This year has not been easy for Sam Bliss. The senior began the season as the Mercer Island football team’s starting quarterback but was supplanted by freshman Jeff Lindquist. But multiple concussions and various other setbacks never knocked Bliss completely out, as he remained a leader on the team.
The Bellevue and Mercer Island High School rivalry is one of the biggest in the state. That rivalry was renewed on Thursday at Lake Sammamish State Park during the 3A KingCo Cross Country Championship, and Mercer Island dominated. The Islanders swept all four races, including the boys and girls varsity and junior varsity runs, bringing the rivalry to a level that most do not achieve.
A 59-year-old Seattle man with a warrant from Mercer Island was detained at 2:15 a.m. by Seattle police while intoxicated, transported to the Island’s police station and booked into the Issaquah jail.
Islanders neighboring a waterfront mansion under construction near Franklin Landing have filed two requests with the city’s planning department to prevent the addition of a private gymnasium as a part of the home.
The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to release its newly approved GPS-assisted approach to the Renton Airport next month, and airport officials expect it to decrease the number of noisy landings over the Island.
Help plant and water 300 trees and plants on the Island’s newest trail along Island Crest Way, south of S.E. 68th Street. A planting demonstration will be held at 9 a.m. at S.E. 73rd and ICW. Work is expected to continue until 1 p.m. Parking is available by Wildwood Park (7400 86th Avenue S.E.). Neighbors along the trail are asked to make water available for the new plants. Bring gloves and a shovel, wheelbarrows and watering cans. For information, call Amanda Stuckey, (206) 730-1514.
The City Council recalled the five formal demands it sought earlier this month in exchange for fully funding school district counselors. The council decided that a letter of intent from the superintendent to resolve ongoing field access issues would suffice.
The youth vote counts. This platitude rings truer than ever in the 2008 presidential election. According to nationwide surveys, the number of young voters (defined as 18- to 25-year-olds) in this year’s election is twice that of 2004. Youth-geared organizations such as Rock the Vote, League of Young Voters and YouthVote U.S.A. are also showing record popularity among America’s registered teenagers and 20-somethings.
Podcast. Blog. Wiki. Hyperlink. It may sound like gibberish to some, but most Island students are fluent in this Internet language.
To kill or not to kill is the question for many eligible voters of Initiative 1000, the assisted suicide measure. But for the conscientious citizen, the question is to live or not to live.
We are smart, well-read, opinionated, individualistic and very discerning about what we consume or how we spend money.
The bottom line of I-1000 is money: by not prolonging life, insurance expenditures and estate costs are lessened — saving society’s resources for those who are well. What price is human life worth when it becomes recyclable like a plastic bottle? The Washington State Medical Association has taken a consistent position against I-1000.
International Middle School (Collège International) Information Night/Open House: 6:30 p.m., Oct. 22; 2-4 p.m., Nov. 15, French American School. Offers International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program. Prior French language experience not necessary. Rob Harrahill: (206) 240-2980.
Dorothy L. Cook, a long-time resident of Mercer Island, died on Oct. 8 at Overlake Hospital.
Why are we providing severance payments to employees, especially to Mr. Sterbank? City Manager Conrad says severance payments “end the issues surrounding an employee.” What does this really mean? It means “hush money.” It forecloses anyone from knowing the cause-and-effect of the severance. Sterbank’s hire was encouraged by former Assistant City Manger Lori Lindell. Once Lindell blew the whistle on City Manager Conrad’s alleged sexual harassment of a city employee, she was “gone with the wind.” If the $137,000 paid to Sterbank, Lindell’s friend, doesn’t reek of payola, then my sniffer dog is on the wrong scent. As is every City Council member who encouraged such an outrageous severance settlement under the guise of “saving” the city money. Look in the mirror, City Councilmembers, and search for ethics. That is, if you know what they are.