The Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) is finally free to appeal a bizarrely delayed ruling from a King County judge who tossed out Initiative 2066—because apparently 2 million Washington voters choosing natural gas just wasn’t “constitutional enough.” Judge Sandra Widlan sat on her ruling for a suspicious 48 days before finally uploading it. Nothing shady there, right?

BIAW’s Greg Lane called the delay “unheard of” and a likely attempt to stall their appeal. Now that the ruling is finally on the books, the state Supreme Court may take it up directly, or punt it to the Court of Appeals. Either way, the legal fight continues.

Meanwhile, the unelected Washington State Building Code Council continues to push 2021 building standards that make natural gas harder to use. And let’s not forget the Biden administration’s failed attempt to ban gas water heaters, only to walk it back after massive backlash.

Natural gas remains a reliable, affordable energy source for millions—but that hasn’t stopped the climate cult from trying to shut it down with lawsuits, mandates, and bureaucratic overreach. Because in the Democrats’ world, saving the planet apparently starts with freezing out your freedom to choose how you heat your home. Read more at Center Square.

Gov. Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 1052 into law this week, giving Washington state an even broader—and more vague—definition of what counts as a hate crime. Because apparently, when it comes to criminal justice, clarity and due process are just outdated nuisances.

The bill adds language saying a hate crime can be committed “in whole or in part” due to bias, and—here’s the kicker—it doesn’t even matter if the bias is based on something that’s factually true. If a criminal thinks you’re part of a protected class, that’s enough. So now we’re not just prosecuting actions—we’re prosecuting perceptions.

Republicans like Rep. Jenny Graham raised red flags, rightly pointing out that this language edges toward guilty-until-proven-innocent territory. But Democrats, led by Rep. Cindy Ryu, brushed those concerns aside in their rush to expand government power over what people might have been thinking.

To add a fig leaf of clarity, a Republican amendment was tossed in to define “in part or the whole” as needing to be a “cause in fact,” but let’s be real: when prosecutors start diving into your potential mental state and imagined motives, the legal waters get murky fast.

Ferguson and his allies are pitching this as a way to help juries understand hate crimes better. What it really does is hand prosecutors a vague, subjective tool that’s ripe for political abuse—perfect for a party that increasingly governs through ideology instead of law. Read more at Center Square.

The Ninth Circuit is stepping in to revive a lawsuit against the University of Washington after it tried to punish computer science professor Stuart Reges for the high crime of sarcasm. His offense? Including a cheeky, alternative land acknowledgment on his syllabus—something the university encouraged faculty to do. Until, of course, someone expressed a viewpoint they didn’t like.

Reges’ version read: “I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property, the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington.” Satirical? Yes. Illegal? Not even close. But UW launched an investigation anyway, because apparently, only approved ideological statements are welcome in their “diverse” academic environment.

After a lower court tossed the case, the Ninth Circuit will now hear it, and Reges’ legal team—backed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)—is feeling optimistic. As attorney Josh Bleisch pointed out, universities are supposed to be places of free thought and open debate, not groupthink factories with speech police.

Even better, UW basically invited this mess. They were the ones who pushed for land acknowledgments in the first place, then flipped out when someone didn’t parrot the expected script. That’s called viewpoint discrimination—something the Constitution still has a problem with, despite how badly the academic left wants to wish it away.

And if the Ninth Circuit fumbles it? Reges and his legal team are ready to take it all the way to the Supreme Court. Because apparently, protecting free speech now requires legal warfare against taxpayer-funded institutions that can’t handle a joke. Read more at KTTH.

While ICE is making its presence known in Spokane, the city’s top priority apparently isn’t public safety or cooperating with federal law enforcement—it’s figuring out how to make parks off-limits to immigration agents.

Councilmember Lili Navarrete is leading the charge to turn public spaces into legal loopholes for ICE evasion. Her ordinance would let the city declare parks as “nonpublic” zones, meaning ICE would need a warrant to enter—because if there’s one thing Spokane needs, it’s more bureaucratic hurdles for law enforcement.

The kicker? State law already ties local law enforcement’s hands when it comes to helping ICE. Now, the city council wants to double down by slow-walking federal agents with red tape and “residential safety” designations on public lands.

Even the Spokane Park Board, which this ordinance tries to drag into the political mess, wants nothing to do with it. The board’s president flatly rejected the plan, warning that forcing them into immigration politics could violate the city charter. But hey, why let legal limits or public safety get in the way of virtue signaling?

So while ICE is out doing its job, Spokane is busy trying to block the exits. Read more at Center Square.

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