From the Governor's medium page.
posted 1/ 15/ 19 ( link source)
Gov. Jay Inslee today delivered his State of the State address and implored legislators to write a historic new chapter in Washington’s story that demonstrates bold purpose in acting on climate change, transforming the state’s behavioral health system, protecting the embattled Southern Resident orca population, and continuing important investments in education.
Remarks as prepared
Thank you, Rabbi Dunsker, for your inspiring words.
Thank you, Sergeant Scheer, for the beautiful rendition of the anthem and for your service in the Army National Guard.
I extend a warm welcome to former Governor Gary Locke here today and thank him for his service as well.
I welcome the new legislators in your ranks who have stepped up to serve the people of this state. I congratulate your families who will be part of your adventure.
And I thank my wife, Trudi, and my entire family for joining me on our adventure.
I’m pleased to note a couple historic firsts in this Legislature. The people of Washington elected the first Native American woman to the House, Representative Debra Lekanoff.
And they elected the first refugee, Representative My-Linh Thai, to the Legislature.
It’s really great to look out and see faces that reflect the diversity of our state. These are firsts we all are proud of.
Mr. Speaker, Madam Chief Justice, distinguished justices of the court, members of the Legislature, tribal leaders, state and local government officials, members of the Consular Corps, and most importantly, my fellow Washingtonians.
Today, we gather in a place that tells much of our Washington story.
Today, we come together from across the state — from the rolling hills of the Palouse to the coastal rocks of La Push — to find inspiration for the work we do.
And today, as we reflect on our 2018 successes, we look ahead to 2019 and offer a rallying cry to build this new and enduring chapter that is the profound story of Washington state.
Our story already reflects optimism and strength. But as Washington’s leaders, we carry an obligation to never be satisfied with how far we’ve come.
That was embodied in what Bruce Lee, the Washington actor, philosopher and martial artist said: “There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”
He was right.
Our state history offers example after example of leaders willing to do more and to be more — even after they toppled barriers and shattered expectations.
Did Bill Gates and Paul Allen stop after forever changing the world of personal computing? No. They kept asking “what if?” and not only built on the landscape of the technological world, but delved deep into science, medical research and culture and redefined what giving back means.
Did Steve Gleason, one of the best Cougars out there, stop after he blocked that punt during the famous 2006 New Orleans Saints game? No. Congress just awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal for his advocacy for people with ALS, something he works through every single day.
Did Tarra Simmons of Bremerton quit after she redirected her life while serving time in prison? No. She earned a prestigious fellowship, graduated from Seattle University School of Law, and when told she couldn’t fulfill her ultimate dream of being a lawyer, she appealed to the state’s highest court so she could take the bar exam. Today, she practices law and helps others find a second chance after incarceration. We’re glad she can join us today.
We are drawn to stories about people who don’t quit. They call to us because they remind us we have the same promise for greatness.
In 2019, we are again poised to be more and do more. Yes, we’ve accomplished much already. But all of it — everything we’ve done — brings us to a tipping point.
So today offers us two choices:
One, do we merely reflect on the success of our current story and decide we’ve done enough?
Or two, do we rise up to write one of the worthiest chapters of our time that tells future generations who we are?
Though we’ve accomplished much, we still face challenges that require us to push further.
At the top of that list is the imminent threat of climate change.
In just the past few years, our state experienced record-high temperatures, record-low snowpack in some locations, higher ocean temperatures and high acidity in our waters.
Historic wildfires blackened our air so much that we had the worst air quality in the world. Not China, not India. Washington state. The smoke shut down outdoor pools in Wenatchee, and impacted all of us, forcing kids and older adults to stay inside to protect their health.
Scientists say if we don’t act now, this will become the norm — a permanent degradation of what we love, our magnificent state.
I don’t know of any other issue that touches the heart of things so many of us care about: our jobs, our health, our safety and our children’s future.
But this doesn’t have to be our future. Science affirms the necessity of action — this day.
This is the 11th hour, but it is Washington’s hour to shine. It’s a time of great peril, but also of great promise.
Clean energy and low-carbon technologies are increasingly competitive in the marketplace. Innovation brings us cleaner, cheaper, better fossil-fuel alternatives every day.
This innovation benefits our rural economies as much as our urban and suburban economies.
