Here are 10 interesting links for the month of January – all Mercer Island-related news and notes from around the web.  Hope you enjoy!

1. The Seattle Sounders FC announced the signing of Mercer Island native Jordan Morris.  Morris appears very happy with his decision. He recently tweeted: “It’s good to be home! #seattlelove” [Q13 Fox]
2. Island resident Paul Allen made Realtor.com and Geekwire with his recent acquisition of a $5.4 million estate adjacent to his current properties on Mercer Island.
3. Business Insider also discussed Allen’s acquisition in a recent article, “The incredible-real-estate portfolio of Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen.”
4. The Mercer Island Reporter has a new editor, Carrie Rodriquez. (The Reporter’s former editor, Mary Grady, resigned last September to join the Mercer Island School District as Communications Coordinator.)  Rodriguez introduced herself to the community with this letter. [Mercer Island Reporter]
5. Island resident and State Representative Tana Senn appeared in the latest Puget Sound Business Journal issue with an article about her bill to address the pay gap between men and women in Washington state.
6. A Mercer Island girl brought home unusual memorabilia from her family’s vacation in the Bahamas – a rubber tablet that some believe was cargo on the Titanic. [Kiro 7]
7. Seattle Times sketcher Gabriel Companario recently illustrated Aubrey Davis park and quoted Davis’s famous words on I-90: “We don’t want to see it. We don’t want to hear it. We don’t want to smell it.” [The Seattle Times]
8. This modern waterfront home designed by Kyle C. Gaffney and built by Ren Chandler was recently featured in Luxe magazine.
9. This Northwest Contemporary waterfront home was featured in One Kindesign, an interior design and architecture site.
10. For a little chuckle, read this article about the City’s hiring of the seeing-eye dogs to complete the Town Center Visioning work. [Mercer Island Distorter]