Our “Island Links” blog post is a curated list of the recent notable Mercer Island-related links from around the web. Here’s what we’ve been reading lately:
City of Mercer Island
Happy 4th of July! This is the one day of the year when the “safe and sane” use of fireworks is permitted on Mercer Island. Here are the rules. [City of Mercer Island]
Have you seen Seattle’s Lime bikes? Could bike-sharing work on Mercer Island? Share your thoughts! The City has launched an online survey gauging community interest in a free-floating Bikeshare service, like those operating in Seattle and coming soon to Bellevue and other surrounding communities. [City of Mercer Island]
‘Russell rescue: Mercer Island Marine Patrol assists Seahawks quarterback’ – Did Russell Wilson really need to be rescued on Lake Washington? Well, sort of. [Mercer Island Reporter]
Islanders in the News
’90 years of giving to Seattle Children’s Hospital’ – an amazing legacy for the Mercer Island Guild, originally the Orthopedic Guild of Mercer Island, formed in 1928; the Guild’s main fundraiser is the Mercer Island Directory [Mercer Island Reporter]
‘Mary’s Place will own its first permanent family shelter in Burien’ – Mary’s Place, which has been operating emergency family shelters out of Seattle buildings awaiting development, will now have a permanent place to continue providing transitional housing services; Islanders Mark and Lisa Caputo provided Mary’s Place with a gift and an interest-free loan toward purchasing the shelter. [The Seattle Times]
‘Mercer Island moms share wisdom through new book’ – Three Wise Moms: Our Lessons, Your Life shares pearls of hard-won wisdom from local authors (and moms) Natalie Thomson, Connie Shepherd, and Aisha Jarman [Mercer Island Reporter]
‘Mercer Island inventor’s fidget gadget is changing lives’ [King5.com]
‘The Force is strong with this Mercer Island Star Wars collector’ [King5.com]
‘Mercer Island banker behind move to toughen federal laws on religious hate crimes’ [The Seattle Times]
‘School shooter game pulled following Mercer Island mom’s campaign’ [KOMO News]
Schools
‘Mercer Island’s Sparkle Squad is here to cheer’ – the MIHS Sparkle Squad, made up of nine students with intellectual disabilities and 13 mentors, are attending the Special Olympics currently taking place in Seattle to cheer on the athletes; this is the inaugural year that a Cheer program has become an official part of the USA Games. [Mercer Island Reporter]
‘Mercer Island Preschool Association awards exceptional educator’ – Congrats to Sunnybeam teacher, Michele Saunders! [Mercer Island Reporter]
‘District honors employees of the year, retirees at School Board meeting’ – Congrats to all recipients! [Mercer Island School District]
Parks & Recreation
‘Mercer Island opens new playground at south playfields’ [Mercer Island Reporter]
‘Mercer Island hires new director of parks and recreation’ – Islander Jessi Bon, who was a director for the City of Sammamish Parks and Recreation for over 10 years and also served as Sammamish Deputy City Manager, will be Mercer Island’s new Parks Director [Mercer Island Reporter]
Real Estate
‘Mercer Island property sells for $8.5M, with apartments planned’ – a Mercer Island downtown commercial property that was formerly of interest to the Hines global real estate firm, has been purchased by the Xing Hua Group for $8.5 million; Xing Hua also owns an adjacent property, purchased in 2017 for $4.95 million. [Daily Journal of Commerce Subscriber Content]
‘See inside a $15 million mansion on the ritzy island where Seattle’s billionaires live’ – ummm, ritzy island? … a silly headline, but click through for the photos of this beautiful home. [CNBC.com]
‘An interior designer creates a re-imagined refuge in a Mercer Island home she once baby-sat in’ [The Seattle Times / Pacific Northwest Magazine]
Have we missed your favorite Mercer Island-related news story or do you have an interesting link to share? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Feature image photo credit: Mercer Island Police and Emergency Management Facebook page