Well, not exactly. But at least activist Thomas Hays will be able to say he can go to Germany, now that he’s received his passport. In early February, Hays applied for the blue billfold to travel on two college-accredited trips: one, to the G8 Summit in Heilingendamm in early June; the second, a trip to the Yucatán to study how G8 policies affect the region’s poor.

Hays had expected no trouble with his application, but the State Department, citing concerns of identity theft, asked for more extensive documentation, including his elementary school transcript. Hays wondered, instead, if it was his Replacements Needed poster campaign that caused the delay.

While receiving the passport represents a victory, it may be bittersweet: The costs to meet federally ordered demands have tapped his wallet. Hays is hoping he’ll be able to raise enough funds to travel by month’s end.

Want to help? Visit www.replacementsneeded.com

—Rosette Royale

Clinic reprieve

You say you don’t have health insurance? You’ve got lots of company. So finding an extra $5 million in the county budget to fund two Public Health clinics that provide primary care in Northgate and Bothell is good news. At least for 2008.

Bob Ferguson, chair of the King County Council’s budget adoption committee, said earlier this month that he worked with County Executive Ron Sims to come up with the extra funding, which will keep the clinics open through next year. The executive also said he had set aside another $1.5 million that could be used for Public Health or jail health services in 2007.

It’s the second reprieve for the two clinics, which had been slated for closure this year. The bad news is that a task force appointed as part of the health department’s long-range planning is currently weighing whether the county can afford to run any primary-care clinics going forward.

—Cydney Gillis

Streetcars named

“Welcome to the Evergreen Bank streetcar. Next stop: the Discover South Lake Union station.”

Something like that is what passengers aboard the neighborhood’s new ride will hear when it opens at year’s end. The city last week announced that it has garnered “sponsorships” — private funding that buys naming rights and ad placement — for all three of the line’s trains and six of the 11 stations.

Sponsorships are supposed to pay for two-thirds of the line’s operating costs until 2009, when Metro will begin picking up the tab.

One additional offer to the trains’ sponsors, says city streetcar partnership program manager Kim Nunes: they’ll be able to occasionally close their car to the public and host hour-long, rolling private functions.

—Adam Hyla