Say it ain't so. According to U District Advocates, Cedar's of Lebanon, "the oldest restaurant on The Ave," might be replaced by, of all things, a McDonald's. True, this is something rather new in this city, where the normal running of things is to give small businesses the boot for luxury towers that offer hoity-toity dining. In this case, it's the other way around: instead of going up, we are going down to a joint that basically doesn't really serve food, like Cedar's of Lebanon, but something like what humans are in The Matrix: batteries. If this bad business goes through, if we lose Cedar's of Lebanon, a key part of what for many years was known as Little Lebanon (it included Flowers Bar and Restaurant and Samir's Mediterranean Grill Lebanese Cuisine), for a Ronald McDonald, I'm going "to throw up both my hands."

In the words of U District Advocates: "For some of us, the introduction of a corporate chain restaurant, replacing three independent, small businesses with a block-wide façade, directly across the street from the entrance to our main light rail station, is very troubling." Indeed, indeed. And, more importantly, Cedar's of Lebanon has top-notch gyros. As for McDonald's, you have to go all the way up to our vast and once friendly neighbor to eat at that place. Canada actually makes sure their Mickey D's put real eggs and pork in their breakfast sandwiches. 

 

Beacon Hill also has some bad news on its plate. Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) may cut down a whole bunch of huge, often old Maple trees that line Beacon Avenue. This section of South Seattle demonstrates what Enrique Peñalosa, the former urbanist mayor of Bogota, meant when he described a sidewalk as “relatives of parks—not passing lanes for cars.” Sadly, however, Beacon Avenue's sidewalk is about to look less like a park and more like its opposite. After years of neglecting the street’s cracked and buckling sidewalks, SDOT is now faced with a project that demands a good deal of imagination to solve. But it seems the department wants to take an easy (or more "efficient") way around the problem, which is the destruction of numerous trees. And this destruction could begin tomorrow.

Though SDOT claims it's making every effort to be transparent, its press secretary, Ethan Bergerson, described the plan to me (it "will [get] started over the coming weeks with the initial sidewalk repairs that can be done without affecting trees") in way that doesn't jibe with the announcement SDOT posted on suspect trees: "If  the root pruning needed [for sidewalk improvements] does not allow the tree to remain stable and viable, it may be necessary to remove the tree within 14 days of this posting." The announcement was posted on February 27. That's two weeks ago. When I asked Bergerson if SDOT has ever considered a project that would require the destruction of lots of trees in North Seattle, I received no answer.

 

Seattle is still refusing to just die already. In fact, its county is growing like it's the "2010s again." Seattle Times' Gene Balk examined the data from the U.S. Census Bureau and found that "[the area's] population grew by about 43,400 from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024, for a growth rate of 1.9%." That’s the kind of increase our city saw when Amazon appeared to be a UTFO ("Untouchable Force Organization"). King County now has a population of 2.34 million.

After yesterday's tipping down, Seattle will experience a "'grab-bag' of weather." We have entered that zone of confusion ("confusion de confusiones") between the seasons. Expect days that behave like a nutter. Crying in the morning, laughing in the afternoon, screaming when entering evening, weeping again all night. So, it's not surprising that today we may experience "passing showers," and "a few thunder rumbles," and a "breezy afternoon," and the "occasional peeks of sunshine." 

Last week, two coyotes did a Bonnie and Clyde on Bellevue, reports King 5. One of them was killed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW); the other is still on the run. Officials have connected both with "five different attacks"—biting legs of citizens; trying to steal or stealing backpacks from defenseless schoolchildren. One of the coyotes even bit the hand of a kid (they will never forget that horrible moment in their childhood). King 5: "Officers are increasing patrols in that area in an attempt to locate the second animal."  

After the Fire, the Rain: Southern California is getting lots and lots and way too much of it. Evacuations and mudslides are just around the corner. Nothing can be normal anymore. We only live in the extremes.

Tech billionaires are now talking about building their own damn cities. Cities that follow their orders and money-fervid fantasies to a tee. No more of this democracy nonsense; no more "government oversight." These will be Freedom Cities. But what could a Freedom City do that, say, Hudson Yards doesn't? Billionaires already have everything. This is not our world; it's yours, all yours. 

Maybe now is a good time to return to these powerful lines by T. S. Eliot:

When the Stranger says: “What is the meaning of this city ?
Do you huddle close together because you love each other?”
What will you answer? “We all dwell together
To make money from each other”? or “This is a community”? 

Looks like Seattle's iconic billionaire, Bill Gates, is giving up on all "that hopey, changey stuff" and, according to the Seattle Times, "retooling his empire for the Trump era." Breakthrough Energy, a forward-thinking climate organization he bankrolls, has announced it's going the way of our DOGE-slashed Big Government: cuts, cuts, cuts, and more cuts. It's now time for him to play catch-up with the leaders of his pack. He, too, must become a gora (a vulture capitalist); he too must stick his long featherless neck into the rot of America. You see Beyoncé, this is why you should never want to be "a black Bill Gates in the making."  

These VP eyes transpired during the Irish prime minister's White House visit. The VP's socks also made some noise. 

 

Let's end with this excellent poem by Badu on the importance of being woke (its on her slamming track Master Teacher):

Even if yo baby ain't got no money
To support ya baby, you
(I stay woke)
Even when the preacher tell you some lies
And cheatin' on ya mama, you stay woke
(I stay woke)
Even though you go through struggle and strife
To keep a healthy life, I stay woke
(I stay woke)
Everybody knows a black or white, there's
Creatures in every shape and size
(I stay woke)

This Saturday, March 15, the Royal Room will celebrate the music and wokeness of badass Erykah Badu with a band lead by Sheila Kay.