Author Dr. Ned Hallowell will discuss important matters on raising children in a talk about his book: “The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness: Five Steps to Help Kids Create and Sustain Lifelong Joy” at 7 p.m., Jan. 12, at the MIHS Performing Arts Center. Hallowell’s message is how connections with children can provide the essential ingredients of happiness: resilience, optimism, playfulness, connectedness and a can-do attitude. Hallowell is an instructor at Harvard Medical School and the founder of the Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health. He speaks on ADD, handling a fast-paced life and family issues. He has been featured on television and in national news media.
Washington’s minimum wage increases 48 cents to $8.55 an hour beginning Jan. 1, 2009.
PEAK, Tent City, Merrimount, I-90 and transportation issues filled the news pages of the Reporter this year. But it is often the smaller, seemingly insignificant events that best capture life on Mercer Island.
Myra Rothenberg and Islander Tami Rudnick Rabin have coined a catchy motto: “If you have a surface, we have a solution.”
A residential fire broke out at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 18 during the first day of heavy snow last weekend. Mercer Island and Bellevue Fire Departments responded to the fire, located a 4102 100th Ave. S.E., with difficulty due to the snowy weather. Icy road conditions prevented the fire fighters from getting their trucks close to the two-story house. All equipment had to be carried 150 yards down a steep driveway.
The Mercer Island wrestling team started the regular season with a big 39-37 victory over Bellevue on Friday, thanks to five pins, including two by freshmen.
In the years after the Island was settled and the first East Seattle bridge was constructed, Island Catholics attended Mass in Bellevue. As the number of Catholic families grew in the years after WWII, the search was on to build a church of their own. After being officially established, the new St. Monica Parish celebrated its first Mass on the Island in November 1954, in the East Seattle School gymnasium.
While the majority of work needed to install new traffic lights near the high school has been completed, the signals will not be up and running until next spring.
A British citizen, Island resident and the former CEO of a bankrupt software company pleaded guilty to wire fraud last week after he was accused of swindling about $50 million from investors.
Presentations regarding public comments about funding a new SR-520 floating bridge will be held on the Island at noon tomorrow, Dec. 12, at the Mercer Island City Hall Council Chambers.
The only competition that Mercer Island could find on Thursday came from its own bench. The Islanders began defense of the last three state titles with an overpowering 148-36 victory against Snohomish to open the season.
Mercer Island residents will have an opportunity this month to see if their televisions are prepared for the transition to digital broadcasting. On Dec. 17, major television stations will turn off their analog transmitters for 60 seconds, starting at 5:28 p.m., across Western Washington. Any interruption in programming, such as a blank screen, “snow” and white noise, color bars or warning text, will indicate that a viewer’s television is not yet compatible for the transition, which will take place on Feb. 17, 2009. The same test, called “Marketwide Analog Shut-Off,” will also occur on Jan. 13 and Feb. 10, at 5:28 p.m. Television stations participating in the test include KOMO 4, KING 5, KIRO 7, KCTS 9, KONG, KSTW 11, KMYQ22 and Q13 FOX.
The last time when the Mercer Island High School Marching Band had new uniforms was during the Carter administration. Islander musicians pulled on their new duds in the fall days of 1978, just weeks after the film, “Saturday Night Fever,” was released. In the world outside the Island, the Shah of Iran was still in power, eight-track tape players were playing the hits and, ironically, the nation was suffering a major energy crisis.