From efforts to save salmon, which impacts the water supply reaching farmland, and the “astronomical” land costs, to business and gas tax hikes from Democrats, Washam would have to raise prices of his cider too high. It made running the business untenable, arguing the costs of doing business haven’t come down much since the start of the COVID pandemic.

“The people that live in the city can, they’re only going to pay so much for an apple. They’re only going to pay so much for a six pack, right? If everybody takes their beer and their cider, their wine, whatever, and it becomes $100 a package, pretty sure there’s going to be a whole lot less drinking going on because of just simply what we can afford,” Washam explained on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Washam says he didn’t go a day without a customer who said they were feeling financially pinched. But he fears that farmers are going to be hit the hardest.

Too expensive to operate

Cities are growing and development is going up in areas nearer to farmlands. That’s raising the price for farmers.

Some will sell their land to developers for housing and then set up their farms somewhere else but that takes time. Others will stay but raise their prices due to both land ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚýlabor costs. Washington Democrats forced farmers into paying seasonal workers overtime. But that’s become too expensive, so they cut down on the labor hours, which impacts their crops.

“Well, 40% of the fruit, roughly, depending on the orchard, got left in the orchards because the juice quality, the low-quality Apple. That’s what we make juice and concentrate and all these products out of. You couldn’t afford to harvest them and sell them for a profit or even break even,” Washam explained. “So, the farmers went, ‘Well, I’m not going to spend money just so somebody else can have cheap juice,’ just like I can’t make cider and spend money just so somebody can have a buzz. It killed it. That was the final nail in the coffin, and it’s just made the costs too expensive. There’s no margin left in the ingredients that I can afford to have a facility now.”

Business owner warns farmers are being targeted

Washam is warning that cider makers, wineries, and breweries from the Pacific Northwest are closing up shop.

Locus Cider seven taprooms in Washington in January. The North Brewery, a craft brewer in Endicott, last September. Before the new year, Airways Brewing in Kent the entire company. Last week, Boss Rambler Beer Club it was closing its west Bend taproom.

Now, D’s Wicked Cider is closed. Washam and his wife are now moving “under duress.”

“We’re going to bail. All the research we did, we’re going to head to Tennessee and ranch cattle, go back, go back to my roots,” Washam explained.

He just wishes he didn’t have to give up on his dream because of poor policy choices.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason onĚý,ĚýĚý˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

There were 276 in King County and Seattle, down fromĚý302 during the same time period last year.

But at the same time, anecdotally, we could be seeing a rise in injected drug use. This may be due to a lower supply of fentanyl coming across the border with Mexico.

Less fentanyl leading to more needles?

Andrea Suarez, founder of We Heart Seattle, says she’s been finding more discarded needles around the homeless than she’s seen in the recent past. Similarly, “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH has seen more discarded needles near encampments and bus stops. Still, fentanyl and methamphetamines dominate the Seattle drug market.

“2021 and 2022 we picked up more than 60,000 needles and then started to see foil blowing down the road like Autum leaves. There was so much foil everywhere. Now we’re seeing a comeback of needles not at the same level but mainly because we’re picking them up versus letting them get accumulated as they had for years in our parks. It’s a comeback, but not anywhere close to a replacement. Most people are still smoking fentanyl,” Suarez explained to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Public Health of Seattle and King County have not seen an uptick in needle use as judged by the needle exchange programs. A spokesperson says there number of syringes exchanged with the department is similar in Q1 2025 than in 2024.

“The overdose continues to be on the rise because fentanyl is pretty much in everything, including meth, crack-cocaine, and unpredictable amounts because of its illicit nature,” Suarez noted. “People who are using straight fentanyl or fetty powder are less likely or are not overdosing as much as the surprise fentanyl in people who smoke meth as well.”

Trump deserves some credit

Biden’s “open border” turned into a fentanyl firehose that devastated Seattle and much of the United States. President Trump’s first 100 days shut that hose off to a trickle.

In response to his tariff threats and pressure, Mexico 10,000 National Guard troops to its northern border—yet U.S. agents still nabbed roughly 1,630 pounds of fentanyl between January and February 2025, a full 50 percent less than what was by the same point in 2024. That’s the result of a withering supply.

There were 26 fewer drug overdose deaths in Seattle. Trump doesn’t deserve ˛ą±ô±ôĚýthe credit, but he deserves a large chunk of it. This is the direct or indirect result of a no-nonsense border crackdown.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. -7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

On the bus ride into work, I heard King County Metro dispatch warn bus drivers not to allow an “extremely unsanitary man” onto the bus. He was last seen at Mercer Way and 5th in Seattle, according to the dispatcher. The tone of his voice was urgent. He repeated that the man was “extremely unsanitary” łľłÜ±ôłŮľ±±č±ô±đĚýtimes, but didn’t explain anything more specific. We’ll have to use our imaginations.

King County Metro confirmed the disturbance was a man “with apparent mental health issues who left one of our coaches in an unsanitary condition in that area” on Wednesday morning.

“That coach was removed from service for cleaning, and another bus was brought in to replace it on the route, and service was maintained for riders. There is no police report, and we don’t have any information that security was contacted or involved,” a King County Metro spokesperson explained to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

So, they just let him walk away?

A missed opportunity to help someone

That there was no security contact or police involved is the biggest problem. And it only ensures this kind of incident continues to occur.

King County Metro says it started fare enforcement a month ago. Does anyone think the “extremely unsanitary man” paid his fare? Of course not. So why weren’t they called? Why wasn’t anyone called who could at least help get this man the help he so obviously and desperately needs? If not Metro staff, the Seattle Police Department could have perhaps connected this man with the .

This is yet another missed opportunity to help someone who needs it. But it’s also a reminder of how rotten a service King County Metro can be for riders. And letting this man go without any kind of meaningful intervention just means it’ll happen again.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. -7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

According to the , a judge would be granted the power to “dismiss any criminal prosecution due to arbitrary action or governmental misconduct.” It would allow them to use their personal judgment on “the seriousness and circumstances of the offense” and “the impact of a dismissal on the safety or welfare of the community (the defendant is part of the community).” The change amends the current rule CrR 8.3(b).

The rule change was proposed by the far-left King County Department of Defense, the Washington State Office of Public Defense, the Washington Defender Association, and the Snohomish County Office of Public Defense.Ěý

Why is this rule change necessary?Ěý

The rule change proponents argue that judges stop viewing themselves as “passive instruments of prosecutorial policies,” citing State v.ĚýStarrish.Ěý

That case imposed a “narrow reading” of CrR 8.3(b), holding that courts lacked inherent authority to dismiss charges “in the furtherance of justice” and effectively reducing judges to “passive instruments of prosecutorial policies.” The proposed amendment directly rebuts Starrish by expressly empowering trial courts to dismiss cases for reasons of “justice” and prescribing specific factors to guide that discretion.

What’s particularly galling is that a similar, but less severe change, failed to gain momentum in this year’s legislative session. House Bill 1125 would have allowed judges to reduce sentences for convicted felons, based on nothing more than their own subjective judgments. It failed to advance, only to be upended by a more extremist version that wouldn’t go through the state legislature at all.

