Congressman Jay Inslee isn’t showing his cards in the game for one of President (can I call him that yet?) Barack Obama’s cabinet seats.

Inslee has been rumored as a shortlister for the Obama Administration’s Interior Secretary, which overseas the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and other federal agencies.

Islander Inslee’s competition, according to the Associated Press, includes: Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), National Zoo director John Berry and former Washington Governor Gary Locke.

After talking with Inslee today about Sakai’s solar energy project (story should appear on the Sun’s site soon), I decided to see if I could shake anything out of him about the cabinet spot.

Polished as can be, Inslee responded: “I’m just doing my job representing the people of the 1st Congressional District.”

The better part of a decade is a long time to wait to use the bathroom.

But relief is finally here.

The city announced today that the sweet swoosh of real, working toilets has returned to Waterfront Park.

“It’s open,” said city engineer Chris Hammer today. “You can go down right now and check it out.”

Not sure yet if there will be a ribbon-cutting, and I’ve heard no announcement about who had the honor of using the facility first.

The 300-square-foot, three-toilet, one-shower facility has undergone almost eight years of community debate after the previous Waterfront Park bathroom was torn down in 2001. City officials and citizen groups haggled for years over the facility’s placement, function and even its the decorations.

Earlier designs before the current prefab box was settled upon included sculpted roofs, rock climbing walls, waterfalls, viewing platforms and a gathering space fit for weddings.

One of the grander designs, coming in at $1 million, was considered too expensive. Pared-down versions were nixed over complaints that they didn’t fit the Bainbridge aesthetic.

The final version, the one now easing the burdens of Waterfront Park users, is expected to cost $325,000. The contractor had initially put in a bid that amounted to $281,000, but hey, what’s $44,000 when you’ve been waiting an equal number of days.

Some City Council members have joked in the past about having fireworks and champagne during grand opening. No official word on that yet.

In the meantime, load up the family, grab the camera and enjoy this long-awaited moment in island history.

Islander Ben Pecora sent in an announcement that Kitsap’s new pro soccer team is now selling season tickets.

Pecora has been involved for years in the Bainbridge Island Youth Soccer Club and is now serving as executive director of the Kitsap Pumas, which used to be the Seattle Sounders until Drew Carey named his team Seattle Sounders FC and hired Sweden’s David Beckham and sent the old Sounders off to Bremerton where they became the Kitsap Pumas.

The Kitsap Pumas?

If you’re going to name a team after this particular cat, the sky’s the limit on name variations. Why settle for pumas? According to the BBC (a national news service for a nation without pumas), the puma holds the mammalian world record for most names.

There’s 40 names in all, maybe more.

So, Mr. Pecora, here’s my shortlist of possible team names in case Drew Carey decides he fancies pumas more than sounders:

The Kitsap…..

Mexican Lions
Mountain Lions
Cougars
Deer Tigers
Florida Panthers
Painters
Catamounts
Panthers
Silver Lions
Devil Cats
Indian Devils
Indian Ghosts
Mountain Screamers
King Cats
Mountain Devils
Red Tigers
Deercats
Fire Cats
Catawampus
Plain Lions
Grey Lions
Caracajous
Klandagis
Quinquajous
Long Tails
Swamp Lions
…and my favorite, the Kitsap Sneak Cats.

As for Pecora’s announcement about season tickets, check out the Kitsap Puma’s website.