Local hero #1: Nathan Smurthwaite, frontman for both the metal/grindcore band the Abodox and the soft-n-strummy the Marrying Type, whose heroic clobbering of two rampaging pit bulls with a folded-up baby stroller is recounted in full over on Line Out.

Local hero #2: Hot Tipper Oscar, whom readers will remember from this Last Days item from last May:

SUNDAY, MAY 18 The week ends with an extraordinary tale of "religion gone bad and valiant community spirit" from that inexhaustible forum for freakery known as King County Metro, reported by heroic Hot Tipper Oscar. "I was riding the 18 headed downtown, when out of the corner of my eye I saw some movement. When I turned to look, I saw a man repeatedly hitting a blind woman seated at the front of the bus. An older gentleman seated next to the woman jumped up and tried to intervene, but a quick punch to the head knocked him back down into his seat. Once I realized that what I was seeing was real, I rushed the assailant and grabbed him by the arms while he yelled at me to 'keep out of this. You got no idea what's really happening here' and the woman cowered and covered her head. He kept screaming about 'being filled with the power of God' and threatening to kill me for stopping him from doing God's work. Three other passengers helped me hold him while another rider called 911. Another passenger was assisting the assaulted woman, who'd been hit so hard she was bleeding. The police arrived and apprehended the attacker, then took all of our names. While one young lady was telling her story, I heard her say that when the assailant got on the bus he saw the blind woman and said, 'God says all sick people must die,' then started hitting her. [Confidential to the psychotic assailant: Blind people aren't sick, and all people must die. Back to Oscar:] The assaulted woman was checked by paramedics and declared physically okay, except for scratches and bruising, then got a ride home from a fire marshal. Thanks to all my fellow Metro riders who pitched in and stood up for someone unable to defend herself."

Last week I reconnected with Hot Tipper Oscar, who informed me of the letter he'd received from the King County Sheriff's Office. Initially fearing a bust for some crime he didn't remember committing, Oscar instead learned that he's being given a meritorious service award by King County. Congratulations to Oscar, who'll receive his meritorious service award the day after tomorrow at an official gathering "somewhere in Burien." Good work.