You can perhaps excuse Spokane City Councilman Zack Zappone for being surprised that his own emails can be used against him, given the way his fellow Democrats, from Jay Inslee on down to a semi-Eastsider like Lisa Brown, have really tried to take accountability out of the public arena (for them). You can practically hear him invoking a typical Democrat defense – how can you accuse me of sending those incriminating emails from my taxpayer-funded account just because my name is on them?

But, as the Spokesman-Review reports, incriminating emails from Councilman Zappone’s account “made public as part of a court case over Spokane’s new City Council district map shed light on how the councilman at the center of the controversy tried to shape public perception of the redrawn boundaries.” However, since Zappone – who refused to talk with the reporter – denied last year doing any such thing, that duplicity may cause a judge to throw out the partisan council district map which his fellow Democrats jammed through last year. A hearing is tomorrow.

The public records obtained show that Councilman Zappone engaged in a conspiracy with a far-Left, Seattle-based dark-money group called Fuse to help secure new district lines, which would protect his own political future and help Democrats in other districts. He also demeaned the work of volunteers who worked on the redistricting process and worked with his taxpayer-funded staff to hide his role in the effort. As the paper wrote, “In subpoenaed texts and messages made public through the court proceedings, Zappone appeared to have been aware of the partisan implications of his map, working with his legislative assistant and political allies to craft the messaging and drum up support for his redrawing of council districts.” Next up, accountability? (Spokesman-Review)

It’s not unusual for state government to prove incapable of launching a new program in a timely manner.  That’s why the myriad of problems surrounding how the Department of Ecology has stumbled with the administration of the unprecedented money grab that is known as the Democrats’ cap and trade program, and its publicity-generating “carbon auction”, are not that surprising.  After all, Ecology’s staff has no particular expertise in managing the complicated financial features that the green’s radical program would require, and Ecology “leaders” had no incentive to meet deadlines set by the legislature because they don’t answer to the legislature – they work for Governor Jay Inslee, and he doesn’t worry much about financial mismanagement either.

What is unusual, as reported by Capital Press, is the rush this late in the session to fix problems that just started in January.  The cap-and-trade program is hurting farmers across the state because Ecology “basically screwed it up” according to Democrat Senator Mark Mullet, the co-sponsor of the fix-it bill (SB 5766). Also strange is that the legislation includes a clause which “would forbid fuel suppliers or distributors from listing cap-and-trade surcharges on invoices” – in other words a gag order on how much the program is costing Washington consumers. Now why wouldn’t Ecology want to be transparent, and let the people of Washington know everything about its shiny new program? Maybe some legislators will ask that question when the bill is heard in committee on Monday. (Capital Press)

We are seeing every day the consequences of the disastrous decision back in 2021 by legislative Democrats to go along with a misguided State Supreme Court in legalizing hard drugs. Those negative impacts stretch far beyond Seattle, King County, and urban Western Washington, as the folks at KXLY in Spokane remind us in a new dedicated crime series. “In January, the Spokane Police Department reorganized its patrols, essentially doubling the number of officers walking the streets. ‘You’re concerned for coming down here because your car is going to get broken into or you’re going to get hurt,’ Ofc. Jackson Henry with the Spokane Police Department said. ‘That’s kind of you, and everyone else has that feeling that we’re trying to fix.’”

And what has caused the need for this new patrol emphasis – drugs. From Ofc. Austin Neale: “Everybody here is using fentanyl. Everybody here is addicted to fentanyl. Everybody here’s main drive and purpose is to get the next pill.”  That’s what the Democrats’ legalization drive has caused. (KXLY)

The bills are coming due for several Western Washington school districts, as KIRO reports that “Olympia, Shoreline, Everett, and Bellevue are just some of the public school districts facing multi-million dollar deficits in the coming year.” And that doesn’t even include the big one, Seattle Public Schools. The deficits are due to the schools forgetting that they can’t just keep spending money like no students will ever leave if the product suffers (or closes), as they take their state funding with them. A UW education professor points out, “A lot of districts are dealing with the sort of large salary increases they made before the pandemic, (ED. Note: and during, and since) … but they create these long-term financial commitments. Now, coupled with declining enrollment, it places districts in sort of short-term financial, difficult position.” Of course, this happens every year somewhere, and the school officials never seem to learn.  As Democrat State Senator Lisa Wellman complains, “There always will be budget cuts and maneuvering that takes place because your student body changes every year.” Especially when you don’t provide a product that enough of your students want. (KIRO)

It’s sometimes hard to keep track of just all the transportation-related failures which have plagued Seattle under the past four decades of all-liberal leadership – whether it’s broken bridges, unbuilt monorails, dismantled streetcars, delayed streetcars, unused streetcars, etc. The latest example of Seattle’s transportation incompetence came to the attention of Axios-Seattle, which points out that “For the past seven years, Seattle has had two streetcar lines that ping pong between different neighborhoods, never meeting. Now, almost a decade after the Seattle City Council approved a plan to bridge the disconnected routes, it remains unclear if the project will ever happen.” Not that it actually should happen if efficiency and common sense were guideposts for Seattle planners. And now even the federal government, which is not exactly noted for its fiscal constraint, suggests that the “delay has gone so long … that $3.8 million in grant money allocated for the streetcar link should perhaps be taken away, as it ‘could have been put to better use.’” Well, of course, it could. (AXIOS-Seattle)

Really, just fix Third Avenue, which has been going downhill for decades, and all will be well. Remember, it’s not our irresponsible far-Left policies. That’s what one city councilmember told the Seattle Times, in hopes that people will ignore the council’s inability to fix anything. “If we can fix Third Avenue, the rest of downtown is going to fall into place.”  Yeah, right. (Seattle Times)

WATCH OUT FOR FLYING OBJECTS – ESPECIALLY RUMORS ABOUT DEMOCRAT TAX INCREASES

DEMOCRAT FRONT GROUP TRIES TO ATTACK, GETS TAKEN TO SCHOOL BY MAYOR WOODWARD

AG FERGUSON KNOWS BETTER, HOPES YOU DO NOT

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