Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Baby Flamingos, Dedicated Thieves, and a Broken Lock

We’ve all been glued to cable news, biting our nails, waiting and watching as the Chilean miners are plucked from their dark, earthen womb. But meanwhile, other Chilean creatures have escaped after a month in their own calcium carbonate prisons. Local blog Seattlest reports on the hatching of two Chilean flamingos at the Woodland Park Zoo. From the Zoo’s press release: “Both parents care for their chick, feeding them ‘crop milk,’ a dark red secretion produced in their upper digestive tract.” Meanwhile, the trapped miners staged an underground protest because rescue workers wouldn’t send them any booze. (Incidentally, both miners and flamingos are unanimous in their support of I-1100.)

Security measures foiled a break-in at View Ridge Elementary three weeks ago; the computer equipment was tied down with anti-theft cables. Once thwarted, the thieves returned on October 1st twice as smart. According to local blog Wedgewood View, “The windows of three rooms were broken and computers were stolen. The school was locked but the alarm had not been activated.”

If you heard the thunder last Sunday, just be glad you weren’t anywhere near the Ballard locks. After being hit by lightening on Sunday night, the Queen Anne View reports that it’s taking longer than anticipated to restore the locks electrical systems and the large lock could be out of service for an entire week, according to the Army Corp of Engineers. Small pleasure boats can still use the smaller lock.

In case you hadn’t already heard, it’s election season! Ballots drop this week and if our endorsements weren’t convincing (or drunk) enough, West Seattle Blog invites you to a candidate forum for the 34th Legislative District. After the recent kerfuffle over the economy between candidate Mike Heavey and two local unions, the battle between Heavey and Joe Fitzgibbon continues to be Seattle’s most interesting race this fall.