has placed a similar income tax ban proposal on the November ballot. (Washington Policy Center Facebook and KNDU)

A man is using the mask mandate as a way to obtain personal information from Washington State University students. Those not wearing a mask on the Pullman campus are approached by an individual who claims to be enforcing the mask mandate.  The student’s ID and driver’s license are then photographed by the individual and informed they will soon receive a ticket in the mail.  Neither the Pullman Police Department nor WSU security are currently enforcing the mask mandate. There is obvious concerns that those who have had the ID’s photographed could soon be victims of identity theft. (KREM TV)

While environmental groups and liberal politicians continue to scream catastrophic reports on Snake River salmon population data (in order to soak more money out of their supporters), officials say the numbers are strongly improving.  In fact, the Idaho Fish and Game Department has found that the population has increased enough for it to allow fishing on the Snake and Clearwater rivers for the first time in more than 100 years. (KQQQ)