To me, the election was clarifying, and it's pretty obvious which way the wind is blowing.

Whether this new city council can make progress on poverty, housing and revenue reform is very much an open question.

Thirty years ago this week: Over three tumultuous days, 4 million East Germans – a quarter of the population -- flooded into West Berlin to a joyous reception. But expectations of a more peaceful and collaborative world have been dampened by new threats.

"Grab the popcorn. This is a major power struggle over the future of city streets, and it’s just getting started.”

The Warren campaign came up with maybe the worst possible approach. But before we get to that, let’s put some numbers to this dilemma.

One wonders, as former Seattle Symphony exec Deborah Rutter reinvents the cultural center to reach wider audiences with striking architecture, whether that might have happened (or still could happen) at Seattle Center.

Article V of the Constitution allows the states to call a new convention to suggest amendments to our system. Given that most of the needed reforms will require a constitutional amendment, has the time come to use that power?

"Turn around time is an alpinist’s notion – that preplanned moment when, no matter what, it’s time to reverse course and head back. The principle acknowledges an unstoppable coming darkness."

The Chamber of Commerce's PAC released some selected poll results this week. To no one's surprise, the results support their message of discontent with the status quo in City Hall.

The rest of the West has always been peopled by former Californians, and that includes the Northwest. I wonder how much our demographers are calculating for this new migration.

Each of these revenue sources is embedded in the economy and into the budgets of families, governments and businesses. This discussion should not just be on the narrow question of new revenues...

The International Monetary Fund last week lowered its global growth forecast for 2019, citing the spreading instability as a cause.

We all get it: you despise each other. And there's truth behind both of your narratives. But now you've both committed to all-out war on each other, and you're tearing our city apart. That's right: our city.

Activists today are too suspicious of the Ellis style of gathering the key power players, mostly white males in those days, and wary of people in power, especially business leaders (which was Ellis's stock in trade).

Money, yes, and the amount being spent has soared this year. But the story of spending on our Council races is more complicated than simple corporate influence.

Most of us have learned to read the label when we buy food. We check the amount of calories, carbs or sugar before deciding what to eat. Why don’t we do the same with news?

Anyone with gauzy notions that things were easier back then — the myth of the ten white guys with cigars calling the shots from the Rainier Club — has not studied much regional history. Getting stuff done was hard back then, too.

Seattle Opera’s current staging of Cenerentola is mostly fun to watch. It is also a great example of how much work having fun can be, on both sides of the imaginary footlights.

Trump has abused his public trust and has acted outside the proper performance of his duties. If this isn’t impeachable, nothing is.

He saved Lake Washington, built a fine bus system, juiced downtown retail with visitors, and traded and cajoled his way to a Mountains-to-Sound Greenway.

Pretty obvious lessons do emerge. Don’t start too big. Do earnestly protect the rights and safety of non-users. Don’t pretend rules will be followed without enforcement. Insist on defect-free and properly maintained devices.

The discontents are the longer-in-towns, who may resent the passing of the old Seattle (Boeing jobs, bungalows, and mobility).

Going to the new Burke is like sneaking into the back of a factory in full swing—except this one has glass walls, lots of animal bones and fur and color.

Those who are crying foul over Amazon's million-dollar contribution to a political action committee are conveniently overlooking the large war chests of their political allies.

Warren's failure to answer the medicare cost issue hurts her. Her wealth tax is likewise improbable and likely unconstitutional. Time to look at Amy and Pete.

Nancy Pelosi was smart. Focus on the issues where most Americans are already with he Democrats and keep it simple. So why don't some of the candidates get this?

And Joe? God bless him. He must be related to George W. Bush. The English language is not, apparently, his native tongue.

The liberals gave as good as they got, blasting “corporate” Democrats who only want to make incremental change.

I fear that any of the Big Three are creating personas of self that will serve up red meat for the ravenous pit bulls to be mega-funded in the campaign to make Donald Trump not the issue.

I still heard Warren being declared a debate "winner" by the talking heads, because she is queen of the Twitter-and-Pronouns educated white progressive wing of the party, and national journalists at papers like the Times and the Post are all card-carrying members of this cohort.