Seattle, WA
Seattle get sidewalk murals to tackle homeless drug addicts
As fentanyl addicts and the mentally ill continue to languish and die on our streets, Mayor Bruce Harrell’s administration has decided that what downtown Seattle really needs are sidewalk murals. Because nothing says “we’re tackling the root causes of homelessness” quite like ensuring that when a drug addict passes out, they do so on a vibrant, city-commissioned work of art.
The sidewalk murals are part of Harrell’s uninspired Downtown Activation Plan. One of the action steps? “Create more murals and other art installations throughout Downtown and activate street corners, parks, and transit stations with buskers and other forms of entertainment to create a more beautiful and welcoming environment, mitigating the impact of graffiti and street disorder.”
The logic, if you can call it that, seems to be that if we make the scenery prettier, the human suffering playing out against it will somehow be less tragic. It’s a continuation of the same tired, ineffective, and lazy approach we’ve seen countless times from our city’s leadership. Harrell is a master of the performative gesture, the symbolic act that accomplishes nothing but allows the mayor to pat himself on the back for a job well done.
This is not a parody. This is the actual strategy of a city in the throes of a humanitarian crisis.
As part of the plan to tackle downtown Seattle homelessness, the mayor is having murals painted on the sidewalks.
But all this means is that fentanyl addicts will pass out on murals. pic.twitter.com/8EC2KSUvyw
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 26, 2025
Bruce Harrell’s homelessness plans? Sidewalk art and lighting
This sidewalk mural initiative is a perfect companion piece to another of the mayor’s recent beautification-as-solution projects: strings of lights a few blocks away from where the homeless congregate.
Billed as a way to “enhance community safety and vibrancy,” the decorative lights are meant to deter crime and make residents feel more secure. But ask anyone who lives or works in the downtown core and Belltown, and they’ll tell you that the problem isn’t a lack of ambient lighting. The problem is the open-air drug markets, the relentless property crime, and the sense that the city has all but abandoned them to the wolves.
The lights and sidewalk murals are a slap in the face to a community that has been begging for a real plan, for more police, and for a commitment to prosecuting the criminals who are making their lives a living hell.
Seattle residents should be insulted
What these initiatives share is a fundamental misunderstanding, or perhaps a willful ignorance, of the nature of the problem.
We are not dealing with a crisis of aesthetics. We are dealing with a crisis of addiction, of mental illness, and of a complete and utter breakdown of law and order. Painting a mural on a sidewalk will not get a fentanyl addict into treatment. Installing a light fixture will not stop a prolific offender from breaking into another small business.
These are solutions for a city that is not in crisis, for a city that has the luxury of worrying about its appearance. That is not Seattle.
We actually know what tackles homelessness
The tragic irony is that we know what works. We know that a compassionate, but firm approach, one that combines robust and readily available treatment options with a law enforcement presence that makes it clear that criminal behavior will not be tolerated, is the only way to make a real difference.
Seattle should be investing in long-term treatment facilities, in mental health care, and in a criminal justice system that is allowed to do its job. Instead, we get murals and mood lighting. Soon? Buskers.
It’s a tale of two cities. In the Seattle mayor’s press releases, the city is becoming more vibrant, more beautiful, and more welcoming with each passing day. In the real Seattle, the one that the rest of us have to live in, things are getting worse. The open-air drug use, the homeless encampments, the property crime—these are the realities that a fresh coat of paint and some light bulbs cannot hide.
The people of Seattle are not asking for a more scenic city. Our city is beautiful—when you clean up the mess made by the homeless.
Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on X, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.
Seattle, WA
Seattle Mariners re-assign 3 players to minor league camp
The Seattle Mariners re-assigned outfielder Brennan Davis, right-handed pitcher Dane Dunning and left-handed pitcher Jhonathan Díaz to minor league camp on Friday.
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Seattle’s spring training roster is now at 38 players, with 33 from the 40-man roster, four non-roster invitees and one player on the 60-day injured list.
Davis, 26, had been one of the Mariners’ surprise standouts during camp after arriving on a minor league contract. The former top prospect went 12 for 34 over 15 games while producing a .353/.450/.824 slash line with a 1.274 OPS, four homers, four doubles, six RBIs and five walks to 11 strikeouts.
Dunning, 31, was also in camp on a minor league deal. He allowed four runs on five hits and five walks while striking out four over 6 1/3 innings in three appearances. The right-hander also pitched for South Korea during the World Baseball Classic, surrendering two runs over three innings in three apperances.
