October is National Clergy Appreciation Month nationwide. Parishes and congregations typically honor their pastors, priests and rabbis with expressions of appreciation for their ministries, and it seems appropriate to honor two particular members of the Mercer Island Clergy Association.
A multitude of images — mostly faces of people who I have known, worked with, watched grow up and admired — come to me as I approach this column’s topic, each person experiencing radical life changes while confronting issues of addiction. I’m beginning to think more and more of it being a miracle that any of us can escape addiction issues in our lives. Think about it for a second — consider all the ways that we as human beings can find our thoughts, our emotions and our very lives dominated by addiction:
At Briar Rose Sewing School, a new business on Union Hill in Redmond, owner Barbara R. Mar is reviving the dying art of sewing and giving people of all ages a place to gather as they exercise their ingenuity.
Over 800 students played for All-Island Band Night during halftime at the Mercer Island High School football game against Sammamish High School on Mercer Island, Friday.
Tent City 4 resident Madelynne Bush, right, talks to Mercer Island Studio 904 owner Kay Hirai, center, and stylist Jackie Hong prior to receiving a free salon treatment on Oct. 15. Tent City 4 residents have been on the Island since August and are expected to move this Saturday, Nov. 1. The roving encampment of about 100 homeless people will relocate to the St. John Vianney Catholic Church in the Finn Hill neighborhood of Kirkland.
A cut-off portion of a utility pole hanging from the wires of an adjacent pole has been deemed safe, city officials said. The pole is in the 4600 block of 86th Avenue S.E. It is bolted at the top and secured by wires. According to the city, phone and power companies sometimes have to leave utility poles in such a way, as improvement schedules rarely coincide.
Matt Vincent, a Mercer Island High School senior, and Michael Wales, a Seattle Prep junior and Island resident, both placed in the top 10 percent of their respective events at the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta in Boston.
The Mercer Island volleyball team officially clinched the 3A KingCo title on Friday with a 3-0 victory against Juanita High School. It was the team’s second consecutive league championship.
The Mercer Island girls’ soccer team continued to fall on Thursday, when they lost to Sammamish, 2-0. The loss put Mercer Island in jeopardy of missing the playoffs altogether after leading the division and being undefeated after six games. The loss was also Mercer Island’s fourth in five contests.
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.