Just last year, I helped cut the ribbon for our state’s largest solar array in the small town of Lind. I was joined by Senator Schoesler and Representatives Dye and Schmick to celebrate the good-paying jobs the project brings to their community.
These kinds of jobs have propelled our clean energy sector to grow more than twice as fast as the rest of our economy. There is no greater job opportunity than the opportunity of clean energy. It’s why a historic alliance of labor and communities of color has joined with conservation and environmental groups to push for climate action.
Looking at the many new faces in this chamber today, I am more optimistic than ever about the clean energy future we’ll build together.
We will pass legislation to transition to 100 percent clean electricity, transform our buildings with cost-saving efficiencies, and modernize and electrify our transportation system. We’ll phase down super-pollutants and phase in cleaner fuels.
This means by 2035, nearly all our electricity will come from clean sources, instead of polluting fossil fuels.
It means you’ll save money on lighting and heating costs because our homes and businesses will be much more energy efficient.
It means our transportation system will be the cleanest in the United States because we’ll power it with clean electricity and clean fuels.
Combined, these policies will steeply cut emissions — the equivalent of taking about 3 million cars off our roads.
This transformation has started but we need to do more, do it bigger and do it faster.
So when your grandchildren ask what you did to protect them from climate change, you can tell them you weren’t sitting around saying it was someone else’s problem. You took action. Because that is who we are in the state of Washington.
It’s going to feel really good to be part of the solution. It’s going to feel really good to make history.
Another historic chapter we need to write about is mental health.
While we’ve taken significant steps to improve our physical health in medical schools like the Elson Floyd College of Medicine at WSU, we can improve our mental health care efforts, too.
We need to transform behavioral health from a system that responds to crisis to one that helps people before they reach crisis. And there’s more we can do this session.
For those with a loved one who has waited too long for the right kind of treatment, we know this challenge is urgent.
Our families and friends are suffering and we can do so much better.
We must find room for hundreds of people at new community-based facilities so patients receive services in places close to their families, homes, places of worship and communities. We must also expand our professional workforce so patients are treated.
That’s why I’m proud to pursue a new partnership with the University of Washington to create a teaching hospital to serve these patients and to train behavioral health providers using a unique new curriculum.
We can turn this story around and direct it toward hope.
And I’m pleased that we’re at the beginning of a bipartisan effort to do just that. We will create a story this year about a holistic model for behavioral health that encompasses the family, the community and the promise of timely care. ( Continued on page 2)
Front page Commentary:
Time to rethink closing down fish farming?
By Peter Ripley.It's funny that Governor Inslee should be concern over the lack of Salmon to feed not only humans, but the Orcas (killer whales) since he pretty much closed down an industry which aid in the population of Chinook Salmon, that's fish farming. Do you recall news stories about closing fish farming by 2025.
According to the news story in the Seattle Times dated 5/ 18/ 18
State kills Atlantic salmon farming in Washington
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/bill-to-phase-out-atlantic-salmon-farming-in-washington-state-nears-deadline/
Quote: " But opponents continued debate on most of the amendments anyway, from requiring all-female fish at Atlantic net-pen farms, to giving operators a state tax break and lease-fee reduction to pay for converting to farming only native fish."
Editorial note: That's something to consider instead of completely shutting down and industry because of one failed operation. To allow fish farming only for native species. What the Cooke fish farm was doing was raising fish that wasn't local fish stock, they were raising Atlantic Salmon, which was accidental due to the fish farms negligence. Now if he was raising Chinook salmon in those fish pens and they had escape, I doubt very much Inslee would be shutting down fish farming at all.
About nine months later Inslee now bemoans the fact that there isn't enough chinook salmon or any salmon for that matter to feed the Orcas, like salmon, try to imply I take it that salmon is the only fish these whale eat! Get real!
Orcas eat any fish that falls within its path including other types of fish, but they have stiff competition for food sources...
Now take this story from the Seattle Times dated 1/ 15/ 19
United to save salmon and orcas
Some people are renewing the call to reduce the harvest of chinook salmon in hopes of boosting their numbers for our starving southern resident killer whales. That approach alone will not work.
https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/united-to-save-salmon-and-orcas/
Quote: " In terms of salmon consumption, seals and sea lions — not humans — are the apex predators of salmon in the Puget Sound region. They are believed to take as much as six times more fish than Indian and non-Indian fishermen."
