News briefs | Sheriff Urquhart is honored

Published 10:08 am Monday, December 29, 2014

Sheriff Urquhart is honored

King County Sheriff John Urquhart received the Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Champion for Washington’s Children Award for his work on behalf of early learning.  Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Washington State Director Laura Wells presented the award to Sheriff Urquhart in November during the King County Chiefs’ Meeting at the Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien.

Urquhart is an Island resident.

“Sheriff Urquhart knows that investing in our youngest children will set them on the path to success and away from crime.  He has worked effectively with policymakers and the public to encourage wise investments in prevention programs for children during their earliest years,” Wells said. “He has shown a deep commitment to early learning and home visiting programs that help give kids the right start in life and prevent crime. We are pleased to honor him as the 2014 Champion for Washington’s Children.”

Sheriff Urquhart joined Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Washington soon after being elected in 2012.  He has testified in Olympia and met with state and federal policymakers to promote early learning and home visiting as key crime prevention strategies. His Guest Commentary in the Seattle Times and testimony before the Seattle City Council helped build public and political support for early learning at the state and local level.

In testimony before the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee in Olympia, Sheriff Urquhart said “We can’t arrest our way out of society’s problems.  We have to come up with other solutions.  One of these solutions is high quality early learning.”

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Washington is a nonprofit, bipartisan, anti-crime organization led by over 225 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys and violence survivors.

City issues phone fraud alert

The Mercer Island Police Department warns residents of yet another phone scam currently underway on the Island. Several residents have reported receiving similar phonecalls from individuals who claim they are with “Windows,” the Microsoft operating system common to most computers.

This new scam seeks to get recipients to download malicious software. Residents are always advised to hang up, not engage in any conversation, and certainly not call back to any phone numbers provided.  Contact the MIPD with general questions at (206) 275-7610.

For more, visit http://www.mercergov.org/News.asp?NewsID=1593 or http://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/.

New lighting means lower bills for city

In August of 2103, the City replaced the lights in the 228 decorative lampposts in the Town Center. They were replaced to  100-watt metal halide lamps with new energy efficient LED lamps that use just 35 watts each.  That first phase of the project, partly funded by a grant from Puget Sound Energy, is on track to pay back in just over two years.

This month, Phase 2 is underway as City crews gradually retrofit up to 70 of the taller street lamps, removing the old sodium vapor bulbs and replacing them with new LED bulbs.  The light produced by LED lamps is much crisper, plus the bulbs last three to four times as long and use about 50 percent less power.

The street lamp retrofit project will save the City money in utility costs, reduce labor costs due to longer bulb-life, and help reduce the City’s carbon footprint due to lower energy needs.