Significant push back

The public has until April 30 to provide commentary, though, as is usually the case, almost no one outside of those in the legal profession even knew this rule was being considered. But those who work in the system are deeply alarmed.

Colin Hayes, a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office, told the Washington Supreme Court justices that “this proposal should be rejected.”

“First, it is not necessary. The proponents fail to identify any particular problem under the current rule that calls for this ‘fix,'” he wrote. “Second, it could lead to disparate outcomes in different jurisdictions based on similar facts. Third, allowing for dismissal without a showing of prejudice will lead to reduced public confidence in the justice system.”

Lucy Pippin, a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, echoes those concerns.

“Because the proposed amendment does not require the action or misconduct to prejudice the accused in any manner, it untethers the rule from due process,” she . “As a result, defendants would benefit—and victims and public safety would suffer—even when the State’s action has in no way interfered with a defendant’s right to a fair trial. This significant broadening of the rule and trial court’s discretion would lead to unequitable application of the law.”

Why is this being proposed?

The rule change isn’t reform—it’s a back-door power grab. And it’s driven by radical ideology.

If judges need new “discretion” to toss out prosecutions, maybe they should run for legislative office instead of hiding behind their black robes. The legislature already debated and rejected a milder version of this proposal, so the only reason to sneak it in through court rulemaking is that the architects knew it could never survive a straight-up vote of the people’s representatives. That ought to set off every alarm bell about judicial overreach and unchecked activist judges deciding on public safety policy, not to mention the slap in the face to crime victims who will be left wondering whether their suffering even matters.

If you care about accountability, community safety, or the simple principle that laws should be made by elected officials, now is the time to speak up. Write, call, tweet or carrier-pigeon your objections to the Supreme Court clerk, and your local legislators—just make sure your voice is heard before radical judges rewrite the rules behind your backs.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. -7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

The neighborhood group Denny Blaine Park for All is filing a complaint against the city of Seattle and its Department of Parks and Recreation “to abate public nuisance and for breach of fiduciary duty” in King County Superior Court. The legal complaint hits the city for its “failure and refusal…to protect the public interest.”

The park drew attention statewide after neighbors were angered that the park has become a nudist attraction. But it was politically tricky for the city because it became favored by Seattle’s LGBT community. Last May, the city announced a plan to build a playground at the park as a way to deter the nudity that upset local neighbors. The playground was donated by a neighbor. After the city was accused of targeting the LGBT community by seeking to alter the park from what it had become, Mayor Bruce Harrell backtracked and did not intervene.

Neighbors allege the park attracted public masturbation; city hoped to deter the behavior with ‘public masturbation deterrent infrastructure’?

Neighbors said there’s a new problem: because of all the news coverage, voyeurs from around the area, primarily men, have come by to stare at the nude beach and parkgoers while masturbating publicly.

“It is now a regional venue for criminal and uncivil behavior that includes public masturbation, public sex and other types of indecent exposure, drug use, unlawful public nudity, environmental damage to the shoreline, and scofflaw parking that prevents fire trucks and ambulances from reaching neighborhood homes,” the legal complaint, obtained by “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH, alleges.

The city of Seattle has been aware of the complaints from neighbors for at least the last year.

In May 2024, the Parks Department for “Access improvements and Plan for Denny Blaine Park.” According to the city document, it asked for plans to build “public masturbation deterrent infrastructure.” It’s unclear what that means. The total project budget is $500,000.

“We have scoped the project from the initial Park CommUNITY Fund submission and will begin broader public engagement effort for the project in late 2025. We anticipate improvements occurring in 2027,” a Seattle Parks spokesperson explained in a statement. “Currently, there is a stair improvement project at the park, which involves installing a railing and landings on the south stairs.”

The spokesperson says the city removed the “public masturbation deterrent infrastructure” from city project documents, but left on the submission online “to show how the projects developed into more informed scoped proposals.”

Ongoing indecent exposure

The complaint details several incidents—caught on video—of “public masturbation, public sex, and other acts of indecent exposure (that) are happening not just in good weather but year-round.” It also says a naked man, who drives a red truck, repeatedly visits the park to masturbate with his car door open.

“In the past 15 months, a woman who works near the Park has witnessed 13 different men masturbating in the Park, with several of these men repeatedly visiting the park to do so,” the complaint reads before detailing several incidents in March 2025 showing that public masturbation is “increasing in frequency as the weather improves.”

There’s plenty of video evidence

“The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH obtained video evidence compiled by neighbors. It includes nine minutes of footage and photos of indecent exposures. The faces of the people in the video and photos have been blurred.

“Nudity at the Park is often aggressively directed at other Park users and neighbors so that it constitutes the crime of indecent exposure. For example, a naked man was seen confronting and attempting to intimidate a middle-aged woman, a Department employee, who was collecting garbage after a busy weekend,” the complaint alleges. “A man was seen alternatively lying naked on his back and kneeling naked on the hood of his car exposing his genitals to passersby for at least six hours.”

The complaint says the behavior is conducted in front of kids, as well. It says two teen girls who live with their family nearby “were accosted by a man coming from the Park who exposed himself and started to urinate on the street in front of them.”

“When he got into his car, which was illegally parked so as to block the driveway of this family, he spit in the face of a family friend who had seen his behavior and attempted to talk to him about it,” the complaint alleges.

The complaint alleges the city and Seattle Parks have known about the issue since 2017 but have declined to act, forcing the group of neighbors to file the complaint. They are represented by Foster Garvey PC in Seattle.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. -7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

Seattle Times columnist Naomi Ishisaka is the claim that racism explains why some neighborhoods—like those in south Seattle—lack the high‑quality and plentiful grocery stores that predominantly white areas enjoy.

“While ‘food desert’ might lead people to think there’s something inevitable about certain communities lacking access to healthful food, ‘food apartheid’ argues that these inequities are the result of intentional choices, and can be changed,” Ishisaka writes.

‘Food apartheid’ over facts

Ishisaka, who hasn’t abandoned her dogmatic loyalty to the Black Lives Matter grift, insists that every disparity is proof of racism. Fewer grocery stores in so‑called Black neighborhoods? Racism!

“These inequities, part of what are called social determinants of health, contribute to health disparities that fall along racial and socio-economic lines. They result in poorer health outcomes for Black, Native American and some Hispanic people,” she claims—blaming an anti‑Black, anti‑Native American, and even anti‑(some) Hispanic conspiracy that somehow spares Asians and poor whites.

Eschewing Occam’s Razor, she posits an orchestrated effort—“policies such as redlining and urban renewal”—to starve these areas of investment and amenities. Yet she glosses over the obvious reason Seattle’s black neighborhoods have fewer grocery options: crime.

Near her own house in Rainier Beach, she admits, “we have two Safeways, the closest of which has been the site of numerous incidents of gun violence”—ironically pinpointing the culprit herself.

Naomi Ishisaka already has the answer

Grocery stores run on razor‑thin margins and will avoid neighborhoods where customers and staff face deadly risks. Perhaps that nuance escaped her ideologically blinded gaze.

