Asian Businesses and The Wisdom Of Too $hort: Eddie Huang, a NYC-based chef who had a pop-up restaurant here in D.C. recently, takes to his blog to defend the larger point of former mayor-for-life Marion Barry. While Barry has come under fire for remarks that sound pretty racist, Huang says that some of the burden rests with the Asian business owners who are doing their communities a disservice. He has advice: “I’m telling you now, not just cause it’s my joint, but if you want to see a prototype solution to Blasian relations, look no further than Baohaus. Counting Evan and myself, we employ 5 Asians, 9 Black People, 4 Latino (Chris is the light skinned ciroc boy that look like Montana), and 2 White People. Evan and I obviously are the owners but our Head Chef and 3 Shift Leaders are all Black and Chris. It’s important to have different ethnicities in leadership positions.”+5

When Washington Burned: Left for Ledroit has 44-year-old footage of the riots after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. The riots were an expression of simmering frustration, but they also destroyed black-owned businesses and wiped out large swath of the urban corridor. -2

Stinkgo Trees: The Urban Forestry Administration is spraying female ginkgo trees in hopes that the ladies will not produce the smelly seeds that plague the area each spring. If that’s not enough for homeowners who have the trees nearby, they can petition the city to cut them down. Maybe we’re the exception here, but we don’t find the smell all that obnoxious and the trees themselves are lovely.  –1

DCRA and MPD Busting Record Shops: Local thrift stores and record shops have been getting a hard time from cops and DCRA—who are cracking down on stores that buy items second hand if they don’t have the proper licenses. This is all very well and good, but store owners are reporting that they’ve been getting bad information from regulators up until this point. -2

Yesterday’s Needle rating: 54 Today’s score: +0 Friday Bonus +2  Today’s Needle rating: 56