Friday night I was making my way back to City Hall from a downtown event and jumped onto Metro's Route 36 on Third Ave. at Pike around 6:45 p.m. Sitting down and realizing the bus wasn't going anywhere I noticed a larger than usual number of bicyclists on Third and realized it was Critical Mass time (last Friday of the month). I actually don't mind getting stuck in Critical Mass, but a number of my bus-riding seat mates didn't take the delay so well. Delaying buses is unfortunate collateral damage for Critical Mass. The Critical Mass goal is to protest the dominance of car culture. As with any mass protest, a few innocent bystanders get trapped waiting for the parade to go by. I saw plenty of people clapping for Critical Mass as cyclists went by, but I also heard plenty of frustration and anger from bus riders anxious to get home.

I got off the bus down around Marion St. and Critical Mass appeared again, coming back up hill. A few of the bikers "corked" the intersection positioning themselves in front of an armored car that had been in the process of turning left onto Third. The armored car driver took it really well. She stayed in neutral and, while I wouldn't say she smiled at the guys, she took a breather and waited. The guys blocking the truck were definitely leaning into the truck, but there was no pounding or provocative interaction. One challenge with large demonstrations is that you can't control all the people who come to your party. While the guys in front of truck happily hung out and waited for all the riders to move onto Third, there were plenty of more aggressive riders whooping it up who did give the truck a slap as they pumped by.

I don't know what happened later at Aloha and 15th between some of the Critical Mass cyclists and the guy in the white Subaru. Clearly things got out of hand. A cyclist was run over, the Subaru's windshield smashed and tires cut. Some critics say SPD should step in and crack down on Critical Mass. I get that from a strict law-and-order perspective and, frankly, I'm not sure how much good will Critical Mass seeds with the public. (I'm an infrequent bicycle commuter who wants a safe, non-antagonistic relationship with the cars, trucks and buses around me). However, Critical Mass is, by definition, a protest event. It's in your face for five minutes at most and then it's gone down the road. Looking ahead to the next Critical Mass ride (the last Friday in August), everyone on bikes and in cars should chill out and make way for each other.

In March the Department of Neighborhoods, the Seattle Police Department, Seattle Fire Department and the City's Office of Policy Management released a report card of sorts on the effects of the Alcohol Impact Areas. The AIA is a state-sanctioned overlay that covers Downtown, Pioneer Square, the ID, lower Queen Anne, Capitol Hill, the Central District, and the U-District. Certain high-octane beers and ales cannot be sold in the AIA, the idea being that you would cut off the supply of the high-octane stuff to street alcoholics ("chronic public inebriates"). The March report on the results of banning the products was almost worse than inconclusive. SPD's initial review of calls for service showed some up and some down. City staff and neighborhood advocates said at the time that the ban was being circumvented by alcohol companies that simply repackage banned products with slick new names. The report wasn't great ammunition for neighborhood advocates seeking to extend the AIA and add products to the list of banned booze.

Well, City staff have gone back to the databases and built a more complete, some might say better, report. Since the AIA's were implemented in November of 2006 (comparing to roughly the year previous to implementation) three particular types of offenses have declined in the Central Core and North areas:

- Adult Liquor Violations (likely an open container in public) have dipped 15 percent in Central and 31 percent in the North.

- Parks Exclusions (you can be kicked out for drinking) are down 18 percent in Central and 43 percent in North.

- Criminal Trespass (often drinking in someone's doorway, parking lot or loading area) are down 20 percent in both Central and North.

Also, this report contains a more exhaustive list of brands neighborhood clean-up groups are collecting. Impressively, the Metropolitan Improvement District staff Downtown report collecting 5, 616 littered alcohol products between November 1, 2007, and May 31, 2008. Unfortunately, they didn't track brands, but they anecdotally report a huge number of new brands popping up. When you look through the list of products collected by other groups in the greater Central AIA a couple of brands jump out. Clearly, Icehouse (484 cans of various sizes picked up in the fist six months of this year) and Joose (189 cans picked up in the first six months of this year) are top picks for street alcoholics.

The City is requesting that the WSLCB add Icehouse and Joose to the list of banned products. I hope they add them while looking for a way to ban products by formula rather than just by name.

Yesterday the City and the Pro Basketball Club (the OKC Guys) settled the lawsuit over contract performance just before Superior Court Judge Marsha Pechman was due to release her decision. While it's painful to see the Sonics leave Seattle and unsatisfying to not hold the OKC Guys accountable to their contract to play in Key Arena through 2010, I support the settlement. I hate seeing the team pack up and I hate seeing Oklahoma City buy into the "keeping up with the Joneses" new arena competition that partially fuels NBA profits at the expense of tax payers. I hate the prospect of Key Arena not feeding patrons out into the greater Queen Anne and Downtown restaurants and bars.

I'm willing to live with these things because I think the settlement is our best pathway to having a team in the long-term. If Judge Pechman had ruled for the City, the Sonics would have limped though two more seasons at Key Arena before packing up, we would have a scorched relationships with the NBA, and we would be stuck with $26 million in debt remaining from the last Arena upgrade performed at the behest of men's pro basketball. If Pechman had ruled for the OKC Guys, the Sonics would be taping up the moving boxes like they are now, we'd have a scorched relationship with the NBA, we'd be stuck with $26 million in debt remaining from the last Arena upgrade AND we'd be paying for their lawyers.

Under the settlement Seattle receives $45 million now, a little bit better than the value of the two years remaining on the Arena lease and the $26 million to pay off the remaining Arena debt. If the State commits to help with Arena improvements next year, Seattle is in the running for a new team either through league expansion or purchase of an existing team by Seattle owners. If we go five years with no team after the State commits to help, then the City receives $30 million.

If you feel angry about the loss of the team, I can only say that I tried to find the right answer for Seattle's long-term health as a city. Post-Intelligencer columnist Art Thiel is disdainfully furious at decision-makers like me for the settlement. He has written perhaps best about how municipal government shouldn't be involved in "amusements" like pro sports. I think he's right. He also notes that for 41 years the City has rented the Arena to successive Sonics ownership groups (now to the Storm's owners) and that until a better scenario comes along, we're stuck with that model. I'm committed to making Key Arena work for a new team and for Seattle taxpayers.

Liz and I played hooky from rowing this morning and took Bill Dog for a walk instead. It was a lovely morning and we were walking S. Holly St. toward Martha Washington Park when Liz looked down a side street, stopped and asked, "Is that a coyote?"

Sure enough about a half block away from us was a tall, lanky, big-eared grey coyote. We'd been hearing from neighbors about rumored sightings. Several cats have gone missing. Only one of ours goes outside at night and we're trying to keep him in now. The coyote or coyotes are thought to live in Seward Park and forage around the greater area.

The coyote looked at us. Bill looked at the coyote. Then everyone went on their way, the coyote moving north in the direction of Seward Park and us east toward the lake. We saw it again down past the park and it was still moving in the direction of Seward. I've heard from residents in North Seattle and even from people in the Arboretum and Denny-Blaine areas. This is the first sighting I've had of one in the City.