This week, we bid adieu to the sailors who classed up our city during Fleet Week, saluted the (possibly last) flight of the Blue Angels, checked out some Mad Homes, hoped that Congress would get it together, celebrated National S'mores day and National Farmers' Market Week, and enjoyed some surprisingly good weather. more ›

Hey you, yeah you by Hammerin Man from the Seattlest Flickr pool. more ›

Don't get stuck this weekend. Find out what's open, what's closed, and what's still under construction with our traffic report. more ›

Today was a bad day for the stock market, a bad day for Washington oyster farmers, and a bad day to be a crack dealer--but it was a great day to fly the friendly skies, as the Blue Angels delighted the masses (and snarled traffic). more ›

Can't Miss It. Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter kick off a tour with new, psychedelic tunes at Showbox. The Blue Angels angle and boom into the afternoon. And the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation goes Off the Cuff. more ›

The Torchlight parade has wrapped up, the run is over, and now, it's nearly time for Seafair's grand finale which includes Fleet Week, and the flight of the Blue Angels. more ›

Cougars, and tigers, and airplanes--oh, my. This morning's news roars in with noise complaints and trading pitchers. more ›

Regardless of what the weather's been doing this season, Seattleites know it must be summer when you see a retired "duck" careering down the street, packed to the brim with pirates. Oh, Seafair. more ›

A fun family event makes its annual return, unofficially marking the middle of Summer in Seattle. more ›

We love our West Seattle neighbors, and thought they deserved more attention. Every Friday at 3 p.m., we'll post the week's happenings in Seattle's island town. Highlights this week? Hi-Yu, Seafair, new leads in the death of Jeremy Peck and this morning's standoff. more ›

"'The Gold Cup is going to leave Seattle. I don't want to start a controversy," said Cantrell, a rough-hewn, outspoken hydro jockey from Detroit. 'But I don't think a Seattle boat will win. Maybe it will be a Nevada boat, maybe one of our Eastern jobs. But it's leaving here. We're going to beat Muncey." more ›

We here at Seattlest are somewhat divided on the Blue Angels. Some of us associate the elite naval air demonstration squadron with ruined outdoor concerts and a sonic roar that is particularly punishing when you're suffering through a hangover. Although we're not dumb enough to make a 911 call about it. more ›

Get your feet wet for Seafair's culminating event with this preview Retake. Old and new photos of the fastest hydroplane of the '50s. more ›

• The cocoa butter bandit didn't slip away from the Everett police--officers have arrested a 24-year-old Lake Stevens man who is suspected to be responsible for the recent string of tanning salon robberies.
• The Southlake reports that Denny Triangle's Days Inn and Eighth Avenue Inn have been leased to Cornish College, who is in the process of turning the once skanky hotels into residence halls for 280 first-year art students. (Pointing) Ha, ha freshmen.
• The chaotic Seafair boating traffic on Lake Washington, is finally over. In total, authorities handed out 110 BUIs (Boating Under the Influence). Seattle 911 reports that's a 23 percent increase. Don't say we didn't warn you. Tsk, tsk.

Seattlest reader David Hoffman took this gorgeous shot yesterday from Madrona Park, as the Blue Angels were doing their practice runs. They'll be out doing an official Seafair air show today and tomorrow from 1:30-2:30 p.m. more ›

The Blue Angels just finished their second practice run prior to Seafair. It's hard to work through what sounds like a jet engine sitting on our roof, so we stepped outside to snap a few pictures. Saturday and Sunday they'll put on a full show from 1:30-2:30 p.m. more ›

KEXP FAVORITES LIVE & FREE!: Kick off the weekend tonight by heading to KEXP's Concerts at the Mural, the first of the free all-ages concert series put on at the Seattle Center. Tonight's tunes will feature a few of KEXP's favorite bands: Blitzen Trapper and Throw Me The Statue. The show is tailored to the culturally curious, seeking out best of the area’s independent music scene. Most importantly, the beer garden opens at 5 p.m. with the show shortly after. 6:00-8:00 p.m., Fri. // Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre, 305 Harrison St // Free (not including beer) more ›

Sound Transit says weekday ridership is at estimated at 12,000 per day--with 15,000-17,000 on the weekend, so suck it, Seattle Times. ST is aiming for 21,000 riders per day by the end of this year, with another 5,000 daily stragglers due to board after the final leg to SeaTac opens end of December. Events like last weekend's Sounders FC and Seattle Mariners games, and the Seattle Seafair Torchlight Parade have boosted ridership--coming up, ST will be running free shuttles from the Othello light rail station to Seafair's hydroplanes and air show on Lake Washington on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. more ›

The Blue Angels, Navy's elite flying aerobatic team is back in town for the annual Seafair celebration. The bright blue Boeing F/A-18 Hornets are expected to cruise (at mach speed, we hope?) through Seattle's air space around 10 a.m. today, causing all sorts of fun traffic congestion today through Sunday, August 2. As always, WSDOT will be closing all lanes, in both directions of the I-90 between I-5 and Island Crest Way. The I-90 bridge closure times: Thursday (9:45 a.m.-noon, 1:15- 2:30 p.m), Friday (12:45-2:45 p.m.), and Saturday and Sunday (12:45-2:40 p.m.). For pedestrians and bicyclists, the bridge will be closed to you 30 minutes prior to the cars. more ›

• Seattle Bubble has some fairly depressing graphs of job losses in the region. Why, graphs, why?
• MyBallard has info on the 10,000 or so people prepared to invade Greenwood tomorrow for the 50th Annual Greenwood Seafair Parade, including links showing which streets are closed.

