A Porsche 911 parked in an Islander’s garage in the 5000 block of East Mercer Way was keyed down the passenger side during the night of Halloween. According to the owner’s estimate, the scratches will cost $3,000 to repair.
A young buck was seen in front of the Harris home on Forest Avenue last week. The deer was discovered by Mick McHugh while out walking his dog Maude.
Evening traffic was diverted from S.E. 24th Street for several hours last Monday after an oily substance was spilled onto the roadway.
A close rematch between the former county sheriff and a Microsoft manager looking to represent Islanders in Congress ended Friday night after days of increasing Republican support.
Lakeridge Community Service Club, a PTA-organized after-school program, visited a number of rescued PMU horses at the Mercer Island Saddle Club on Oct. 4 for its latest service project. The PMU horses, which are foals rescued from potential slaughter and foreign sale, are raised by the Phoenix Rising Sanctuary near Duvall. These foals are the by-product of mares impregnated for the collection of their hormone-rich urine, which is used for Premarin, an estrogen replacement medicine. The MI Saddle Club agreed to host the horses in their stable for the charity event.
Mercer Island High School math teacher Kim Schjelderup was recognized last month by the 2008 University of Washington Computer Science and Engineering Department as one of Washington’s “inspirational teachers.” Schjelderup, who has taught at MIHS for more than 15 years, was nominated by former students who are now part of the UW Computer Science and Engineering School. Each year, the department honors high school and community college teachers across the state as “inspirational teachers,” based on student recommendations. Schjelderup received the honor last May and was recognized in October at a banquet with university staff and former students. The teachers were also given a tour of the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science and Engineering.
Creative designer for the Mercer Island Reporter and Reporter Newspapers, Melanie Morgan spent 16 hours working at the West Seattle Senior Center polling station on Nov. 4. Morgan worked as a greeter, directing Seattle voters from 13 precincts to their respective tables. The Kent resident was on site at 5:30 a.m., more than an hour before the polls opened, until nearly 10 p.m. to drop the ballots off at the depot center. Having worked at poll stations twice before, Morgan said last week’s election was the busiest she had ever seen.
If current election results remain the same, voters of the 41st Legislative District will have elected Democrats to all three seats for the first time since the Great Depression. It would also be the first time in decades that one of the winners is not an Islander.
Lakeridge fifth-grader Hadley Michaels greets ‘Winston,’ a horse rescued by the Phoenix Rising Sanctuary, at the Mercer Island Saddle Club last week. The school children raised money for the horses. See page A4 in the current issue of the Mercer Island Reporter for the story.
The McAleese family is anxious to find the owner of a man’s heavy gold wedding ring lost in Lake Washington last August. Young Daniel Peyton had searched methodically for the lost ring for many weeks, but ended up finding it by chance more than a month later.
The “Images of Change” art show features photographs of civil rights heros, donated by the National Public Library, along with photos from the Mercer Island High School’s Multicultural Scholars trip to the Deep South last summer, on exhibit from 3 to 5 p.m. this Sunday, Nov. 16, at the Community Center at Mercerview. Wine and appetizers will be offered. The event is free, but a $25 donation is suggested. All proceeds go toward the Multicultural Scholars Program.
Island voters split over the approval of two ballot measures that would put more money into local parks. While voters denied a multi-million dollar capital improvement bond that would have restored much of Luther Burbank Park and replaced some soggy ballfields with artificial surfaces, they supported an annual maintenance levy for the next 15 years.
So far, Mercer Island’s downtown businesses have been able to float the economic recession with prudence. But with the holiday season just around the corner, retailers are bracing themselves for a tough year. Others have already felt the crunch.