REPORTER
Mercer Island
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 | 75¢
Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947
2013 Spring
February home sales were few
Feels like spring
Sports Calendar
INSIDE THIS ISSUE SPORTS PREVIEWS
MISD board meeting Thursday, March 14 The Mercer Island School District Board of Directors will hold a meeting on Thursday, March 14, beginning at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. On the agenda is recognition of the Destination ImagiNation teams, as well as an update on the ed specs process for the new elementary and middle schools and an update on capital projects. A full agenda can be found online at www.mercerislandschools.org.
SR-520 bridge closed again this weekend The State Route 520 floating bridge will be closed this weekend, March 15 through March 18. Crews will close the bridge beginning at 11 p.m. on Friday and will reopen 520 by 5 a.m. on Monday morning. Due to the closure and a Sounders match on Saturday night, the I-90 express lanes will run in the westbound direction from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.
23rd annual Sogetsu Ikebana exhibition this weekend The 23rd annual Sogetsu Ikebana exhibition will be held on Saturday, March 16, and Sunday, March 17, at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free. To learn more, visit www.misogetsu.org.
Inventory remains low, just 75 homes and condos are for sale on the Island By Reporter Staff
Rebecca Mar/Staff Photo
Ann Lindsey, 85, gardens on the front patio outside of the Island House dining room on a rare sunny afternoon, Friday, March 8, 2013. Spring begins next week on Wednesday, March 20.
Special needs youth touched hundreds By Mary L. Grady
editor@mi-reporter.com
The unexpected death of 16-year-old Islander Middle School student, Jim Holt, on Feb. 21 represents an intense personal loss for many people across King County. The young man with extreme disabilities who could not speak was loved and cherished and celebrated. By all accounts, from school bus drivers to surgeons to school administrators, teachers, parapros and fellow students, Jim was an integral and even an essential part of their daily lives. Each felt a personal connection to Jim and his family. They referred to themselves as ‘Team Jim.’ Jim had genetic disorder, a trinomial translocation of the lower
part of the 16th and 17th chromosomes. Pregnancies that involve defects of the 16th chromosome usually end in miscarriage. As such, a child with the defect is rare. The babies who do make it usually do not live long. The defects cause severe mental and physical retardation and seizures. For his parents, Kathy Holt and Steve Holt, the fact that their tiny baby boy had extreme medical issues came as a surprise. He arrived on Christmas Day, just two weeks early. But he weighed only four pounds. The doctors at Children’s Hospital told his parents that there was a 90 percent chance that he would not live beyond a year. After a few days in the hospital, they took him home with their older son, Thomas, and learned
Positively divine! 16 voices & chamber orchestra, Kenneth L. DeJong, Artistic Director & Conductor.
Lyric Arts Ensemble Music by Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Rutter with Will Simpson, Organist.
how to care for him. From birth, he required 24-hour care. He could only walk a few steps unassisted. He would not eat by mouth and was instead fed every two hours through a gastrointestinal tube. He had a seizure disorder. He had between 20 and 30 a day — some barely noticeable, but others were grand mal seizures that might last several minutes. He could choke or lose consciousness and might require a 911 call. His lungs were compromised and he often developed pneumonia. Jim’s mental ability was that of a 10-month-old, his mother said. He could hear, but it was not certain how much or what he understood from words. He had some vision, but they were not sure how much. But what they were certain about was that he could communicate. He could not speak, but he was vocal, his mother laughed. “He made himself known.” He found a way to communicate, but he did not cry, his mother
A look at the Island real estate market for February offers some evidence that the real estate market here is improving. The number of homes sold is up. The median price of homes sold is up as well. Inventory appears to be tight — good for sellers and prices, but not so much for buyers. A total of just 75 homes and condos were offered for sale on Mercer Island last month, down nearly a third from 114 offered during the same
Real Estate | Page 2
Read the full paper online Mercer IslandREPORTER www.mi-reporter.com
MI | THIS WEEK
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Team Jim | Page 3
Saturday AT March 16 7:00pm Mercer Island Presbyterian Church | 3605 84th Ave S.E. | Mercer Island