Granted, the Radical Left did try to turnĚý˛ą±ô±ôĚýof Seattle into dangerous neighborhoods when they stopped prosecuting criminals and fought to keep them out of jail. Still, that Ishisaka doesn’t realize that a grocery store that doubles as a criminal’s outdoor shooting range is not a great business model shows you the extend of her ideological blind spots.

Oh the irony

It’s amusing to parse through the inconsistency coming from the Radical Left when they reflexively blame racism on everything. It’s particularly fun when that “everything is racist” mentality intersects with their anti-corporation talking points.

The irony is that the same activists who demand recognition of “food apartheid” also oppose proactive policing, screeching “ACAB” on every street corner. It’s almost as if they champion policies that keep crime thriving, just so they can keep declaring neighborhoods victimized—while lecturing businesses for daring to turn a profit while staying away from violence.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

Harvard—just like most elite universities—jumped at every woke demand from Black Lives Matter activists and gender extremists. It amplified every lie about police brutality and now pretends gender is an endless buffet of identities you can switch on a dime. But the moment someone dares defend Jewish students from discrimination, Harvard suddenly morphs into a crusader for “academic freedom.” Don’t buy it.

Now, Harvard is suing to unfreeze those funds, insisting it’s owed tax dollars with zero oversight. Newsflash: No institution gets a blank check.

Yes, academic freedom matters. No, the federal government shouldn’t script curricula. I agree. But when billions of taxpayer dollars are on the line, we deserved some guardrails. Critics of this move aren’t upset because it’s a slippery slope—they’re clinging to misinformation, ignorance, or outright lies.

CNN panel claims Trump demanding Harvard stop teaching Middle Eastern history

Consider CNN’s panel claiming the administration wants Harvard to stop teaching African‑American or Middle Eastern history. When a fellow panelist corrected them, left‑wing author Alencia Johnson doubled down, “That’s what the demands say.” Except they don’t.

The from the Trump administration to Harvard is public.

Harvard must commission an independent audit of programs “that most fuel antisemitic harassment or reflect ideological capture.” It should also identify faculty who “discriminated against Jewish or Israeli students or incited students to violate Harvard’s rules following October 7.” If there’s nothing to hide, why block a neutral audit?

Stop fueling antisemitism

The other faux concern from the left involves the Trump administration demanding Harvard promote viewpoint diversity in hiring, the very thing universities used to strive for.

Instead, they push groupthink and actively discriminate against or silence conservative viewpoints. Or, in the case of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES), the school promotes antisemitism, according to many. And apparently, the Trump administration was right to specifically call out CMES.

Last month,ĚýThe Harvard CrimsonĚý that the university “dismissed the faculty leaders” of CMES after the program had “come under fire for its programming on Israel and Palestine.”

Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers wrote in a March post on X that a February panel at CMES about “Israel’s war in Lebanon” was “very likely” antisemitic under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which Harvard adopted as part of a settlement agreement in January.

A report from the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance, an alumni advocacy group, in May accused the CMES of demonizing Israel as the “last remaining colonial settler power embodying the world’s worst evils: racism, apartheid, and genocide.”

Harvard is actively fighting the Trump administration. They did not have to make this change, but did anyway.Ěý°Őłó˛ąłŮ’˛őĚýhow bad the alleged antisemitism was.

Trump administration can save Harvard

Did Harvard really demand CMES teach—or ignore—some particular topic? No. The Trump administration isn’t dictating course syllabi; it’s insisting Harvard stop turning its Center for Middle Eastern Studies into an antisemitic echo chamber. In plain English: teach, don’t indoctrinate.

If CNN panels or left‑wing activists can’t fathom a Middle Eastern Studies department that doesn’t villainize or call for the destruction of Israel, that’s their problem—not the White House’s. The Trump administration’s real goal is, perhaps ironically, to rescue Harvard’s reputation. Once a world‑class university, it’s devolved into a left‑wing circus that graduates activist warriors, not thoughtful citizens.

You can argue the White House shouldn’t play dean of Harvard. Fair. But taxpayers shouldn’t underwrite a truly awful investment.

Taxpayers deserve guardrails

Billions in federal support deserve guardrails—especially when programs have “egregious records of antisemitism or other bias,” per the public letter. Harvard can either submit to an independent audit and restore viewpoint diversity, or keep begging for blank‑check funding from George Soros.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

House Bill 2050 is supposed to save funds for K-12 schools. State Rep. Travis Couture (R-Allyn) offered one amendment that would cap the severance agreement for the superintendent at $50,000.

Predictably, Democrats said no to both amendments.

Washington Democrats argue for excessive severance

Couture, arguing for a severance cap, argued that “there are some superintendents who are in charge of the performance of a lot of the school districts in our districts and across the state, who aren’t up to snuff.” Yet, he argued, it’s expensive to get rid of them, essentially rewarding failure with hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“When we when the school board, and therefore the community through their elected school board, wants to discharge a school superintendent, what we often see is this very frustrating severance payout to those school superintendents,” Couture argued. “Sometimes it’s $100,000, $200,000, $300,000 or even more than $350,000 to pay out a school superintendent employee who has failed to manage their school or their employees, or even… sometimes fail to even show up to work.”

But Democrats claimed this was unreasonable, voting it down.

State Rep. Monica Stonier (D-Vancouver), who took a lead role in undercutting parents’ rights by dismantling the Parents’ Bill of Rights, argued that the amendment would “undercut the responsibility that local school board directors have and the relationship that they have with their communities” in negotiating for a new superintendent. Her argument didn’t really make much sense.

Washington Democrats suddenly okay with high-paid failures

But Republicans were not done trying to save school districts’ money.ĚýCouture offered a second amendment. It would cap superintendent salary at $250,000.

The Allyn Republican explained that over 85 superintendents make more than $250,000 a year, which is far higher than the average salary for the district they represent. The Chehalis superintendent makes $545,00 and Renton superintendent brings in $428,000, for example.

“And what are we getting for it? Like you heard previously, we have a stunning crisis in our academic outcomes, some of the worst outcomes in three decades in Washington state for reading, writing, math, and science. That’s unacceptable. These people are the superintendents. Are the captains of the school district ships,” Couture explained.

Again, Democrats pushed back and shot down the amendment.

State Rep. Steve Bergquist (D-Renton) argued, again, that the amendment “take[s] away local control of our school board directors.” He said allowing for high salaries will bring in the best candidates for the job, though he did not explain why so many of them are failing to perform with the current limitless salary opportunities.

Suddenly Washington Democrats want total control of their districts?

Washington Democrats have never been champions of local control. Under their far‑left, Democrat‑run legislature, lawmakers have bent over backwards to strip school boards of the power to keep pornographic, left‑wing propaganda off library shelves.

Last year, Democrats sponsored and passed House Bill 2331 (HB 2331). It prohibited school boards from refusing to approve books and other educational materials, including library books, if the subject “relates to or includes the study of the role and contributions of individuals or groups that are part of a protected class as established in public school nondiscrimination provisions.” While it applied to all protected classes, the intent of the bill was around LGBT-themed books.

