Oklahoma City can have Clay Bennett and his team. Seattle's NBA franchise was gone even if Seattle had won in court against the possessed Bennett. The last thing I wanted to see was a lame duck team forced to stay in its KeyArena lease until 2010.

Seattle can now start plotting how it can lure the NBA back to Seattle now that Bennett's bunch is heading to the Dust Bowl league. There is a chance KeyArena will be home to an NBA team again if our elected officials and potential local owners can work together.

Click below for a podcast of me discussing my new column, which deals with the potential created by Bennett's departure.

Q&A with Ryan Blethen | Sonics may be gone but dream still alive

Elected Seattle officials seem oblivious to the current economic realities. Energy and food prices are soaring and people are being laid off or worrying about it.

You would think that would register with Seattle's mayor and City Council, each of which is proposing new property tax increases -- the mayor for Pike Place Market improvements and the council for parks.

Editorial columnist Joni Balter discusses the city's taxing proclivities and their effect in her column today. Click below for a Q&A with Joni about the issue:

Q&A with Joni Balter | Seattle taxes squeeze middle class