Citing concerns regarding off-leash dogs and the unhealthy presence of dog feces on school property, along with the failure of dog owners to pick up after their animals, the City of Mercer Island and the Mercer Island School District sent a joint letter dated Jan. 25 to homeowners in the area around Islander Middle School and Lakeridge Elementary. The letter was to remind residents that they cannot use the South Mercer Playfields and the nearby athletic fields and track to exercise their dogs.
How teachers assess their students’ progress, and how administrators assess the teachers as well as facility needs for the future, were the main topics of conversation at the Mercer Island School Board’s planning retreat held on Jan. 20 at the Community Center at Mercer View.
It was no surprise. Island home prices fell in 2010 as compared to 2009. The median price for a single family home was $834,500 in 2010, compared to $897,500 in 2009. Yet, familiar trends hold. Island homes sell well above most in the region. The median price for homes sold in all of King County last year was just $375,000. according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) that tracks sales statistics.
If you’re looking to enroll your youngster into a preschool in the fall, then you need to attend the Mercer Island Preschool Association’s Preschool Fair on Jan. 29.
This is the 12th year that the association has held this event, which will be held at Islander Middle School from 10 a.m. to noon.
The closing of Finders gift shop has left several local artists scrambling to find another venue to show their art or crafts. It’s tough enough being an artist, but in this economy the term “starving artist” takes on new meaning.
But fear not, for some of the artists have found other outlets for their wares.
Kay Hirai is a multifaceted woman. She is a business woman, a leader, an employer, a mother and a philanthropist. Nothing came easy for her, and she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Hirai was honored Jan. 6 with the “Business of the Year” award by the Mercer Island Chamber of Commerce, for her business, Studio 904. Walking into Studio 904, you get a pleasant sense of calm with the minimalist yet tasteful decor and sweet smells. They only do hair at Studio 904, but they are trained to do it well.
Mercer Island certainly has its share of options outside of the public school system. Yet as much growth that the private independent schools have had in recent years, they have felt the changes in different ways due to the recession.
For Mercer Island High School Junior Ross Showalter, a good interpreter is key to his academic and social success.
Over the years, he has had several.
Yet, Showalter, who is deaf, is now going on his third year working with Charnell Bolger, 51, who has been working as an interpreter for 19 years.
December Multiple Listing statistics show homes that sold in December were on the market for an average of 145 days.
A man apparently commits suicide Jan. 2
This was the final Christmas season for Finders, a Mercer Island fixture for 30 years. The quaint gift shop owned by Judy Olson will close forever on Jan. 15 due to the strain of the recession.
“It’s the economy,” Olson said. “Since the middle of 2008, it’s been going down. The last couple of years have been really tough.”
The Mercer Island home of Frederick Darren Berg has been sold to a Seattle businessman for $5.925 million. The home was listed at $8.2 million, Sept. 17, with Coldwell Banker Bain Associates Wendy Lister and Terry Allen.
Mercer Island High School graduate Rob Marshall, 32, said that stepping off an airplane in Antarctica was the closest thing to stepping on another planet than anything else he has experienced. There are no smells, no plant life, no animals — just white, but beautiful, he said.
