Tux the cat disappeared from his Phinney Ridge home in January. His owners desperately searched for him, to no avail. Finally, two weeks ago, a PhinneyWood reader contacted us, saying he’d found Tux and was trying to contact his owners, but the phone number was disconnected. We were able to provide the owners’ email address.

Today, Noel tells us he finally reached Tux’s owners, only to find they’ve moved out of the country. And since Noel already has five cats of his own, he’s hoping someone would like to adopt Tux.

Tux is the sweetest cat in the world. He’s just a huge, happy, self-sufficient kitty who wants a meal twice a day and some pets if you can spare them.

The previous owner says he’s around 7 years old and up on all of his shots, perfectly healthy and so loving. Even though he’s quite large (He’s kinda built more like a pit bull then a cat) he’ll almost knock you over with kitty head-bump hugs.

I think the ideal home for Tux would be one where he can be an indoor/outdoor cat. He gets along fine with other cats, loves to be outside, asks for food twice a day and gives big hugs. He’s infinitely entertaining in how he high-steps around the garden, rolling around on the sidewalk to scratch his back and standing with one paw tucked under his chest while he asks for pets.

If you’re interested in adopting Tux, please email Noel.

United Way of King County is administering the Summer Food Service Program, a federal nutrition assistance program that seeks to eradicate childhood hunger during the summer months. Through “One Million Meals,” United Way is working with cities and organizations to feed hungry children at dozens of sites throughout the city and around Puget Sound.

All three meal sites in our neighborhood will serve meals Monday-Friday, from June 27 through Aug. 24.

• Sandel Playground: 9053 1st Ave. NW.
• Greenwood Park: 602 N. 87th St.
• Bitter Lake Community Center: 13035 Linden Ave. N.
  

You can see a map of all meal sites in the region here.

The Northwest Chamber Chorus closes its 45th anniversary season with “It’s About Time” concerts on June 8 and 9 at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, 7500 Greenwood Ave. N. The concerts are at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 8, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 9.

This theme program with music inspired by the passing of time, includes songs by many different composers and from many different eras.

Songs about the time of day include Dawn by Eric Barnum, Abendlied by Josef Rheinberger, Esti Dal by Zoltan Kodaly, Die Nacht by Heinrich von Herzogenberg, and The Long Day Closes by Arthur Sullivan. Songs about the seasons and the time of year include The Fall by Jonathan Miller, After the Winter by Giselle Wyers, The Year’s at the Spring by Eric Barnum, O Süsser Mai (O Sweet May) by Johannes Brahms, and As Imperceptibly as Grief, composed by Tim Snyder on a poem by Emily Dickinson. Songs reflecting on the times of our lives are Jenny Kiss’d Me by Eric Barnum, I Have Had Singing by Steven Sametz, By and By spiritual arranged by Carol Barnett, Love in Grief by F.Melius Christiansen, Quick! We Have but a Second by Charles V. Stanford and Ain’t Got Time to Die spiritual by Hall Johnson.

Tickets are $22 general, $17 senior citizens, $12 students, $12 active singers; children ages 6-12 admitted free with accompanying adult. Tickets are available online, by calling 206-523-1196, or at the door.

The Greenwood Community Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.  The main topics are how to improve walking and biking in the neighborhood, including specific projects and proposals.

Also on the agenda is a presentation on the proposed development at 1st Avenue NW and NW 85th Street. The developers will share their general plans and get the community’s feedback on what they’d like to see on that site.

We’ve had several reports of burglaries, car break-ins and a suspicious person around the neighborhood recently.

Megan posted on our Facebook page that someone spray painted their trash cans and dumped four large bags of garbage at their home on 84th Street on Friday night.

JE says someone stole mini-cypress trees in blue ceramic pots off her porch behind Fred Meyer sometime late Thursday or early Friday morning (photo below).

Janice tells us two houses were burglarized on North 57th Street and Palatine Avenue North Thursday night. She says the burglars appeared to be targeting tools.

Melanie says she witnessed a car break-in in the upper parking lot of the Safeway on North 87th Street and Greenwood Avenue North about a week ago.

