News that the University of Washington is going to create more spaces for incoming freshman students comes as a welcome change. But the decision is late.
I just want the City of Mercer Island to know that they did an outstanding job with the fireworks celebration show. The shuttle service from City Hall to Luther Burbank Park was a great idea. When the show was over, we were back to our car in 10 minutes — it doesn’t get any better than that. Thanks, MI.
Who wants light rail on the Eastside?
The decision of the Mercer Island School District Board of Directors to back away from what is unfortunately termed the “Really Big Idea Committee” is a wise one. Superintendent Gary Plano will now oversee the committee. This move will help free up the School Board to focus on its primary mission, which is to supervise and direct the work of the superintendent to carry out the goals of the board. But, you say, what was the RBIC? And why should we care? Good question.
Lately there has been a lot of talk about Tent City and the crime it might bring to Mercer Island. Let me say with 100 percent sincerity that I fully understand the concerns of those who live close to the proposed site. After all, it’s easy to be in favor of something you don’t have to live next to and experience on a daily basis.
The air show during the hydro races seems to encourage some sort of ‘zugen rue’ frenzy and myopic insanity by the viewing public. After watching 28 years of dirty diaper-dumping, red and white fried chicken buckets, empty beer cases, and broken styrofoam chests along with the low-speed collisions, on-street bickering and shouting about parking spaces, children darting onto West Mercer Way, and people walking through homeowners’ properties … you wonder why this event is such a good idea. Well, it’s part of the community and we deal with it.
As more of us now know, the City Council has put the wheels in motion to reduce the four lanes on Island Crest Way between Merrimount and S.E. 53rd into two lanes, plus a center turn lane. This is an expensive, controversial and under-publicized move, and we hope you will consider revisiting your decision before this work is scheduled to start in September.
As I walked up West Mercer Way on Seafair Sunday to watch the Blue Angels, I was shocked at the number of cars parked in the road, blocking traffic. When I crossed 40th, I saw at least a dozen cars of self-absorbed people who thought it perfectly appropriate to park in the southbound lane of West Mercer so that they would not have to walk far to the Blue Angels parties they were attending.
When I hear about a family losing their home to a fire, my heart goes out to them. Even though they all made it out OK, and we know that’s the most important thing, they have lost all their belongings, and that must be hard! It’s not necessarily the expensive stuff or even the practical necessities, but the items of emotional value, mostly irreplaceable, such as family photographs and gifts from loved ones who have long since died. The loss of these belongings would hurt the most. What would you miss most?
Initiative 26 gives voters more choices.
I do not live on Mercer Island and I do not belong to the Mercer Island United Methodist Church. I have, however, been reading the Tent City coverage on your online blog. The lies and misinformation being posted in letters are appalling, and I felt I must comment.
Education is the lifeblood of a free, democratic society. In today’s global economy, we must provide children access to education that prepares them to succeed in a world where technology evolves every day. Quality education is crucial to the development of the individual and is clearly linked to the future security, economic and social health of our democracy. I’ve worked to make education a top priority in Congress, and I was recently honored to receive the endorsements of the National Education Association and the Washington Education Association, which represent our public school teachers.
An oft-used newsroom proverb is that nothing much happens in the summer. Not so this season. It has been a busy couple of months with the controversy over Tent City, increasing road work on neighborhood thoroughfares and freeways, possible tolling ahead and astronomical gas prices. Each of these changes has touched something that Islanders hold dear: their ability to drive wherever and whenever they want to go, their concept of neighborhood and community, their sense of safety and perhaps most importantly — their feeling of control.