But the Democrats’ effort didn’t stop all so-called LGBT “book bans.” A school may still ban books or other materials if it expressly criticizes progressive political movements, such as the one proclaiming gender a “social construct” that is fluid or that we “assign gender at birth.”

What happened to Washington Democrats’ support in maintaining local control in school districts? They never had that priority. Instead, it’s about supporting educators, no matter the cost, and no matter the results. Ideologically, they feel mandated into it.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

This move is wise—and long overdue. Girls deserve a chance to play football safely, and there’s clearly enough interest for programs to flourish (the grants to help schools get started). But you can’t ignore the elephant in the end zone: the WIAA’s decision to let biological boys compete against girls.

They’re quick to acknowledge football can be dangerous for girls—yet they won’t admit that their redefinition of “girl” creates that very danger.

WIAA sends mixed messages on gendered sports

Flag football removes tackling to make the game safer.

That change makes sense, especially when girls might face faster, stronger boys. We’ve already seen transgender females causing injuries to girls both here and nationwide. And it’s obvious why nobody objects to transgender boys (biological girls) playing against boys: they don’t have any physical advantage.

Biological girls don’t suit up for tackle football against boys because they’d risk serious harm—or worse. Yet the WIAA tiptoes around that reality without ever saying it out loud.

It’s about safety and reality

Why girls’ flag football and not just flag football for all? This was an easy opportunity to open the sport to both genders and embrace the idea of gender-free sports. However, that approach would undermine the WIAA’s political stance that “feelings” can override biology.

But it accepts the premise that athletic boys perform better—or at a minimum, differently—than girls. Would there be as many girls getting time on the field when competing against boys who are faster or have stronger throwing arms?

They’re willing to acceptĚýłŮłó˛ąłŮĚýreality, quietly accepting that boys typically outperform girls athletically. But politically, they can’t admit that transgender girls enjoy a competitive edge. So they send mixed messages: acknowledging the danger but pretending it doesn’t exist.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

“Nothing from Patty Murray at all. Not even a not even a form letter response,” Scott St. Clair, Joseph’s dad, explained in an exclusive interview on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Scott St. Clair, who lives in Hansville, Wash., says his son first went missing in November 2024, when Joseph was living in Colombia seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. It wasn’t until February when Scott St. Clair said he received a call from the consulate in Colombia informing him that the Maduro regime in Venezuela had abducted his son.

He learned the most details about what happened after President Donald Trump’s envoy, Ric Grenell, secretly visited Venezuela on January 31st to . Those hostages were held alongside Joseph.

“We learned that Joe, who was working in Columbia, decided to take a trip near the border with one of his friends to visit a family member, and got too close to the border and got abducted. They saw his military credentials, and all of this really only coming from the captives that were brought back,” Scott St. Clair explained.

He said that he was told that his son is “seemingly healthy” and “alive and, because of his military training, they said that he was stepping up and kind of leading some of these folks.”

Trump administration moved quickly to help Joseph St. Clair

Scott St. Clair said that he and his family were “shocked, blown away, and emotional,” at the news and immediately determined to start “reaching out to anybody and everybody I could find.”

He said he and his family have been pleased with the Trump administration’s track record in securing the release of American hostages. Adam Boehler, special envoy for hostage affairs, reached out to Scott St. Clair early on to walk him through the next steps. He said soon after that, his son was quickly designated as wrongfully detained by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“These are things that now I’m learning don’t happen that quickly. So I’m very thankful that that stuff’s happening. But there’s still that question, you know, what’s the plan?” Scott St. Clair asks.

He says his son has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and he worries about how he’s coping while detained in Venezuela. Consequently, he’s been working to recruit lawmakers who can help keep the story top of mind as the Trump administration works to secure his son’s release.

No response from Patty Murray, who is busy supporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia

While Scott St. Clair says Senator Maria Cantwell’s office eventually reached out to him on how to officially request help from the senator, it was Senator Patty Murray who ignored his requests for help.

Yet Murray’s office has taken time to call attention to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was deported after the Trump administration said it learned of his ties to violent gang MS-13. The administration also released details of allegations made by his wife of serious abuse, and noted that Homeland Security Investigations . The report, at the time, revealed he was a member of MS-13.

Still, Abrego Garcia has become a cause célèbre for Democrats. Meanwhile, Murray ignores Joseph St. Clair.

Scott St. Clair calls Murray’s apparent disinterest “baffling and discouraging.” He said he would like to believe Murray “simply missed our pleas for help due to admin overload but it seems that this constituent’s need is superseded by politics.”ĚýMurray’s office did not respond to a request for comment by “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Fighting for his son

Scott St. Clair is doing what he can to bring attention to his son’s abduction. He is going traveling to Washington, DC for Hostage Week at the end of the month. The St. Clair family, as they fight for their son, are leaning on their faith and tight-knit community in Kitsap County for support.

“We have a really great faith family around here, so that’s been helpful. The extended family across the country has rallied. His siblings have stepped up and done what they can, social media, etc. So we’re, you know, we’re talking a lot. It seems overwhelming a lot, but we’re coping that way,” he explained.

He hopes that the media starts shining a larger spotlight on his son’s capture and the many other Americans who have been wrongly detained.

“The truth is, in a political world, they need congressional pressure and public pressure to prioritize this issue,” Scott St. Clair said. “And you know all you hear about right now is oil leases and deportees and things like that that are happening with El Salvador. All those things are important. But it seems like every time something comes on, that’s all that’s talked about. They fail to mention American hostages languishing in prison.”

UPDATED 04-21-25:ĚýSen. Murray’s office responded to a request for comment from our sister station, łÉČËXŐľ Newsradio. They say they do not have a record of Scott St. Clair emailing them.Ěý He says he just received an email from Murray’s office that was sent to his private email address (though he doesn’t know how Murray knew about that email address if they did not receive anything from him). It’s unclear if a journalist sent Murray’s office his email address.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

I got to the bus stop around 7:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. It was more packed than usual, with three homeless people (a couple, and a single man) camped out at the bus stop. One looked high, the other two giggling and talking. At the time, the Transit app said the bus was about ten minutes away.

More and more people started to crowd the bus stop. And out of the corner of my eye, I see one man approaching. He was tall and skinny, and coughing up a storm. Others turned toward him, but I didn’t because there have been many instances of riders hacking up a lung, hopping on a bus with the rest of us. I moved away from my spot waiting for the bus so he could get on before me and I could sit as far away from him as possible.

A King County ghost bus revealed a homeless man without half of his face

Seven minutes left before the bus was supposed to arrive, I started to hear a weird noise. An airy sucking; the sound you make when you’re slurping soup. Two women to my left kept looking, somewhat discreetly, towards the coughing man, then back at each other. Again, I assumed they were just annoyed that he’d be getting on the bus and spreading all his germs around. Again, I thought nothing of it.

