Fall-apart cases embarrass Bob Ferguson (he’ll just file another Trump lawsuit to distract) Attorney General Ferguson loves big announcements when he files trumped-up charges. But when the cases fall apart? Nary a word from Bob.

Governor Inslee has never hesitated to spend our tax dollars. So it shouldn’t come as any shock that he doesn’t care if his presidential ambitions carry a big price tag for taxpayers. Inslee’s frequent out-of-state political travel to campaign for Democrats is straining the Washington State Patrol’s budget. Now the agency is asking for an additional $1.3 million, with even more out-of-state travel for Inslee’s Executive Protection troopers expected. The ballooning travel budget has some calling this TrooperGate Part Deux (OK, maybe just us). Between January and August alone, Inslee spent close to 50 days traveling out-of-state at campaign-related events. Quick reminder for everyone keeping score at home, every time Inslee leaves the state, Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib is acting governor – and gets paid Inslee’s much higher pay rate. Yet somehow Inslee’s pay doesn’t go down. (NW News Network)

Hilary Franz, state Lands Commissioner, is requesting $90 million from legislators to help restore habitat for salmon and orcas. “The items that we’re calling for are not new,” Franz said in an interview. “We’ve been doing this work for our Puget Sound and rivers and lakes and ocean shorelines for quite some time. The budget request is split between $22 million in operating budget and $68 million for one-time capital budget projects. (Seattle Times)

The Seattle Times editorial board wants Washington to move up the state’s presidential primary to earlier in the year. They opined, “Right now, Washington’s default practice of holding its presidential primary on the fourth Tuesday of May all but ensures that the results arrive too late to substantially influence the presidential nominating process.” Secretary of State Kim Wyman has been a vocal supporter of an earlier primary as well. (Seattle Times)

Seattle is jumping into another bike share business…because all the others have gone swimmingly (sarcasm font needed). The company JUMP, which offers an electric fleet of dock-less bikes, is expanding into Seattle with 300 bikes to start. “Once you get on the bike, you realize you are a superhero; the electric assist is really the beauty of this program,” said JUMP spokesperson Nelle Pierson. (My Northwest)

Loren Culp, the police chief in Republic, announced that he will not enforce Initiative 1639, the voter-approved gun-law measure. Culp’s move earned a thumbs-up from rocker Ted Nugent, who went to Facebook to celebrate Culp’s stand. Nugent wrote: “Chief Loren Culp is an Anerican freedom warrior. Godbless the freedom warriors.” Will Culp’s decision lead to a court battle? (Yakima Herald-Republic)

Do you like The Morning Briefing? Forward this to a friend! It helps us grow our community and serve you better.

If you feel we missed something that should be covered, email us at [email protected].

If you don’t want to receive this email each morning, click here to opt-out of The Morning Briefing.