I heard the window smash, saw a guy pull a black backpack out of the car. He turned and stared at me before getting into a white car and driving away. Possibly white male, could be 20s or 30s, hard to tell at that distance.

Diana says her house on 80th Street was burglarized last week. The thief broke through a small basement window.

Laptops, jewelry, tv, other small items, are gone. Suspects left with two red and one blue suitcase. Would love to recover red wallet with kid’s pictures more than anything.

And Renee warns of a possible soliciting scam.

I feel like I almost got scammed by a solicitor…working with a shady company called Ultimate Unity, INC. They have many complaints online and he had the usual scheme. He was working on his “job skills” he told me that he wasn’t asking for money or a donation and reassured me 3 times that this was not about taking money from me. All I had to do was rate him on his professionalism and appearance, pick out a book or magazine to send to a charity of my choice, and then he’d get points! He then started filling out a receipt for the amount that I owed for the book I had picked out to send to a charity, I picked Children’s Hospital. I told him that I had asked him if there was a donation involved and he had lied to me so I didn’t trust this and wasn’t about to give him money. He got defensive.

So then the next day as I was walking home from Green Lake and I happened to run into him on the corner of NW 70th St and 2nd Ave NW, I asked him if it was a scam and he of course said it wasn’t. I called the police after researching the company online a little, but since it had been 20 minutes since I had seen him on the street corner, they said they probably wouldn’t be able to find him and to call 911 immediately if I have a solicitor do this again.

A bicyclist who tried to pass a Metro bus in front of Red Mill Burgers around 4:30 this afternoon, was hit by that bus and knocked off his bike. Peter and Sandra Coan were in a car behind the bus and saw the accident. They say the cyclist was winding his way through other cars waiting at the stop light in front of the Phinney Neighborhood Association and were concerned the bus wouldn’t see him.

As the bus pulled away from the stop, the cyclist tried to pass the bus on the left. The bus hit the man, who flew off his bike. The Coans say the man was able to get up and pull his bike off the road himself. He appeared to have an injured hand. He was wearing a helmet.

Seattle Police say a suspected drunk driver collided with a police car in Phinney Ridge early Sunday morning, then fled before finally being arrested in Ballard. From the SPD Blotter:

An officer on patrol in North Seattle was struck by a hit and run drunk driver early this morning on 3rd Avenue Northwest.

At approximately 3:12 a.m. a uniformed patrol officer in a fully-marked Seattle Police car was driving northbound in the 6700 block of 3rd Avenue NW when the suspect driver suddenly cut across 3rd Avenue NW traveling westbound and collided with the police car. The female suspect/driver then fled the scene. The suspect was located soon afterward at 15th Avenue NW and NW Market Street and taken into custody.

The suspect was processed for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

Neither the officer nor the suspect were injured in the incident.

Seattle Police arrested a felon after a shooting in Greenwood early Saturday morning. From the SPD Blotter:

A 20-year-old felon in possession of a firearm is in jail following a shooting in North Seattle early this morning.

At approximately 1:15 a.m. officers responded to a call of shots fired at North 85th Street and Fremont Avenue North. A responding officer was flagged down at North 86th Street and Fremont Avenue North by a man claiming his friend was shot. The 25-year-old male victim then approached the officer with a gunshot wound to his left wrist. The victim was not forthcoming about the details of what had occurred leading up to the shooting. Several independent witnesses gave officers suspect descriptions as well as a description of the vehicle the suspects fled the scene in, a white Toyota Camry.

Fire department medics responded and transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

A patrol officer located and stopped the suspect vehicle at 3rd Avenue NW and NW 77th Street. A witness was transported to the scene of the stop and positively identified one of the occupants of the Toyota as the person seen running from the shooting scene carrying a gun. Five subjects were detained and transported to the North Precinct for questioning by Gang Unit detectives.

The primary suspect, a 20-year-old male, was booked into the King County Jail for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm (Violation of the Uniform Firearms Act).

The other four subjects were interviewed and released pending further investigation. The vehicle was impounded and taken to the evidence garage for further analysis.