• The swashbuckling Seafair Pirates landed on the beaches of West Seattle on Saturday, officially kicking off Seafair 2009.
• The police are on the lookout for a four-door red Saturn or Chevy Cavalier with "fancy hubcaps" that they believe was involved in a shooting Saturday night on the 8100 block of 48th Avenue South. No one was injured, just a car and empty home found with a few bullet holes.
• No one's sayin' there's a ban on washing your car at home, here in Washington. But if you happen to suds up the trusty automobile, the powers that be strongly recommend washing the car over gravel or grass to filter the dirty water.

The outcome of this race has some kind of metaphorical meaning, we're sure of it. Thanks for adding this to the Flickr Pool, ntisocl! more ›

• Seattle's famed musician Dave Matthews is never too good for a ride around Green Lake. He's one with the locals, and we like that.
• Powerball no more. That means, no bouncing balls spinning in a bubble, no cheesy ball reader wearing sequins, and no additional $12 million for the state of Washington.

• The Puget Sound will be a playground for the Seattle Tugboat Race Championships at Saturday's Maritime Festival.
• The zoo says it's not their bird on the loose. So who is missing an exotic yellow-ish bird?
• Sustainable Ballard's nifty-looking contest-winning custom-designed bike rack will adorn the corner of 22nd and Ballard Ave.

Organizers announced the course for the Seattle Rock and Roll marathon today, which will replace last year's bungled Seafair Marathon. The hilly June 27 race is a for-profit event run by a California company. It starts in Tukwila, near a casino and sexpresso stands, and will show off the industrial area around Boeing, and Rainier Beach, before heading up the Alaskan Way Viaduct and must-see Highway 99. And since there's a rock music theme, expect to hear "Smells Like Teen Spirit" approximately 26.2 times. more ›

• My Ballard and Phinney Wood shared a post on the annual Dead Baby Bike Race. With the recent fear-mongering regarding bicyclists in the local media--the bike race could likely have not come at a worse time. We're sure already freaked out Subaru drivers, aren't thrilled to think of the idea of a crudely named (see: hilarious) bike race that celebrates "Mutant Bike Culture."
• Rejoice Francophiles and hipsters not allergic to the sun! Capitol Hill Seattle reports that Cafe Presse has opened a deck to accommodate outside seating. Few things are more French than enjoying a delicious and refined meal at a neighborhood sidewalk cafe, so we're thrilled to have a chance to mimic the experience at our neighborhood pseudo-Parisian cafe.
• The Central District News breathed a sigh of relief and celebrated that this year's Umoja parade was bigger and better than ever.

Dave Villwock won the Chevy SeaFair Cup hydroplane race Sunday after apparent-winner Miss Beacon was penalized for shenanigans during pre-race warmups. Tomorrow, the media will report that 7,000 boats were on the log boom and 700,000 people were jammed onto the shores of Lake Washington to watch boats going 700 mph and pulling 70 g's. Whatever. Seattlest is just glad that the one weekend a year that makes us actually anticipate the following Monday is drawing to an end. But, we will sleep well tonight knowing that if we ever need to attack Mercer Island, there is a fighter squadron at the ready. We are watching you, Islanders. more ›

• You know it's Seafair when the Seattle Police Department issues a "Boating Under the Influence Advisory." That's right folks, if you're out on the water this weekend, beware: everyone else on the lake is going to be drunk, whatever the boat cops say. As long-suffering Seattle residents who can afford boats, that is their God-given right during Seafair. It's the viking heritage.
• Crosscut Seattle confirmed a long held theory of ours: that the local news and radio broadcasters have remained virtually unchanged for our whole life. And we were right! Jean Enersen celebrates 40 years with KING5 today, and yesterday KIRO Radio personality Dave Ross celebrated 30 years on the air. Sure, the city has quadrupled in size, but you still got the same old Jean and Dave (and Steve Pool...and Kathy Goertzen...and Dan Lewis) to tune in to.
• Central District News warns local dog owners who might take their pups for a dip at Madrona Beach or a romp in the park. Two dogs convulsing from suspected slug poison have been taken to emergency vets, but have thus survived.

At least that's part of the lesson we learned from reading the Seattle Times feature news story on how corrections officers and cops troll Seattle festivals like The Bite and Seafair for lapsed felons and folks with outstanding warrants. The other thing we got from reading the story was never wanting to go to another free festival again. You only have to read the first sentence of the story to be convinced, but we assure you the whole thing is filled with reasons not to attend.... The opener: more ›