Looking at the Transit app, the bus was scheduled to arrive in two minutes. Those two minutes came and went, the weird airy-sucking sound kept going as the coughing man started to pace to my right, and when I checked the Transit app again, the bus had disappeared. It became a “ghost bus”—a bus that is scheduled to arrive, shows up on metro apps, then just completely disappears. King County Metro is plagued by this issue and never seems to have an answer. It’s gotten so bad that the King County Council is now involved.

Needless to say, I was annoyed. The annoyance grew more intense when I started to smell the weed that one of the homeless people started to smoke at the bus stop. The idea of waiting there for another 10-plus minutes for the next bus, if it arrives at all, prompted me to walk to the next stop. It was nice out this morning and I enjoyed the walk.

But when I turned to walk away, headed in the direction of the coughing man, I realized why people kept looking his way. The airy-sucking sound was coming from the fact that he was missing almost the entirety of his left cheek.

This is Seattle compassion

The man was homeless. He had a bandana wrapped around his face, apparently to support the skin around his jaw. I saw his gums and teeth. I saw red flesh that looked to be rotting. He didn’t appear to be in any pain, and he didn’t even look uncomfortable. He was just going through his morning, coughing up a storm, and sucking the saliva back into his mouth, though there was a thread of some dropping from his chin.

Welcome to Seattle, where “compassion” means exporting our problems onto the streets and expecting riders to just grin and bear it.

No consequences, no dignity

Metro used to be the domain of working commuters squeezing into morning buses and college kids zoning out with headphones as they made their way to the University of Washington. Now it’s a front‑row seat to the city’s failures: untreated mental‑health crises, rampant drug use, and a bureaucracy so protective of “compassion” that common‑sense enforcement has gone missing—just like that homeless guy’s cheek.

When you smoke weed in public or pass out on a bench, you’re supposed to get help—or at least a polite nudge. When you’re walking around with a missing cheek, you need help. Desperately. But they don’t get it.

Instead, Seattle’s “tolerance” turned into policy: do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want. The result? A rolling social experiment on wheels, with paying customers effectively trapped inside. And you better not complain for fear you’ll be labeled uncompassionate.

Safety on hold

King County Metro drivers simply call dispatch when situations deteriorate, leaving riders to swap horror stories instead of schedules. Meanwhile, the county touts “fare enforcement” as the solution—but where this so-called fare enforcement is happening is a mystery to me.

Seattle city and King County leaders brag about unprecedented spending: billions poured into housing, mental‑health programs, and outreach teams. Yet every sweeping plan seems to raise the same unanswered question: if we’re spending so much, why are so many people still on the streets?

Commuters pay high fares and risk their safety for the sake of a city that treats its most vulnerable like afterthoughts. And the homeless? They stay in the same vicious cycle—neglected, unmanaged, and often dying on our doorsteps.

If Seattle truly cared, we’d enforce basic standards: no open‑air drug dens; mandatory mental‑health assessments; real penalties for public intoxication. We’d pair enforcement with real rehab, secure housing with rules, and accountability with services.

Seattle’s problem isn’t a lack of heart—it’s a lack of backbone. And until we grow one, our buses will stay the last refuge for those we’ve let down.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

The victim, Jay Sani, told Pullman Police that he was walking to a restaurant when the suspect, identified as Patrick Mahoney, grabbed the MAGA hat and threw it onto the street. After attempting to defend himself, the police reports say that Mahoney, along with a second suspect identified as Gerald Hoff, “grabbed Sani and took him to the ground.”

“Once on the ground, Mahoney grabbed Sani’s head and slammed it into the ground. Sani then moved his hands to approximately shoulder height and said something to the effect of he put his hands up to not make the fight worse. Mahoney then said ‘F**k you or f**k off’ to Sani before walking away,” the police report says.

The incident was captured on .

Officer details his investigation into alleged assault

The officer said he contacted Mahoney and asked him what had happened. He referred to Sani as “ol’ boy,” according to the officer. The police report says Mahoney admitted to grabbing the hat and throwing it in the street, telling the officer, “You know, you’re f**king wearing that hat, you wanted someone to f**king look at it, right?”

“I asked Mahoney what happened tonight. Mahoney said that he saw ‘ol’ boy’ walking around. Mahoney did not name Sani by name but said ‘I’ve seen this guy, f**king, on campus before. I know he’s like f**king Right Wing dude. He’s got a f**king, like, Make America Great Again
hat.'”

Mahoney told police that Sani responded with a “body check” or “grab,” and that’s when he took Sani to the ground, before he “punched Sani and specified that the punch was to Sani’s jaw.”

The officer then arrested both Mahoney and Hoff for assault.

Who is WSU’s Patrick Mahoney?

The Daily EvergreenĚý that Mahoney is a WSU instructor, a PhD student in the School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, and a former guide for United Auto Workers 4591, a union for WSU student employees.

“WSU suspended and removed Mahoney from all classes he previously taught,”ĚýThe Daily EvergreenĚýreported.

Barstool WazzuĚýreposted an email send to students in Mahoney’s class from the department’s director. It noted that the class would have a new instructor, but did not mention Mahoney.

Mahoney has been described as a far-left activist.ĚýThe Daily MailĚýnotes he’s been “active in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including advocating for the Pullman City Council to sign a Gaza ceasefire resolution.”

Victim speaks out against ‘toxic’ Left

Sani released a statement on where he detailed the alleged assault. He says he’s also retained legal representation. He called out “how toxic the left has gotten,” noting that he was bruised as a result of the alleged attack.

“To make it clear, I hate to say this, but i’m [sic] brown, but forget it,” he wrote. “I’m an engineering student that wants to get the degree, and move on. So what if I like someone that you don’t like. We have the 1st amendment, and its not okay that just because you don’t like that person, I should be attacked for it. You had a chance in November to oust him, but you didn’t.”

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

In a KING 5 interview, Seattle Pride Executive Director Patti Hearn complained that the organization is losing sponsorships. And she has a “relatively urgent” budget crisis where she needs $350,000 from local donors to make up for the deficit. Naturally, Hearn blamed President Donald Trump.

“I think that rhetoric coming from the executive branch of the government at this time, the laws that are attacking members of our community, the executive orders that have been made, a lack of sponsors, that does feel causal to me,” Hearn explained toĚý.

No LGBT community members are being “attacked” and, instead of blaming Trump, Hearn should have her team look in the mirror.

Seattle Pride’s anti-police positions did them in

Seattle Pride has made headlines in the last several years for its fringe views. In particular, the group has been .

Since the height of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, Seattle Pride has banned LGBT-identifying cops from its march. That they claim to support the LGBT community when they intentionally erase members who hold jobs (or political opinions) they don’t like is tragically ironic. They effectively told cops, in a department that is incredibly LGBT-friendly, to stay in the closet. And they did so for a bigoted movement that just a few years earlier parade so they could make a political point.

They became so virulently anti-police, leadership previously that officers protecting the route not wear uniforms, “as a show of respect for the LGBTQIA+ community which has experienced much trauma at the hands of uniformed officers over a long history of criminalization of queer people and police violence against marginalized groups.” How laughable. Apparently, those hard feelings didn’t exist from 1994 through 2019 when police marched.