Gang Unit detectives continue to actively investigate.

Online maps for the huge Garage Sale Day in Greenwood and Phinney Ridge are now available online. More than 100 garage and yard sales will happen from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday throughout the neighborhood, plus there’s a flea market and tool sale at the Phinney Neighborhood Association, 6532 Phinney Ave. N.

Printed maps are also now available at the PNA, Greenwood Senior Center (525 N. 85th St.) and Greenwood Library (8016 Greenwood Ave. N.)

Emerald City Trolley launched its hop-on hop-off trolley service today, including a major stop at the Woodland Park Zoo in Phinney Ridge. The new trolley system is designed for tourists and residents to easily access Seattle’s main attractions.

Photo courtesy Emerald City Trolley.

Emerald City Trolley will operate three distinct lines from today through Sept. 29. Each line starts at the Experience Music Project. The lines include a waterfront tour, an express route to the Museum of Flight south of downtown, and the North Line to Fremont, Phinney and Ballard. That line includes The Ballard Locks, Woodland Park Zoo, Fremont, The Fremont Troll, South Lake Union, Kenmore Air and MOHAI.

Customers can purchase a two- or three-day pass, good for access on all three lines. Two-day passes costs $45 and a three-day pass costs $60. Additional days are $15 each. Family passes for two adults and up to three children (12 and under) are $110.

Tickets for the narrated tours can be purchased on the trolley at any stop, at the retail location at the intersection of 2nd and Pike in downtown Seattle, online, or by calling toll free 855-313-3456.

Plenty of fun things to do in the neighborhood this weekend. Here are a few highlights; check our Events calendar any time for more.

Friday Contra Dance at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Taproot Theatre opens its month-long run of “Bach at Leipzig,” at 204 N. 85th St., this weekend.

Casey Neill performs at Empty Sea Studios, 6300 Phinney Ave. N., at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $18 in advance, $22 at the door.

Karaoke with Katybelle at Tim’s Tavern, 602 N. 105th St., at 8 p.m. Friday.

PlaySpace at Emmanuel, 510 N. 49th St. (use Kapka entrance) is open from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Saturday is the big Garage Sale Day in Greenwood and Phinney Ridge. More than 100 garage and yard sales throughout the neighborhood, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., plus a flea market and tool sale in the Phinney Neighborhood Association’s parking lot, 6532 Phinney Ave. N.

Seattle Folklore Society presents Magpie in concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the PNA, in the Brick Building. Cost is $16, $14 SFS/PNA members and seniors; kids half price. Reserve seats online, or call 206-528-8523.

Couth Buzzard Books co-owner Theo Dzielak celebrates the release of “Stardust Gem — Ruby Lhianna Smith Tribute CD,” in honor of his daughter, Ruby, who died of cancer last year, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, at 8310 Greenwood Ave. N.

Open Jazz Jam with Kenny Mandell and Don Berman at 2 p.m. Sunday at Couth Buzzard Books.

Food Truck Roundup to benefit the University District Food Bank is from 3-7 p.m. Sunday at the PNA. Ages 21 and over only (distillery trucks will be on site too.) Tickets are $25 (eight food and four drink tickets) and available online.

Happy Hour Bingo at 4 p.m. Sunday at Tim’s Tavern, 602 N. 105th St.

Over in Ballard tonight is the annual Syttende Mai (May 17th) Parade, starting at 6 p.m. It starts at 24th Avenue NW and NW 62nd Street, heads south to Market, east to 22nd Avenue NW, then south on 22nd to Ballard Avenue NW. Lots of streets will be closed in that area, and parking will be a nightmare, so plan accordingly.

And over in Queen Anne, the Quick Styx girls lacrosse jamboree is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Queen Anne Bowl.

The Phinney Neighborhood Association is hosting a Bike to Work Day station from 7-9 a.m. Friday at the Heart of Phinney Park, next to Francine Seders Gallery at the corner of Phinney Avenue North and North 67th Street. They’ll provide bike check-ups, baked treats, water, Cascade Bicycle swag and Seattle Bike Maps.