MERCER ISLAND REPORTER | www.mi-reporter.com
year | FROM 1 hundreds of Islanders to the Community Center. The police stand by. City Council meetings are full and many come to tell the Council that tolls would be grossly unfair and intolerable to Islanders. Many write to the Mercer Island Reporter, saying the imposition of tolling would be disastrous. Hennie McPennie, a new children’s shoe store, opens in the Mercer Island Shopping Center on 78th Avenue S.E. The Mercer Island School District weighs in on how much tolls would cost the district for teachers and staff who live off Island. A pipe breaks at May Wayte Pool just before a major high school swim meet is scheduled. The break closes the building for two days. The City Council readies a plan of attack to fight tolling on I-90. The Council votes on an initial budget of $275,000. The school board moves forward on a slimmed-down bond issue to send to voters to rebuild Island schools to meet overcrowding.
over the edge of the steep driveway at the South-end. The car flips over near the lake. Reusing treatment at the scene by firefighters, the driver walks away. A tug with a hoist removes limo from waterfront a month later. A new coffee shop, Franky and Dom’s, opens at the foot of S.E. 24th Street Hill. The fight against tolling begins to focus on the need for WSDOT to conduct a full environmental impact statement in order to properly document the impact of tolling on Islanders, Island employers and businesses.
Facing eviction from the Hudesman property which is about to be torn down, True Value Hardware finds a new home next to Walgreens. More than 3,600 runners and walkers sign up for to raise money and awareness for colon cancer. Five hundred Islanders take part. The long-vacant utility land on first hill is sold. The city had considered building affordable housing units there, but abandoned the idea after objections from neighbors. The city later put the land up for sale to any buyer.
April
March The New Legacy project at the Hudesman property, the site of the Islander restaurant and True Value Hardware, is approved to go to five stories The City Council hires the law firm of K & L Gates to lead the effort to fight tolling on I-90. Beloved and inspirational Islander Middle School special education student Jim Holt dies at 16. Hundreds attend his funeral at Mercer Island Presbyterian Church.
A half-million Islander, former dollars in jewelry is Aubrey Davis city mayor, regionstolen from a salesal activist and leadman’s car when he er, Aubrey Davis dies just stops at the Island Crust three days after he appears Cafe for a bite to eat. A at the Mercer Island Youth large truck blocks his view & Family Services Giving of his car from the restaufrom the Heart Breakfast. rant for 25 minutes. When To accommodate the large he returns to his car, the crowds expected, services jewelry cases are gone. are set for the Paramount Theatre in Seattle in May. Island House residents dance with abandon in a A limo on its way to pick video promoting life at their up an Island man and take residence. him to the airport, goes
The Mercer Island School District announces a program to provide 1,600 iPads to students. Seattle attorney Benson Wong announces he will run for the open city council Pos. 6. Incumbent Mike Grady decided not to run for another term. On April 9, Seafair announced that the U.S. Navy Blue Angels would not appear at Seafair in August. Islanders weep. Celebrated regional artist and Holocaust survivor, Maria Frank Abrams, 88, dies. The new owners of Alpenland decide to call it quits less than a year after they the business from long time owners Linda and Toni Gadola, who bought the deli in 1997. Islander Rich Erwin announces that he too will
run for City Council Pos. 6. A thief who grabbed a bottle of vodka from Albertsons and took off down the street was no match for a police dog and his handler from Redmond. City Council incumbent Dan Grausz announces he will run again for his seat.
May The newly renovated VFW Hall becomes a television set for the ‘Deadliest Catch’ reality show. The City Council votes to rename the ‘Park on the Lid’ for Aubrey Davis. A ceremony to re-dedicate the park and christen a new sign to honor Davis and his work on behalf of the city and the region, for reining in the size, scope and impact on Interstate-90 is held during Summer Celebration in July. A sculpture by a Mercer Island artist appears on the television show, Grimm. A large gravel truck hauling a trailer overturns on East Mercer Way. Islander and former King County assessor and champion of local taxpayers, Harley Hoppe dies. Three long-time Island businesses close: Mercer Island printing closed after 25 years, Tony Maronis quit their location suddenly and combined with a Factoria location and ‘What to Wear’ also closed. The Pacific Northwest Ticket service moved to a location on S.E. 36th Street.
June
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In June, a family by the high school that raises heirloom chickens in their backyard, places a sign out on the street to sell eggs. Sound Transit officials and staff show Islanders what a light rail station will look like across the center lanes between 77th and 80th Avenues S.E. Teacher, trainer, cyclist and outdoor enthusiast Fran Call is named Mercer Island Citizen of the Year Islander Middle School students makes solar ovens and tests them outside. Mercer Island High School holds its 56th Commencement exercises. There are five valedictorians in the Class of 2013 — all young women. The city dedicates a new solar array at the Mercer Island Community and Events Center. The device was paid for by a grant from Puget Sound Energy, awarded to the city after enrollment of Island residents in the company’s green power program increased by half. The Islander restaurant readies to move into its new digs at the Aviara Development next door on 76th Ave S.E. They are the last business remaining at the Hudesman property that was about to be demolished for the new Legacy mixed-use project. Their move is delayed by a few weeks. The demolition is yet to occur.
Letters about tolling and candidates for City Council fill the pages of the Mercer Island Reporter. On Sept. 26, the Mercer Island School District Board of directors approved a $98.8 million bond issue to build a fourth elementary school and rebuild other Island schools to go to the ballot in February 2014. An ordinance to ban the use of plastic shopping bags at local retailers is set for a vote. Another tolling meeting with transportation officials was held at Mercer Island High School. Again, Islanders told WSDOT staff that tolling would be unfair and a burden on Islanders.
September The Metropolitan King County Council voted to elect Mercer Island City Councilmember Tana Senn to represent the 41st Legislative District of Washington state and King County in Olympia. Senn, 42, replaces former state representative Marcie Maxwell, who resigned her seat in July. Islander Anthony Flacco is the co-author of ‘Impossible Odds’ that reached no. 13 on the New York Times bestseller. Eleven from Mercer Island High school are named 2014 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.
September | PAGE 7
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