REPORTER
Mercer Island www.mi-reporter.com
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11,20, 2015 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2013| |75¢ 75¢
Sing along and learn
In tune with learning
First Town Center Stakeholder meeting is March 12 The first meeting of the group selected to provide community input on the future of the Town Center is between 4 and 6 p.m., March 12 , at the Mercer Island Community and Events Center. To learn more about the process and the meeting schedule, go to www.mercercov.org.
Researchers find singing helps with early learning By Katie Metzger
kmetzger@mi-reporter.com
Mercer Island Half is March 22 Plan ahead for traffic and road closures for the annual Mercer Island Rotary’s half marathon and other running events on Sunday morning, March 22. See Page 22 for more.
Council to revisit building moratorium Council to reconsider whether the Hines project is exempt from Town Center moratorium By Katie Metzger
kmetzger@mi-reporter.com
The legality of Mercer Island’s four-month moratorium on downtown development was questioned by citizens, local developers and at least one Councilmember at the last Council meeting on March 2. Many opposed the city’s decision to exempt the proposed fivestory mixed-use development,
called the Hines project, from the moratorium. In two weeks, after seeking more legal advice, the Council is set to discuss a revised moratorium — one that includes Hines. “Nobody is against growth,” Save our Suburbs (SOS) group leader Tom Acker told the Reporter. “We just want it to be done tactfully and conscientiously. The city hasn’t been able to show that it has the control measures in place to keep Mercer Island from being exploited, and that’s why SOS is asking for an inclusive moratorium.” City Attorney Katie Knight raised concerns about the poten-
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tial for the developer to sue the city when the idea of putting a pause on Town Center development was first discussed. Conversations about the possibility to include 200 commuter parking spaces in the Hines design delayed the developer’s “fast moving progress,” Knight said. But some citizens think that the exemption may have opened the door to other lawsuits, criticizing the lack of transparency and reasoning behind it. Two developers came to the Council meeting on March 2 to show that they have been working with the city as long, or longer, than Hines has. Leon Cohen, owner of the property at the base of the S.E. 24th Street at 76th Avenue N.E. where Freshy’s is located, said that if Hines is exempt, he should be too.
SING | PAGE 24
MORATORIUM | PAGE 10
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REPORTER
Intrepid Islanders Sally Brown, Dr. Bob Lewis and Michael Wright will talk about their recent trips to Cuba with a slideshow, at the Mercer Island Historical Society Meeting at 1 p.m., Monday, March 16, at the Mercer Island Community and Events Center. Meg Lippert also traveled to Cuba recently. See her story about the Island’s music and culture on Page 24.
Mercer Island
Adventures in Cuba
Contributed Photo
Islander musician, Nancy Stewart leads a lively group at Island Books last weekend. Studies have found that young children benefit from music and storytelling.
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Learn why Northwest Coast Ceremonial Button Blanket are important to Northwest Coastal Indian tribes at 10:30 a.m., Saturday March 14. Create your own version of the blanket with collage techniques. Entry tickets can be picked up at 10 a.m. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Mercer Island Library.
Children’s musician Nancy Stewart will organize a “Super Saturday Sing-Along” on March 21 with a day of songs, books and events around the community, featuring a flash mob at the library and a song session at All the Best Pets with the owner’s dog, Barkley. The events are part of Stewart’s “Sing with Our Kids” pilot project, which she started on Mercer Island in 2012 to create, test and document singing events that foster early learning, and specifically early literacy, while connecting children to their communities.
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Button Blanket workshop at the Library for children
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