Raphael Tapernoux, 3, hitches a ride on his baby sister Carole’s stroller during the 22nd annual Seattle Aids Walk on Saturday, Oct. 4. The Tapernoux family was part of Team Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, which walked for the second year. The church recruited more than 100 participants — the largest team to walk — and raised nearly $20,000 for the Lifelong AIDS Alliance.
The Mercer Island Reporter took first place in the annual Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspaper Contest. The Reporter won in the 5,000 circulation category for issues printed from April 1, 2007 through March 2008.
Edward E. Maloof of Mercer Island died Sept. 30 at Swedish Hospital with his family at his side. Through his civic involvement, real estate and teaching careers, Mr. Maloof was a key part of Island life for more than 60 years.
Campaign contributions to the candidates running for public office in the Island’s legislative district is evidence of the significance of the three seats up for grabs in Olympia this fall. The total of all contributions to candidates running in the 41st District is the second highest total in the state among all 49 districts, while some Islanders have also used their checkbooks to show their support or opposition toward statewide races and initiatives on the ballot this fall.
The online version of the Mercer Island Reporter has joined a new extensive Internet network of local community news operated by the paper’s parent company, Sound Publishing.
Starting today, your community news site is adding a lot more community. Visitors to our site can now contribute their own comments to all of our news stories, editorials and letters to the editor. You are invited to participate.
Robert Graham Keever, of Mercer Island, died on Sept. 13. He was 88 years old.
Charles D. Bridges III, “Charley,” born and raised in Seattle, died on Sept. 23, while living in Palm Desert, Calif. Mr. Bridges graduated from Broadway High School in 1944 and was on the high school golf team during all four years. He then entered the V12A program in Minot, N.D., in preparation for Naval flight training. His eyesight prevented him from entering flight school, and he was transferred to the University of Minnesota Navy ROTC program. When WWII ended, he was discharged from the Navy and returned to Seattle, where he graduated from the University of Washington in 1948. After graduating, he entered the real estate business as a mortgage loan officer. This was interrupted by the Korean War, at which time he re-entered the Navy as a Supply Corps Officer in Bayonne, N.J. While in Bayonne, he married Catherine Ann Blair in 1950, whom he had met in Seattle. They were married in the First Presbyterian Church in Greenwich Village, N.Y., where Mrs. Bridges’ mother, Katherine DuPre’, had married Woolvin Patten eight years earlier.
Rolling hills are compressed in layers against the Cascade Mountains in this morning view from the South end of Mercer Island, Sept. 24.
Last week’s Mercer Island Reporter had an article about doing away with D.A.R.E. I’m not sure what your position is on this program, but I strongly urge you to continue support of D.A.R.E. by filling the D.A.R.E. officer position. The article, in particular, and the concept of doing away with D.A.R.E. in general, are flawed for several reasons.
Second Saturday Stories: “Fall Into Stories,” 11-11:30 a.m., Oct. 11, Island Books, 3014 78th Ave. S.E. Pat Peterson. Ages 3 and up. 232-6920.
To the casual observer, Mercer Island is blessed with great parks, playfields, beaches and open spaces — the Lid Fields, Luther Burbank, South and Island Crest Fields, Pioneer Park and lots more. These play as important a part as do our schools and accessibility in justifying Mercer Island’s premier position among suburban communities.
Editorial
The story in today’s issue regarding the number of Island youth who attend off-Island schools offers some concrete evidence behind what most have already guessed — that the number of students who leave Island public schools for private schools is significant and is on the rise. Island girls fill a regular school bus dispatched here each day from Forest Ridge School in Bellevue. Stories in the Reporter over the past several years have quantified declining enrollment and its effect on Island schools. Yet it seems that the number of students leaving the district has jumped recently. Superintendent Gary Plano has wisely set out to learn why by conducting a survey of families whose children attend private schools.
