You can often tell when a reporter is literally salivating to go after a conservative, and it generally starts by introducing an editorial comment immediately into a straight news story. That’s the case in this Olympian piece breathlessly informing us that the sponsor of six “controversial ballot initiatives that are still in the signature-gathering process is under formal investigation by the state Public Disclosure Commission” – all because he is spending his own money on the effort!

Note the use of the word “controversial” to describe measures that are simply conservative and only controversial to people like the liberal Yakima mayor who called 911 back in September over “right-wing” signature gathering for the measures (as My Northwest reported). Further showing a bit of bias, a PDC complaint now is hardly news during election season, except that the far-Left activist pushing the complaint said it must be news because “it is important for voters to know about the investigation,” which is also being underwritten by a typical assortment of far-Left groups like “SEIU 775, Civic Ventures, Washington Conservation Action, and Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates.”

The person under attack, Brian Haywood, doesn’t sound concerned, saying, “Intimidation tactics will have no bearing on our ability to qualify the initiatives.” You can read on to see how, among the other things the reporter did not find important enough to point out was that the “consultant” making the partisan complaint here was also the same consultant working for the advocacy group “which helped pass the capital gains tax” in 2021 (and which would be repealed by one of the initiatives) here… Olympian, My Northwest, Geekwire.

Shift has repeatedly reminded readers that this year’s most expensive campaign is not in Seattle but on the East side of the Cascades. It’s Spokane, as the numbers crunchers at the Inlander report, that “an unprecedented amount of money is pouring into,” and they have plenty of figures to point out how many financial records these campaigns are breaking.

The weekly notes that “10 people running for city office have raised $2 million in direct contributions. And that’s not counting the $1.86 million that’s been spent by political action committees.” You can read on to see how “two ballot measures are also generating big amounts of money” here… Shift, Inlander.

Even when the beleaguered bureaucrats at Gov. Jay Inslee’s Department of Transportation are trying to help the public save time, they can’t get the job done. That’s the takeaway from the Seattle Times reporting that “Washington State Ferries is delaying the opening of winter vehicle reservations because of technical issues” on the website, which was promised to save the public time.

You would think that since Gov. Inslee’s minions likely knew winter was coming, they would have had time to launch a site that could stay afloat – but if you thought that, you have not been paying attention to Shift’s coverage of the ferry system’s multiple failures. Read on to see when the website might float again here… Seattle Times, Shift.

It’s been out of the news after multiple lawsuits, but the taxpayers of Pierce County were not able to escape unscathed the strange saga of the newspaper delivery person who drew the negative attention of County Sheriff Ed Troyer back in March 2021. The carrier, according to public radio, “has agreed to settle with Troyer and the county for $500,000 in a civil rights lawsuit.”

The latest decision means the accuser will get far less than he had sought after “Troyer, in his personal unmarked SUV, followed (him) while he was delivering newspapers” and called in what became a massive 911 response. You can read on to see how the “confrontation contributed to calls for Troyer’s resignation,” but that hasn’t happened yet here… KNKX Public Radio.

Evidently, partisan electioneering has been dominating city council meetings for far too long over in Spokane. That is seemingly the story from the Spokesman-Review, as now it’s foreign affairs causing far-left “protesters (to) shut down a Spokane City Council meeting Monday over an October resolution in support of Israel.”

The protestors got their attention, although the council members left the room once the chanting began. And the leftists promise to keep up with the childish tactics if they do not get their way, with the lead activist promising, “I guess the City Council is no longer going to have meetings” here… Spokesman-Review.

Political news can sometimes be scarce on election day itself, so Shift decided to reach back to a story you might have missed over the weekend. That was the Seattle Times’ attempt to catch up with Shift’s coverage of what “would be the largest renewable project in Washington,” the Horse Heaven Hills wind and solar farm, which is wobbling through the regulatory approval process.

Among the ironies in the piece is the perspective of one of the extreme environmentalists pushing the project that “(S)acrifices have been made for all our resource development” in our state, and it’s time for people in the Tri-Cites to start making those sacrifices now so the people of Seattle can virtue signal about their so-called “green energy.” You can read on to see how short the state is on meeting its future energy needs and that this massive project “represents less than 5% of that total need and is taking years longer than expected to build,” but is in no way deterring the extremists from wasting your tax dollars on their green dreams here… Seattle Times, Shift.

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