When purchasing special Valentine’s Day undergarments, the shopper typically has a significant other in mind. But Seattleites should plan on donning this intimate attire for a significant number of others this upcoming holiday weekend.

On Saturday, Feb 11, hundreds will hit the streets of Fremont wearing nothing but their underwear, all for a worthy cause. Seattle will host its first ever Cupid’s Undie Run that benefits the Children’s Tumor Foundation, which raises funds for the Neurofibromatosis (NF) family of diseases. Although many people are unfamiliar with NF, it affects one in 3,000 births in the U.S.

Childhood friends from Atlanta, Brendan Hanrahan and Chad Leathers are two of the co-founders of Cupid’s Undie Run. Leathers’ younger brother Drew has Schwannomatosis, a painful and debilitating disease where tumors grow throughout his nervous system.

Their community rallied behind the Leathers family and began an organization called Tumornators. When Hanrahan moved to Washington, D.C., he wanted to continue to spread awareness and raise money for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, which funds Schwanno research.

“Knowing that a 5k or happy hour would be low-return, cookie-cutter events, I decided to do something different and have people run in their underwear for Valentine’s Day,” Hanrahan said.

Therefore the event began in Washington, D.C., two years ago. This year the run has expanded to five other cities around the nation, including Seattle. So why was Seattle selected?

Rebecca Zeller, Seattle race director and “queen of the Pacific Northwest Undie Run” (she responds to either title), said the answer is in the image of your average undie runner: “active, late 20s to early 30s, fun, and just shy of crazy. Doesn’t that sound like a Seattleite?”

Zeller also noted that Seattle has a strong history of philanthropy, community involvement and a love for slightly wacky events, making it an ideal location to expand Cupid’s Undie Run.

“We chose Fremont, aka ‘Center of the Universe,’ as it only makes sense that an event of this magnitude be held here,” Zeller added.

The event will start at noon at The Ballroom in Fremont, where runners can mingle and gain liquid courage to strip down to their race outfits. For those who wish to remain more modest in their attire, Valentine’s Day costumes or pajamas are also an option.

The 1.5-mile run will begin at 2 p.m. and end back at The Ballroom where everyone can warm up and prizes will be awarded to the top fundraisers.

Fundraising incentives are also offered to participants, such as custom undies for $25 worth of fundraising, a VIP open bar for $150 (Zeller said this seems to be people’s favorite), a custom robe for $500, an iPod Nano for $1,000 and so on.

One top fundraising team is “Pretty Pageant Panties,” with Mrs. Pacific Northwest Larissa Long as the top fundraiser. Long found out about the event through Twitter and has since used forms of social media to promote her fundraising.

Long has a personal connection to the event: “My cousin has been affected by tumors all her life and as a child she was told she would not live past 18; now she is 40,” she said.

Long credits organizations like the Children’s Tumor Foundation for helping extend life and hope for people living with tumors.

The fundraising goal for Seattle’s event is $50,000. Zeller explained. “Realistically, the first year for an undie run is to build a loyal base and the following year people really sink their teeth into it.”

This is what occurred with the first Cupid’s Undie Run in Washington, D.C. In the race’s first year $8,000 was raised, while over $50,000 was raised the second year. Seattle has already raised over $4,000, with two weeks left to fund-raise.

It’s not too late to register and help Cupid’s Undie Run become a success in Seattle; you can either start or join a team, or participate individually. Registration fee is $35 through Feb. 6. Space is limited, so register early to ensure your spot. If you are unable to run but still want to get involved, you can sponsor a runner or volunteer at the event. Visit www.cupidsundierun.com to get involved.

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KRISTA STAUDINGER is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.

Some of the displays and presentations include:

Pel’Meni Dumpling Tzar is celebrating it’s one-year anniversary and they’re hosting a (belated) “Thank You Melanie” party for Melanie Masson, who was the previous director of the Fremont Walk. Swing by between 6pm-7:30 pm to say hi. (3516 Fremont Pl N)

Nate Watters captures the dynamic colors, machinery and ingredients in Theo’s chocolate factory as well as the artisan confections handmade by Theo chocolatiers. (Theo Chocolate, 3400 Phinney Avenue).

Michael Angelo Caci digital technology and chemistry to manipulate photographic and scanned material. The result is an astounding, and visually captivating body of work. (Frame Up Studios, 3515 Fremont Ave. N)

Get info on more artists, venues and festivities here.

At approximately 4:30 a.m., the 911 call center received multiple reports of hearing six to eight gunshots in the 4300 block of 5th Ave NW. A witness gave police the description of the vehicle and driver, which he had also seen and taken note of in the area a few days earlier.

A vehicle parked in front of a witness’s house had multiple bullet holes and police recovered shell casings and slugs, police say. There were no injuries and no apparent damage to the home.

From the SPD Blotter:

Officers responded to the suspect vehicle’s registered address and observed the vehicle parked/unoccupied outside, with one shell casing visible on the rear seat floorboards.  While watching the residence, another vehicle left the house.  Officers stopped this vehicle and detained the male matching the suspect description.  He was positively identified by the witness to the earlier shooting. The suspect was subsequently booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Drive-by shooting.  The suspect’s vehicle was impounded to the processing room.

The challenge encourages Seattle communities to reduce their overall waste by decreasing garbage and increasing their efforts to recycle and compost. The one that reduces the most waste will win a $50,000 grant to give their community a “Main Street Makeover.”

Every Seattle community in Waste Management’s collection area has been participating in this competition, which runs through March 2012. The collection area that reduces the most waste during this time period, year over year, will be rewarded with the Main Street Makeover grant. Grant money will be spent on improvement projects within the winning community.

With two months left, the Fremont/Phinney Ridge area is in fifth place (see chart above). The winning neighborhood will be determined by the highest diversion rate, which increases as recycling and composting increase and garbage decreases.

The good news is that our neighborhood led the way in percent change between 2010 and 2011.

We’ve got to up the ante in the last two months so check out this list of ways to reduce waste and increase recycling.

They are currently enrolling students who will be five years old on or before December 31, 2012.

This program is ideal for students who are:

- taking a transitional year before starting kindergarten
- enrolled in half-day morning kindergarten
- turning five by December 31 and ready to start Pre-K

The Woodland Park 5’s program is best described as a progressive, play-based curriculum, one that starts from the premise that children learn best when given the opportunity to freely engage with the world around them, pursuing their own passions and curiosities in a community setting.

“Teacher Tom” Hobson has been Woodland Park’s teacher since 2002. He thinks of the school as a community in which families choose to raise their children together. Just as earlier generations learned everything they needed to know from their neighbors and neighborhood, Teacher Tom strives to create a classroom in which children are stimulated to explore the world beyond their own homes in partnership with the adults who love them.

It’s a cooperative school, which means it is owned and operated by the families of its students. These parents take on essential roles both inside and outside the classroom, serving both as assistant teachers as well as fulfilling every role in the school from executive to janitorial, with the teachers being the sole paid employees. The powerful dynamic of parents working shoulder-to-shoulder with the teacher helps insure a unique and vibrant learning experience for each child.

For more details and enrollment information, visit their website.

The Pre-3’s and 3-5’s classes, which are part of a network of independent cooperative preschools run through North Seattle Community College, are also enrolling new students for the 2012-13 school year. Visit here for registration information.

The boundary change is part of a short-term capacity management plan that addresses Seattle Public Schools’ enrollment growth. According to Seattle Schools, “the plan, which outlines how the School District will accommodate the projected increasing enrollment, was developed following input from the Facilities and Capital Management Advisory Committee (FACMAC). Input was considered from about 300 attendees at six community meetings held between September and December 2010, and also included 550 written comments.”  It was approved 7-0 by the Seattle School Board on Jan. 25. To read the full plan, see the Board action report.

Much like it’s sister, Fremont Space, it will be a mix of residential, office and commercial spaces. You can see how that will shake out in the plans below:

There could be up to five new retailers or restaurants in Fremont thanks to the building, though four of those retail spaces can be combined based on needs.

The office spaces will be loaded with amenities and offer all the Internet options one would need. Based on this chart, rents will range from $400 to $1,400.

The project as been in the works since 2007.

They also spoke with President Atsuko Tamura to hear about the strategies and business philosophies that earned them these prestigious awards.

What’s really exciting to us is this national recognition.  Wow. Our whole team had a similar reaction: a humble but stoked “wow!”   This recognition means a ton to us – we’ve worked really hard to build our brand in a way that could have the broadest reach to action sports enthusiasts – everywhere.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Looking south from 41st & Fremont Ave:

Looking up 38th St. from Fremont Ave.

Go on, brush your shoulders off, Vlad.

You’ve got something on your face, bro. No not there, there.

At the Center of the Universe:

These guys must be so sick of waiting…

What did one snowman say to the other snowman?

“Do you smell carrots?”

Under Aurora Bridge.

With all those shrubs gone at the end of Stone Way, it makes for a nice view: