LILACS to Burlington and Chipotle Mexican Grill for announcing new openings in Spokane amid the  pandemic: Burlington on Sullivan and Chipotle up north. It’s a great vote of confidence for our city when new businesses move in, especially during times of crisis. And even though they aren’t locally owned, they employ locals and pay taxes here. While some are closing, others see opportunity. On a smaller scale, Wooden City, a restaurant from Tacoma, has just opened on Riverside, and Dressed By Eva, a new clothing store on Post featuring European fashions, opened a few weeks ago. Bravo, brave ones!

LILACS to Pete Syverson, the “Guerrilla Gardener,”  who took it upon himself, just as COVID-19 struck, to plant and water sunflowers in Riverfront Park. Rather than deface public surfaces with graffiti, some wonderful souls toss flower seeds here and there on barren, publicly owned land and even maintain them. It’s surprising how often beautiful plants sprout. Walk along the Centennial Trail near Kendall Yards and it’s fun to see the irises in the spring. Some plantings take extra care and attention and are nurtured by nearby flower scofflaws. Wasn’t that how Spokane became the Lilac City in the first place?

LEMONS to the U.S. Census Bureau for opting to cut door-to-door counting by a month. If anything, during these trying times, efforts to do a full count should have been redoubled. It’s especially hurtful to the more vulnerable populations, who simply aren’t at the same address for long. A slapdash count affects individuals and our region for an entire decade, so it pays to get it right. Almost certainly tribal communities will face an undercount, and so will other oft-marginalized groups. When some lose, we all lose. 

LILACS to Spokane’s Riverfront Park (and of course Spokane Parks and Recreation) for winning a spot on National Geographic’s list of most beautiful urban parks. After perusing the list, we can honestly say it’s been a long time coming. Our Riverfront Park is indeed a gem and quite a rarity. Central Park in New York City, of course, is a must for the list, but we feel that even Seattle has nothing comparable, although the somewhat urbanized Seattle Center is certainly lovely. Neither big city park sports a roaring river. We think Spokane should seriously consider capitalizing on our former name and rebrand ourselves as Spokane Falls.

LEMONS to Governor Inslee for destroying many categories of business in our state without compensation. Event venues, catering companies, movie theatres, bowling alleys, skating rinks, and so many more have been closed against their will through no fault of their own. At this late date, it’s time to cautiously reopen. We think a class action lawsuit may need to address the hostile seizing of livelihoods, which has caused far more damage than the unfortunate riots.

LILACS to the Spokane Transit Authority for considering a bus line from downtown Spokane all the way to Coeur d’Alene, most likely Riverstone (although we’d vote for extending it to Sherman Avenue downtown). This kind of people-pleasing bus route is one that will have this writer considering mapping out bus schedules again. Let it stop at the Valley Mall and Liberty Lake along the way, but perhaps kill the Mirabeau Transit Center stop, which isn’t convenient for much other than the YMCA and Center Place.  

LEMONADE to the Spokane City Council, administrators of the CARES act, for reversing course on dispersing funds to local, unemployed renters. Originally, the tenants’ landlords had to live in Spokane to qualify for the assistance, which was an unrealistic expectation. Many, if not most, have no idea where their landlord lives, and it should be immaterial anyway. The council acted prudently when they did away with that restriction, and demonstrated the citizens have a voice in their local government.