Can what seems like an anti-corporation activist group really get money from corporations?

It’s also clear that Seattle Pride is filtering any corporations through an ideological litmus test that extends well beyond LGBT issues.

Seattle Pride said that it will reassess its current partnerships. They said they’d be judging organizations’ “political donations and lobbying activities, LGBTQIA2S+ policies, ties to the weapons industry, labor and supply chain ethics, involvement in immigration and carceral systems, and overall public impact.”

Most of their concerns have nothing to do with LGBT pride because the organization doesn’t represent LGBT communities. It represents progressive activists. They push people away, not bring people together. That’s, of course, a shame. LGBT Pride could be less divisive, but they choose to make it so.

Seattle Pride pushes corporations away

Under the leadership of then-Executive Director Krystal Marx, a stunningly failed Burien politician, it willing to back the Seattle Pride parade.

Seattle Pride rejected an Amazon sponsorship because it donated $11,000 to Washington lawmakers the group pretended are anti-LGBT. They also said they didn’t like Amazon donating to federal lawmakers who opposed the Equality Act. That legislation would have infringed upon religious freedoms and would have offered protections for transgender female athletes to compete against biological women. There were also around medical and parental rights.

There was an ideological litmus test that Seattle Pride was applying to corporate sponsors and there was no room for any dissent on the Radical Left’s positions. Now, if a corporation backs Seattle Pride, it’s telling consumers it stands with the 20% on so-called 80/20 issues.

Corporations don’t feel bullied into supporting fringe movements anymore

Despite their fringe views and past radical leadership, mainstream companies and Democratic politicians stuck with them.

Some corporations and Democratic politicians did so because they didn’t really have a choice. If you didn’t stand with the Radical Left mob, you’d be bullied, protested, boycotted, and hounded. Rather than take a stand and do the right thing, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell did what he almost always does: He showed political cowardice and attended as if their anti-police views didn’t matter. Even then-San Francisco Mayor London Breed did the right thing and over the anti-police positions at her city’s Pride march.

Other corporations and Democratic politicians didn’t mind the fringe views because they agreed with them. In 2022, in light of the group’s anti-police positions. They said they sponsored Seattle Pride because “we support the entire LGBTQ+ community in Seattle” and that the parade is a “celebration of inclusivity and unity.” In other words, at the time, Tito’s Vodka was fine erasing LGBT cops from their “inclusive” pride parade. They went on to try to clarify their .

But…a Seattle media play?

Times, thankfully, have changed.

Corporations no longer have to pretend to care what the Radical Left thinks about anything—police, transgender competitions, pretending not to haveĚýanyĚýgender, racist diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. They’re no longer under a meaningful threat from the activists, not even in Seattle.

But that doesn’t mean some won’t still give in to earn social currency amongst the Seattle activist community.

It seems that a strategy for Seattle Pride is to use far-left news outlets like KING 5 to generate public pressure on corporations to sponsor the parade. It’s a smart strategy in Seattle because Seattle Pride should know local media will never offer the situation an honest look. KING 5, for example, didn’t note the controversies from Seattle Pride. The KING 5 staff are overwhelmingly left-wing and have never seemed to mind the anti-police activism.

The report might generate employees from local corporations to implore their employer to “save” Seattle Pride (even though it doesn’t really need saving and can easily get wealthy left-wing donors to make up for the deficit). It’s not like they’ll get negative press from most Seattle and area media outlets.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

After Washington Democrats grew sick of Republican efforts to save the voter-back Parents’ Bill of Rights, they moved to stifle debate. This procedural move was a result of a move to end a 132-year-old rule allowing representatives to voice the positions of their constituents. But when one party doesn’t care what one side has to say or fears the argument will gain traction, they can abuse their majority and shut everyone up.

House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary condemned the move, saying it “marked a dark day for representative government in Washington state.” He’s understating how serious this was.

Why did Washington Democrats subvert democracy in the House?

Washington Democrats first invoked the rule to end debate on an amendment removing the “emergency clause.” Democrats added the clause because it would prevent voters from undoing the legislation via a referendum. It was added because the Parents’ Bill of Rights became legislation precisely because voters demanded it via Initiative 2081 and would have passed it as an initiative.

Democrats didn’t care what parents thought when they pretended to support the legislation; they certainly don’t care that voters don’t want them to gut the legislation.

“Sadly, this is part of a much larger pattern,” Stokesbary continued in a statement. “Under one-party control, Washington has seen a growing disconnect between government and the people it serves. Crime is out of control, housing is unaffordable, schools are underperforming, and working families are being squeezed on all sides. Democrats are failing to lead—and they don’t want to hear about it. But House Republicans will not be silenced. We will fight every day, with every tool at our disposal, until transparency, accountability, and integrity are fully restored to the People’s House.”

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

SB 5065 bans the use of bears, wild cats, elephants, and nonhuman primates in circuses and any other kind of traveling show. The reason? Many animals emotionally suffer during high-stress transport nationwide and during performances in front of raucous crowds.

It would be foolish to pretendĚý˛ą±ô±ôĚýanimals respond negatively to transport or performances. It would be equally foolish to pretend no animal suffers from the very same thing. I believe circuses are inherently abusive to animals. This ban was long overdue and if you want a circus, stick withĚýĚý(some of the performers dress like animals, at least).

Banning circuses in Washington state is about animal cruelty

Circuses are glorified prisons for animals. Frankly, so are zoos.

Even under the guise of “well-intentioned entertainment,” they’re exploitative by design. Wild animals don’t hop on stools, jump through rings of fire, or ride bicycles in nature. They’re forced into this unnatural nonsense through domination, fear, and punishment. Trainers can use whips, bullhooks, and electric prods.

And don’t fall for the “we love our animals” PR spin. If they really loved them, they wouldn’t shove them into trailers, haul them across the country, and chain them in cages barely big enough to turn around in, all so they can perform in front of crowds across Washington state.

Don’t fall for the spin

Circuses exploit scared animals for profit, plain and simple.

It’s not education—it’s exploitation packaged in cotton candy, popcorn, and clown makeup. Wild animals exist to be wild, not to entertain bored parents who couldn’t find a babysitter.

Even when handlers aren’t sadistic, the entire setup is abusive. Captivity robs animals of basic instincts, breaks their spirits, and often leads to mental and physical deterioration. But sure—let’s keep pretending a tiger voluntarily jumps through a flaming hoop for a snack.

Circuses don’t celebrate animals—they humiliate them. And the audience claps, none the wiser. It’s 2025. Time to evolve past this sad, outdated spectacle.

Zoos should be next

Zoos aim to be educational and there’s value in that, particularly with animals who cannot survive on their own. And it seems obvious that zoo caretakers support the animals’ wellbeing. But these animals belong in a sanctuary where they can roam more freely, with more space, and without gawking humans.

Similar to circuses, the animals are not allowed to be left alone should they want that. They’re also not given as much space as they need to thrive. There’s nothing sadder than an animal that knows it cannot escape the tiny confines of a zoo enclosure.

