A new state law requiring drivers to use a headset for cellphone conversations while driving went into effect yesterday. The fine will be $124 for violating the law. A police officer must stop a driver for another violation, such as speeding, and may then issue the fine for talking on a cell phone unless it is an emergency. Drivers are advised to use a hands-free headset or speaker phone.
“Tonight we honor a fixture in our community who has been involved in almost everything for decades,” said Mayor Jim Pearman June 16 in naming Jim Trombold Mercer Island Citizen of the Year. In addition to being a respected physician and Rotarian, Trombold has been a community activist, environmentalist and defender of MI parks.
Clarke Beach Volunteer Opportunity: 10 a.m.-2 p.m., June 26. Join EarthCorps, MI Parks and Rec. for urban forest restoration. Tools, gloves, training provided. Sign up: www.earthcorps.org.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported that consumer prices in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton area increased 0.7 percent for two months, ending in April 2008. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for transportation. From April 2007 to April 2008, overall prices rose 3.4 percent, while the all-items less food and energy index increased 2.6 percent.
Republican candidate and Mercer Island resident, Valerie Chan, withdrew from the state Senate race for the 41st Legislative District on Thursday, June 12. Chan said she withdrew for family reasons. Three Islanders had filed to run for the vacant Senate position during the official candidate filing period earlier this month. Chan and Bob Baker had filed as Republicans while four-term state representative Fred Jarret is running as a Democrat. Senator Brian Weinstein announced last December that he would not seek a second term and would return to practicing law. With just two candidates on the ballot, there will no longer be a primary for this contest.
More than 90 percent of high school seniors in Washington state met the WASL requirement for high school graduation this spring.
One of the nation’s biggest names in real estate, Sotheby’s International Realty, will be launching a new office in downtown Bellevue this week, tapping into western Washington’s luxury property market.
The City Council approved the agreement to host homeless camp Tent City 4 on Mercer Island.
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