Díaz, 29, was a non-roster invitee to spring training. He pitched three scoreless innings, struck out two and didn’t allow any hits or walks in two spring outings. The left-hander was on World Baseball Classic champion Venezuela’s roster but did not appear in a game. Díaz made one appearance for the M’s last season, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
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Seattle, WA
Cal, Randy team up in Seattle Mariners’ 6-run inning – Seattle Sports
Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena are officially Seattle Mariners teammates again, and if you need proof, just look at the box score.
Seattle Mariners name Logan Gilbert opening day starter
The two players who were at the center of a controversy last week during the World Baseball Classic both drove in runs as the Mariners put up a six-spot on the Athletics on Thursday night in Cactus League play.
Arozarena came off the bench with runners on second and third with one out in the top of the seventh inning, and he reached on an infield single that gave Seattle its first run of the game, cutting the A’s lead to 3-1.
And Arozarena, who hit his first homer of the spring on Wednesday, wasn’t done. He then stole second, which allowed him to score the second of two runs on a Ryan Bliss single that tied the game.
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A few batters later, after a Brock Rodden single and Luke Raley hit by pitch loaded the bases, it was Big Dumper’s turn, and he delivered with a bases-clearing double off the tall wall in center field at the Athletics’ spring home, Hohokam Stadium in Mesa.
That capped the inning and the scoring for Seattle in a 6-4 victory.
Perhaps it’s a sign that the handshake that never happened when Arozarena stepped to the plate for Mexico with Raleigh catching for the USA is behind the two Mariners All-Stars. As they say, winning cures everything.
More on the Seattle Mariners
• All Mariners back from World Baseball Classic
• Mariners’ Hancock showing new weapon during strong spring
• Former Mariners UT Dylan Moore triggers opt-out clause
• Salk: Difficult to see Emerson making Mariners’ opening day roster
• Seattle Mariners’ Luke Raley showing he’s worth keeping an eye on
Seattle, WA
Cesar Chavez name to be removed from Seattle garden after abuse accusations
SEATTLE — César Chávez’s name will be removed from a Seattle institution after newly public sexual abuse allegations.
At El Centro de la Raza in Seattle, Executive Director Estella Ortega said a garden named for Chávez would be renamed and that other tributes at the building would also change.
“The farm worker movement is bigger than just one person,” Ortega said. “We’ve got a garden named after him, those things will change.”
A photo of the garden on March. 19, 2026. (KOMO){ }
The renewed debate in Seattle follows a New York Times report published this week that detailed allegations Chávez sexually abused women and girls, including fellow labor leader Dolores Huerta. The revelations have prompted officials and institutions around the country to reconsider Chávez commemorations, with California leaders backing a proposal to rename César Chávez Day as Farmworkers Day and other communities moving to review streets, schools and monuments that bear his name.
In Washington, Gov. Bob Ferguson already said he will not issue a proclamation for César Chávez Day this year and instead plans to celebrate Dolores Huerta Day on April 10.
Asked Thursday whether he would press local agencies to remove Chávez’s name from places such as the garden outside El Centro, Ferguson said the state had already decided to stop honoring Chávez in the ways he directly controls, while broader changes would require more discussion.
“My view is the movement’s bigger than any one individual,” Ferguson said. “The farm worker movement did so much for farm workers, for labor rights, for human dignity. It’s bigger than any one person.”
Ferguson said he had met with Ortega and lawmakers before speaking publicly and described the allegations as so serious that many people were still “reeling” and trying to decide what would be appropriate next.
Seattle’s César Chávez Park, in the South Park neighborhood, is managed by Seattle Parks and Recreation. Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, when asked about the park, did not indicate a change would be immediate.
State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña said Latino leaders in Washington were urging that this year’s March 31 observance move away from celebration and instead focus on community service, survivors and the broader farmworker cause.
“At this moment, I think the Latino Democratic caucus will be saying, we need to pause,” Saldaña said. “This March 31 this year should be about community service. It should be about making sure that the farm worker movement and the farm worker cause is what’s centered.”
Saldaña stopped short of immediately endorsing a permanent name change for the holiday, saying it was still too soon and that leaders should follow survivors’ lead. But she said she expected more conversations about accountability, healing, and how public spaces should be named going forward.
Across the country, those conversations are already underway. The Associated Press reported Thursday that communities and institutions nationwide are distancing themselves from Chávez, identifying more than 130 sites that bear his name, including parks, schools, and other public landmarks.
For Ortega, the question in Seattle was more immediate.
“We cannot just let the lie continue to live in our way,” she said.
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