We’d be rightly outraged if we kept dogs in a crate all day and night, or never let them go outside for walks. So why are we okay with zoo animals being treated the same way?

You need not be an animal rights extremist

Animal rights extremists, like those who belong to the People for Ethical Treatment for Animals (PETA), go too far. Animals are not our equals and without them, the health of humans would suffer. No matter what PETA activists say, vegan is unhealthy and unnatural.

However, you need not be a PETA extremist to want toĚýchoose to treat animals well. They’re sentient creatures. They feel love and loss, pain and glee. While volunteering them for negative experiences? What’s the value? Our entertainment? It’s not worth it.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

The restaurant is being cast as the tragic victim of a greedy landlord at Pike Place Market, and reporters are practically writing eulogies. Restaurant ownership posted on social media that it will close due to “failed negotiations for an equitable lease” with the PDA. Naturally, local media sides with the restaurant.

The narrative is classic Seattle media: beloved historic business gets priced out by evil landlord. This isn’t journalism—it’s sentimentality dressed up as outrage, with not a single hard fact to back it up. The more you learn, the more it becomes clear that PDA isn’t in the wrong.

Seattle media frames Virginia Inn as an innocent victim

The Seattle Times does not hide which side it’s rooting for. “The Virginia Inn is a relic of old Seattle,” the reporter . Translation: media’s nostalgia has replaced objectivity. KING 5 and Eater Seattle followed suit, parroting the same narrative: historic bar, good; landlord, bad. Facts? Optional.

Never mind that the PDA is a non-profit whose mission is literally to keep the market affordable for small businesses. It’s a progressive institution that subsidizes rent. But that fact doesn’t fit the sob story template, so most reporters, and plenty of locals, conveniently leave it out or bury it 15 paragraphs deep.

Here’s a wild idea: maybe the Virginia Inn closed because what they were asking for was unfair. Cue the collective gasp from locals who haven’t stepped foot in the place since the 80’s—if ever.

This is another Seattle tradition: publicly grieving the closure of a restaurant you drove past 200 times and never bothered to support. “Oh no, not the Virginia Inn!” they cry on Instagram. “This city is losing its soul!” Meanwhile, they’re posting from their favorite poke bowl spot that opened six months ago in Ballard.

Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority may just be the good guys

Hate to break it to the media, but it appears PDA was trying to do the admirable thing and still got burned for it.

The PDA, via a statement, says it offered the Virginia Inn a lease extension “with terms in line with similar businesses at the Market,” as well as the option to “either negotiate a new lease or sell the business.” To me, they implied that it was the Virginia Inn that wanted special treatment.Ěý“As a public agency, we must ensure leases are consistent across tenants and cannot offer significantly lower terms to one business over others,” the spokesperson Eater Seattle.

That sentiment seems to be confirmed by one of the owners, Craig Perez.

“The one sticking point that I had with our lease was the percentage-based rent that (the PDA) charges on top of the base rent and the maintenance and that is 6% of our total sales after $1.2 million,” Perez told The Seattle Times

Perez apparently wanted to adjust that $1.2 million for inflation. But if PDA is being honest, it sounds like what Perez wanted would be different than how other tenants are being handled. In other words, the Virginia Inn is redefining “equitable” like any Seattle progressive activist: inequitable, with the restaurant getting the benefit.

Every closure is not a tragedy

Can we stop pretending that every old restaurant that shuts down is a tragedy? Sometimes, it’s just business. And a business’ age doesn’t mean it’s worth special treatment.

The restaurant industry is brutal, especially post-COVID. Margins are thin, labor is expensive, and customers are fickle. And if your business model relies on below-market rent forever? That’s not a plan—that’s a hope and a prayer.

And for all the locals and media feigning outrage, perhaps you can revisit the Seattle minimum wage and the removal of tip credits you fought for. Maybe they’d be able to pay the rent if they weren’t pushed out by outrageous expenses courtesy of Democratic policies?

You didn’t eat at the Virginia Inn

Why is the PDA automatically the villain for expecting a tenant to pay a fair rate, especially when they’re a non-profit using that rent to support other local businesses?

Maybe it’s because media outlets know their audience. They know Seattleites love a good “corporate greed” story—even when the villain is a taxpayer-funded non-profit. They know people will click on a headline that says “122-year-old restaurant forced to close” more than one that says “Lease not renewed, business failed to adapt.”

And they know that sentiment sells.

Nostalgia is a powerful drug, especially in a city that’s changed so much, so fast. But romanticizing the past doesn’t excuse the knee-jerk impulse to blame institutions trying to keep the lights on.

If you’re heartbroken about the Virginia Inn closing, I get it. But ask yourself: when was the last time you ate there? If the answer is “a decade ago” or “never,” then maybe the problem isn’t the rent. Maybe it’s that the public already let go of the Virginia Inn long before the PDA did.

And maybe, just maybe, the media should report that.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,ĚýĚýand.

Substitute (SSB 5093) repeals the crime of concealing a birth and guts the authority of coroners to investigate suspicious infant deaths unless there’s an obvious, provable crime attached. Democrats are disguising it as a measure about “dignity in pregnancy loss.” It’s not. It amounts to a state-sanctioned shield for traffickers, abusers, and anyone else looking to cover up a dead infant.

Unless a baby is clearly murdered with intent and there’s a smoking gun, no one’s allowed to ask questions. That’s not compassion. That’s enabling murder.

Washington Democrats are helping conceal murder, neglect of children

Representative Brian Burnett—a former sheriff and someone who’s seen the dark reality of human trafficking up close—tried to sound the alarm.

Burnett shared the harrowing testimony of his adopted daughter, a survivor of sex trafficking who was impregnated multiple times as a minor by her abusers. She miscarried, was forced to abort, and even gave birth without knowing what happened to her own babies.

That’s the world this bill just helped protect. Because under SSB 5093, those same traffickers now have legal cover to dump a baby’s body and walk away clean — as long as there’s no immediate evidence of a crime. Good luck building a case without the ability to investigate.

“Sometimes a baby is born and neglected and dies; I mean it’s horrible stuff,” State Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) explained to . “The reason the law should stay on the books is it gives prosecutors and cops a tool for investigating these situations where a baby is born and dies and make sure there is no criminality involved.”

This is how you decriminalize third trimester and post-birth abortion

Democrats claim this is about protecting women from being prosecuted for miscarriages. That’s a lie. No one in Washington state is being thrown in jail for having a miscarriage. Good luck finding one case.

This was never about moms — it’s about making sure the people responsible for dead babies aren’t investigated, including when those babies are the product of trafficking, abuse, or botched abortions. But from a party that defends third trimester abortions, this is hardly surprising. But it is disgusting.

Indeed, this effectively legalizes late term abortion because the bill strikes a coroner’s jurisdiction when “death results from a known or suspected abortion… or where death is due to premature birth or still birth.”

This bill effectively legalizes third trimester abortion

If a baby dies from a premature birth, abortion, or stillbirth, coroners are no longer automatically empowered to investigate. Unless law enforcement already suspects “violence” or “unnatural” circumstances, there is no mechanism to even look into what happened.