Editorial note:
During his state of address speech Inslee mention the plight of the Orca:
Quote: " The actions we have to take, such as increasing salmon stocks, fixing culverts and decreasing vessel traffic risks, are hard but necessary.
We have just one last chance to save these orcas. In this perilous moment, we must answer back with action."
Now, how is cutting down boat traffic in the waters is going to restore our salmon runs? When it's other predators like the sea lion who feeds off these fish. A fish farm would be more safer for the fish you want to restore I would think. Trimming down to population of those sea lions and seals would also help to increase the chances of the orca whales survival.
We have this mindset, nobody wants to kill Bambi! That's the issue I think. We let these California sea lions, and seals run amuck in our waters, and politicians scratch their heads wondering why the Orcas are doing poorly.
So, readers is it time for the state government to rethink completely shut down fish farming, when it could help save the orcas, as well as feeding us? I would think so.
WORLD NEWS HEADLINES...
( from the UN News Center, and other sources)
Yemen: Security Council backs new mission in support of key port city truce,
The Security Council unanimously voted on Wednesday in favour of deploying up to 75 observers to monitor a fragile ceasefire in Yemen's port city of Hudaydah which went into effect late last month; a lifeline for millions of Yemenis on the verge of starvation.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/01/1030582
More urgency needed to help increasing numbers ‘locked out’, before 2030, says UN’s Bachelet.
Many countries are failing to protect and promote the interests of all their people – despite pledging to do so in 2016 – the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Wednesday.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/01/1030552
Thousands of Syrians in ‘life and death’ struggle amid harsh conditions in remote desert camp, UN warns.
Conditions in a makeshift Syrian camp near the border with Jordan are “increasingly desperate” and “have become a matter of life and death”, United Nations officials warned on Tuesday, after at least eight children died there from extreme cold and a lack of medical care.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/01/1030472
Migration surge leaves children stranded, begging on Djibouti’s streets
Begging, scrubbing cars or selling themselves on the street for sex are a way of life for many children in Djibouti, according to a survey released by the International Organization Migration (IOM) on Tuesday.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/01/1030532
UN chief, Security Council, strongly condemn ‘horrible terrorist act’ in Nairobi.
Following a deadly terrorist attack in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, on Tuesday, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, and the President of the UN General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa, condemned the act and said they stand in solidarity with the Kenyan people.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/01/1030512
WE THE PEOPLE
WE THE PEOPLE REQUEST THAT A WALL BE BUILT ON THE SOUTHERN BORDER.
Our southern border continues to be overrun and overwhelmed with illegals. Many of them are criminals and are gang members. Guns, drugs, and gangs continue to cross over into America illegally continually. Illegals bring diseases and illnesses to America. Taxpayers are paying billions of dollars each Year to support illegals that are already here. The illegals that have crossed over are committed crimes and killing, raping, and robbing are citizens. We need to stop this now. (petition link)
Editorial Comment: Though I am not a big fan of President Trump. There is one thing I agree that we need to secure our southern border. I don't agree having this long shut down will accomplish getting a wall built. There are other ways to fund such a wall through donations from American citizens. But I still doubt that a wall will solve the issue of illegal aliens, many will find a way to get in by other means if they really want to come here. If a wall will help then okay, but it's unwise to put all your hopes in solving a immigration issue on a wall. So with that I signed the wall in hopes to help end this stalemate.
🌎IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION:
PAGE 2
Inslee's state of the state address continued from page 1
PAGE 3
Kilmer Named to Coveted Spot on Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Will Also Represent Region on Interior & Environment, Energy & Water Subcommittees.
PAGE 4
Kilmer: Pay the Coast Guard and End the Government Shutdown.
PAGE 5
As the Trump Shut down stretches into Day 26, Senator Murray joined Senate Democrats on the Senate floor and on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to share stories from families in Washington state and across the nation about the impact of the #TrumpShutdown on their lives.
PAGE 6
Senator Murray Joins Senate and House Democratic Leaders to Introduce Bill Gradually Raising Minimum Wage
PAGE 7
Senators Murray, Cantwell, 170 Members of Congress: Trump Shutdown Intensifies Affordable Housing Crisis.
Night Owl Comics Presents
A new story: Andromeda Calling, By Peter Ripley
Also, The Search for Noah and his ark has been updated.
