Bikram Yoga instructors Jill Holden, Schuyler Ferguson and Ammie Ferguson.

A Bikram Yoga studio is opening this Wednesday (Aug. 29) at 42nd and Chestnut and offering free classes through Tuesday, September 4. The brand new 5,000-square-foot studio space was built this year as a second level of the one-story building housing West Philadelphia Locksmith Co. The studio includes a 1,500-square-foot yoga room and space for a planned juice bar and organic foods store.

Bikram Yoga is the original form of “hot” yoga practiced in a heated room, so the studio has a custom built heating system, allowing it to maintain a 105-degree temperature and 40 percent humidity for every class. Although conditions like that may seem daunting, we hear that Bikram is the world’s fastest growing form of yoga. People of all ages and skill levels are welcome in the studio, local residents and students alike. A staff of eight Bikram certified instructors with extensive training and in-class experience will guide you through classes.

For more information on classes at Bikram Yoga University City, visit their homepage bikramyogaucp.com or Facebook page.

Twelve bike racks will be installed in the sidewalks around Clark Park this Saturday and Sunday. A group of volunteers from the Friends of Clark Park will do the work. Please contact Doug Naphas (douglasnaphas@gmail.com) if you would like to help with the installation or if you can lend any of the following tools: a hammer drill, a portable generator, an impact driver, a Shop-Vac, extension cords, a caulk gun.

Registration is now open for the Fall 2012 season of Clark Park Youth Soccer League, a recreational, non-competitive soccer program. The program kicks off on Saturday, September 22 and kids ages 5 through 11 are welcome to register. Registration information and forms can be found on this page. If you have questions, please email clarkparksoccer@yahoo.com.

A crew from University City District is installing a “parklet” on 44th Street in front of Honest Tom’s Tacos and Lil’ Pop Shop. This is the second parklet in the University City area. The first parklet was installed last summer at the corner of 43rd and Baltimore in front of Green Line Cafe and returned this summer.

A parklet gives people a chance to sit and enjoy life in a space previously used by parked cars. The parklet at 43rd and Baltimore was removed last November, but this year UCD is exploring options to keep parklets warm during the cold months, Naked Philly reports.

Update (8 p.m.): Rafy’s dad contacted us in the evening with great news – Rafy was found. We have removed the missing person flyer from this post.

Rafael de Luna III is was asking for public help in locating his son, Rafy de Luna IV. Rafy lives on the 1200 Block of S. 46th Street and went missing on Sunday. He was last seen around noon.

The de Luna family own Guacamole Mex-Grill restaurant at 46th and Woodland and Rafy would often work the register at the restaurant with his uncle. Rafael de Luna III said that many of their patrons would recognize him.

About 1,500 cheering Barack Obama supporters packed the Bobby Morgan Arena at the University of the Sciences on Thursday for a rousing get-out-the-vote speech from First Lady Michelle Obama.

Obama was preaching to the proverbial choir in West Philly, a longtime Democratic stronghold. And her speech, aimed at rallying campaign supporters, even felt like a Sunday morning sermon. Obama punctuated a few of her most resonant points – on things like universal health care and education equity – with “Can I get an Amen?”

Obama’s day-long swing through eastern Pennsylvania will also take her to Montgomery County and Bethlehem to help keep Pennsylvania behind President Obama, who won the state in 2008.

“It’s all on the line,” she said. “Everything is at stake. That’s why we’re here.”

First Lady Michelle Obama will visit West Philly on Thursday, August 9. She is expected to speak at the University of the Sciences’ Bobby Morgan Arena (730 South 43rd Street) at 2 p.m. As of 12:30 p.m. today, tickets (first-come, first-serve) were still available at the Obama West Philadelphia Headquarters, 209 South 52nd Street (between Walnut and Locust). As far as we know, stopping by and picking them up is the only way to get them.