Let’s say a woman undergoes a third-trimester abortion at 34 weeks, the baby is born alive, gasping for air, and no care is rendered — the baby dies. Under SSB 5093, the coroner is not allowed to step in. There’s no autopsy. No criminal probe. No accountability. It’s a dead infant and a closed case.

There is also no clause in this bill—not one line— requiring a doctor or anyone to render aid to a baby born alive during an abortion or premature labor.ĚýThere is no viability threshold. No gestational limit. No requirement for care.

That means a fully formed, viable infant — 30, 35, even 39 weeks — can be born during a failed abortion or preterm delivery, and under this bill, that infant can be left to die without a single government official being allowed to ask what happened. This is ghoulish.

Vulnerable victims are a casualty of Washington Democrats

Republicans tried to fix the bill. They introduced amendments that would have at least preserved the ability for coroners to investigate if there’s reason to believe the baby was born alive and then neglected. Democrats said no. They voted against allowing investigations into whether a live infant died due to neglect. Why? Because that might interfere with the unrestricted, unaccountable right to end a pregnancy at any stage—even after the baby is born.

This isn’t just anti-life. It’s anti-justice.

SSB 5093 strips law enforcement and prosecutors of an important tool to protect the most vulnerable victims in our society — babies and trafficked women. And it sends a clear message to pimps and abusers: do what you want, the state of Washington won’t ask questions.

Supporters insist this is about removing “outdated” laws. Funny how the law protecting newborns suddenly became “outdated” right when abortion extremists needed cover for a post-Roe panic.

Will Governor Bob Ferguson have the guts to do what’s right?

You can be pro-choice and still have a soul. You can believe in access to abortion and still think that when a baby is born and dies under suspicious circumstances, someone should at least ask what happened.

But the pro-abortion extremists running Washington state don’t see it that way. For them, this is a win. A dead baby isn’t a tragedy—it’s an inconvenience. And now the bill heads to Governor Bob Ferguson’s desk. Will he have the spine to veto it?

SSB 5093 doesn’t bring dignity to pregnancy loss. It brings darkness, secrecy, and the disturbing reality that in Washington state, babies can be born, die, and be swept under the rug without anyone daring to ask why. But they call this progress.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

“In defiance of President Donald Trump’s predictions, U.S. egg prices increased again last month to reach a new record high of $6.23 despite a drop in wholesale prices and no egg farms having bird flu outbreaks,” the AP wrote—as if the egg itself decided to rise up and challenge the former president.

The AP’s lede is the journalistic equivalent of an egg white omelet: technically correct, but missing the yolk—the rich context that actually explains what’s going on.

Here’s why egg prices are still high, and here’s why they’ll come down

Here’s the missing context: wholesale prices on eggs didn’t decline until mid-March.

On Sky News, agricultural economist Jada Thompson from the University of Arkansas that that’s not enough time for an average price decline to be immediately felt the following month. She also noted that grocery stores may not have implemented lower prices yet.

And there will likely be a temporary egg price increase (or at least more time that eggs stay pricey) because of Easter. The American Egg Board (I’m not yolking, that’s a thing) has already been warning about the increased demand ahead of the holiday.

Egg prices, after the holiday, will likely start to go down. And that’s due to, in part, action by the Trump administration to invest $1 billion to combat bird flu in a way the Biden administration chose not to, and it’s investigating potential efforts by egg producers to conspire to raise prices.

When the egg prices go down, will the AP report it’s happening “in spite of” Trump efforts or “due to” them? Or, maybe they’ll ignore the news altogether.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

The FBI later released videos and pictures of the suspect, who is described as a white man approximately 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet 2 inches tall.

Anyone in the area of the Target and Kohl’s stores in the South Sound Center, including along the Chehalis Western and Woodland Creek Trails, is asked to review doorbell and security camera surveillance footage that may show the suspect walking or accessing a car from Monday evening to Tuesday morning.

Those with any information are asked to contact the FBI’s toll-free tip line at 1-800-225-5324 or submit a tip online on the .

Lacey officers dispatched to ‘explosion’ at EV charging station

According to Lacey Police, the incident occurred at 1:34 a.m. Tuesday morning. Lacey Police were “dispatched to a report or reports of a loud explosion coming from the electric vehicle charging station in the parking lot of the South Sound Center in front of the Target story.”

“Officers arrived and found extensive damage to the electric vehicle charging station,” Detective Sergeant Jeremy Knight confirmed to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “We are currently working with our detective unit in cooperation with our federal partners to investigate and expect to be out here for some time today.”

While they are still investigating the cause, they are exploring this as a targeted attack.

This story was originally published on April 8, 2025. It has been updated and republished since then.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.

Trump issued an this week. “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach” directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to identify and challenge state and local climate laws deemed to interfere with federal energy policies.

“American energy dominance is threatened when State and local governments seek to regulate energy beyond their constitutional or statutory authorities,” the executive order states.

The order specifically criticizes state initiatives such as New York’s and Vermont’s climate superfund laws, which seek to hold fossil fuel companies financially accountable for environmental damages, and California’s cap-and-trade system, arguing that these measures threaten American energy dominance and economic security.

Washington State will soon be on Trump’s and the DOJ’s radar.

Climate Commitment Act hurts energy policy and our bank accounts

The Climate Commitment Act (CCA), enacted in 2021, established a cap-and-invest program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by capping emissions from major sources and allowing the trading of emission allowances.

At the time, Washington Republicans, policy wonks, and the state’s own economist warned that the CCA would raise the price of gas dramatically. The oil and gas producers would simply pass the cost of the CCA cap-and-invest program onto the consumer.

That’s precisely what happened, though, at the time, then-Governor Jay Inslee said it wouldn’t. At one time, he even lied and claimed it could save us money. He knew at the time that there would be no cost savings to drivers.

The CCA was intended as punitive

The CCA set impossible targets, including a 95% reduction in emissions by 2050, and integrated environmental justice by directing funds from allowance auctions toward investments in climate resiliency, clean transportation, and addressing health disparities. ​

But the , and virtually no CCA funds are being spent on air quality programs.

The CCA was never meant to be anything other than a punitive measure against oil and gas producers, in addition to drivers. Washington Democrats, Inslee in particular, are hoping to price drivers out of their cars.

Trump admin. should take on the CCA

Given the broad scope of President Trump’s executive order, Washington’s CCA could potentially face challenges from the federal government.

The order empowers Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against state policies that are viewed as overstepping state authority or conflicting with federal objectives. While the CCA is designed to operate within state jurisdiction, its approach to regulating emissions and influencing energy markets should be perceived by the Trump administration as an impediment to federal energy policies promoting fossil fuel industries.​

Any legal battle over the CCA or any program that runs in conflict with the Trump executive order will be, no doubt, complex. It will become about states’ rights as much as about environmental regulations. But no Washington leader in a position of power will challenge the CCA, and the state certainly doesn’t have a non-partisan state Supreme Court that will ever come to the rescue. All we have, at this point, is the Trump White House.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to theĚýpodcast here. Follow Jason Rantz onĚý,Ěý,Ěý, ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý.