The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for today’s citywide primaries, the most important election of the year. Party nominations for Mayor, all 17 City Council and a bunch of judgeships seats are up for grabs.

All 17 City Council seats are on the ballot. Jannie Blackwell is running unopposed in District 3, which covers much of West and Southwest Philadelphia. Some 16 Democratic (including Spruce Hill resident Paul Steinke) and seven Republican candidates (including Spruce Hill resident Matt Wolfe) are running for at-large seats in today’s primary.

Other offices on the ballot include City Commissioner, Supreme Court, Superior Court, Commonwealth Court, Court of Common Pleas, Municipal Court, Sheriff and Register of Wills.

Today’s ballot also includes four questions open to any registered voter regardless of party affiliation. One question, a non-binding referendum, asks whether the School Reform Commission should be abolished and local control of the city schools should be restored.

The Committee of 70 has tons of info on today’s election. Go here for a complete rundown on all of the candidates. Go here if you need to find your polling place.

Photo from bicyclecoalition.org

Philly bicyclists will get together this Wednesday (May 20) for the Ride of Silence, the annual international event that honors the cyclists killed or injured by motorists. The ride also raises awareness of cyclists’s right to share the road.

The 8-mile ride will start at 7 p.m. at the foot of the front steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum and will go through parts of West Philadelphia before returning to the starting point. A brief pre-ride dedication ceremony will begin at 6:45 p.m.

Last year about 175 bicyclists participated in the ride and this year the organizers are hoping to attract at least 400 riders.

Here are more details about the Ride of Silence route from the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia:

From the Philadelphia Art Museum the ride will proceed down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, circle City Hall, continue to Independence Hall, and head over to West Philly via the Walnut St. Bridge. The ride will return to the front of the Art Museum over the Spring Garden Street Bridge.

Riders are asked to gather at 6:30 p.m. The duration of the ride is expected to be one hour. Helmets are required and bicycle lights are encouraged.

Minor Threats Chess Club’s coach, Jason Bui, sent us an update on the latest achievements by his students, who recently returned from the Elementary National Championships in Nashville, Tenn. and also participated in other chess championships this spring. We wrote about the club and its fundraising efforts earlier this year. The Minor Threats Chess Club is based at Mitchell Elementary School and its members are West Philly schoolchildren in grades 3 through 8.

“It has been a loooong month for the Minor Threats Chess Club. We spent a total of 16 out of 32 days on the road from April to May. We had three very long bus rides. We had our bags lost in Ohio (don’t worry, we got them back). We broke down along the side of the turnpike on the way back from Louisville (everyone got home safe and sound). We had sick kids and parents. The kids never complained.

Syair was sick on Sunday in Nashville. He threw up before his first round. He went in and won and then came out and still couldn’t eat, took a nap, went in and won the last round of the day. He won his first Nationals trophy that weekend.

Derrick Moore, a 4th grader at Mitchell Elementary School, with a trophy. (Photo courtesy of Minor Threats Chess Club)

Junior High Nationals was Derrick’s first Nationals. He won his first individual trophy there.

The Philadelphia Chess Society (our super group consisting of Paul Robeson Chess Club, Minor Threats Chess Club, and Enon Connected Pawns) won 7 trophies at Elementary Nationals. Not bad for only having 13 kids playing.

These trips are amazing opportunities for our kids. They learn so much about the world, chess, and themselves. They get to see that there is a whole big world out there. They get to see that if they are brave and they are willing to work hard that nothing can hold them back.

I would not be able to take these kids on these trips without the support of people like you. THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!“

A Red Paw Emergency Relief Team volunteer and rescued dog posing near the donated car. (Photo by West Philly Local).

Here’s some great news for a great local organization that has helped save lives of hundreds of our little friends and companions since its inception in 2011. Red Paw Emergency Relief Team, a non-profit that responds to fires and other disasters in the city and helps displaced pets, has just received a new vehicle, which will allow them to continue their important work, since their old car started breaking down too often. The new car was donated by NRG Home.

The new vehicle was presented to Red Paw’s staff and volunteers, including the founder and former firefighter Jennifer Leary, this afternoon near the corner of 48th and Walnut Streets, across the street from the empty lot where the Windermere Court Apartments building once stood. Red Paw was created in the aftermath of the devastating fire at Windermere in January 2011. Many pets remained trapped inside the heavily damaged and structurally unstable building for weeks after the fire, which prompted rescue efforts by local pet rescue organizations.

Jennifer Leary was one of the firefighters responding to the Windermere fire. She founded Red Paw in July 2011.

There is something about eating a meal in the park. Food just seems to taste better outdoors, on a blanket. You can put that theory to test on Friday (May 15) at the third annual Picnic in Cedar Park. The picnicking proper runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. You can BYOP (Bring Your Own Picnic) or you can grab a picnic special at these businesses along Baltimore Avenue: The Gold Standard, Dock Street, Hibiscus, Little Baby’s, Mariposa, Penn Pizza or Taco Angeleno and Fresh Deli. Here is the Facebook page for the event.

The park a few blocks east on Baltimore will be jumping on Saturday (May 16). The annual Party in Clark Park runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will feature live music, games for kids, food and a beer garden. The Four Prophet String Band and The Extraordinaires will provide the music and Dock Street will provide the beer. More details are available at The Friends of Clark Park website.

If you have some unwanted toxic or hazardous items or materials in your house or garage, here’s a great chance to dispose of them safely. On Saturday, May 16, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Philadelphia Streets Department’s Sanitation Division will be holding a free household hazardous waste collection event at the 1st District Highway Yard, 4800 Parkside Avenue.

The following materials and items are considered hazardous and will be accepted at this event:

• Paint and paint related materials, including solvent-based paints and stains, paint thinner, varnish, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, swimming pool chemicals.

• Kitchen, bathroom products and cleaning solvents;

• Automotive products, including used motor oil, antifreeze, lead-acid batteries, brake fluid, degreasers;

• Flammable materials (kerosene, old gasoline);  Continue Reading