BNC 2011 Category 333: News Writer of the Year

Reporter StaffMercer Island High

School will be celebrating homecoming all this week.

The 2010 MIHS home-coming parade is set for 5:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 15, in the Town Center. There will be class floats, the London- and Pasadena-bound MIHS marching band, along with the drill team, cheerleaders and more.

The parade will set off along 77th Avenue S.E. from Mercerdale Park, turn right onto S.E. 27th Street, then head south down 80th Avenue S.E. The Islander football team will take on the Liberty High School Patriots at 7 p.m. at Islander Stadium. There will be food and drinks for sale, and the marching band will again perform.

The community is invit-ed.

www.mi-reporter.com Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947 Wednesday, OctOber 13, 2010 | 75

REPORTERREPORTERMercerIsland MercerIsland By Mary L. Grady

[email protected]

A new book, Burning Forest, the Art of Maria Frank Abrams, describes the remarkable life and work of a modernist artist and Island resident. It is long over-due.

The large format and richly done 9 - b y - 1 2 -inch book, w h i c h includes dozens of images of her paintings and mosa-ics, was written by Seattle-based Matthew Kangas, a longtime art critic, curator and author. The book is not only about Abrams art but the life of the Island artist, a Hungarian native who was imprisoned in Nazi concen-tration camps in the 1940s.

And who is Maria Frank Abrams? You already know. You have seen her art. It is at

the Mercer Island library, at the Seattle Art Museum, at the Henry at UW. There is a piece in the King County Courthouse, at city offic-es in Seattle, Harborview Medical Center, the Kline Galland Home and now

at the Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University in Spokane.

A b r a m s and her hus-band of near-

ly 60 years, Sydney Abrams, have lived on Mercer Island since the mid-1950s near West Mercer Elementary School. They have a grown son and a grandson who both live in Israel.

To summarize her story in just a few sentences is to risk trivializing a life and time that combines the best and the very, very worst of the world in the 20th century.

Abrams, now 86, grew up in Debrecen, Hungary, as the Nazi presence over-whelmed the country in the 1930s. A Jew, she was just 20 and already an artist when she and her family were taken to concentration camps. Her parents and all of her extended family except herself and a cousin were killed. Three years

Art of light, not of loss

Top: Maria Frank Abrams, left, and her cousin, Vera Frank, are photographed on their journey by ship from Bremerhaven, Germany, to the United States in January 1948. Abrams was granted a scholarship to study art at the University of Washington. Above, Abstract 4, done in 1969.

Contributed Photos

Islander parade is Friday

All 3 suspects arrested in Island hate crime, graffiti incidents

The Mercer Island High School girls swim team is on pace for another solid season. See sports on page 14.

Reporter StaffAn 18-year-old Island

man surrendered to Mercer Island police on Friday in regard to hate crime inci-dents involving graffiti, vandalism and trespassing at Northwest Yeshiva High School, St. Monica Catholic Church and Island Park Elementary School last month.

The Mercer Island Police Department had already arrested two young men

who are students at Mercer Island High School. They served search warrants at three Mercer Island homes on Wednesday, Oct. 6, in connection with three hate crimes committed in mid-September.

The adult and the two juvenile suspects, both 17 years old, are alleg-edly responsible for mali-cious harassment graf-fiti incidents that occurred on Sept. 14 at Island Park

Elementary School and on Sept. 17 at Northwest Yeshiva High School and St. Monica Catholic Church.

Tips from the commu-nity assisted the Mercer Island Police Criminal Investigations Section with its investigation, which led to the arrests. Detectives found physical evidence at the homes of all three sus-pects and viewed text and cell phone records.

AbrAms | Page 12

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GrAffItI | Page 3

Matthew Kangas new book, Burning Forest: The Art of Maria Frank Abrams, is available at Island Books.

| Wednesday, October, 13, 2010 MERCER ISLAND REPORTER | www.mi-reporter.com

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AbrAms | FROM 1

after her release from the camps, she found her way to Seattle on a Hillel schol-arship to study art at the University of Washington. At the UW, she studied under renowned artists such as Walter Isaacs and Mark Tobey, and those associated with the grow-ing modernist art move-ment. It set her on the path to her own unique style.

Her style is repre-sentational and abstract imagery, including land-scapes and always the sky as subjects. They rarely

show faces or figures. But they are not needed. The works are geometric, lay-ered, textured paintings or mosaics that at first might seem dark or ominous, yet with her shrewd use of light, they depict ethereal scenes filled with move-ment. They breathe land and sky and emotion.

On a rainy afternoon at her home, Abrams, small and slender, is impeccably dressed in a warm, stylish blazer and wool slacks with a cup of coffee balanced in her lap. She looks younger than her 86 years. She is

unable to paint now, but her studio remains intact at her home. Expanded several years ago, it has high ceilings and large windows facing west into the greenery and sunsets over the lake. Her tools and brushes remain at the ready. Stored within the space are dozens and dozens of finished paint-ings. Many fill the walls and along with them are objects both primitive and fine, lining shelves and tables. She runs her fingers over them quietly. Just inside the door from a deck is a table top filled with rocks and shells. They are raw and unpol-ished, but curiously, sort-ed into groups. Both she

Maria Frank Abrams/ContributedA tiny sample of Abrams work shows her versatility and unique view of nature and light. Above left, Filtered Light, 1992; above right, August Evening, 1984; below, Bucolic Weeds, 1991.

PHOTO REPRINTS Photographs are available for purchase from the Mercer Island Reporters online galleries at

http://gallery.pictopia.com/pnwlocalnews/gallery/97331

www.MI -Repo r te r. com

PAinting | Page 13

MERCER ISLAND REPORTER | www.mi-reporter.com Wednesday, October 13, 2010 | Page 13

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and Sydney pick up the stones wherever they go a habit they each have. The shiny, pretty shells are mostly her husbands, and the textured, mostly gray oval rocks are hers.

Kangas and others who have reviewed her work find images of the camps, smoky skies and unspeak-able loss and horror. But both she, in past inter-views, and her husband who now speaks for her, are chagrined that her work is viewed primarily through the lens of her Holocaust experience. She has long insisted that it is her life in the Northwest and its gray healing light, far from her ancestral home, that has formed her art. She wants to talk about the light and beauty that she has found here. When asked for more insight, she points to outside her win-dow into the steely tinge of the clouds. Perhaps antici-pating further questions about the influence of the Holocaust on her art, she turns with a direct look and makes it clear that her life has been more than

that. I have lived a long time, she begins.

How and when she painted perhaps shows her comfort with the dark and her appreciation for light. She painted at night and late into the night, Sydney Abrams said. When asked

why, she is surprised by such a question. It is a good time to work, she said.

Her eyes widen in dis-may if she decides that her husband needs to be cor-rected on a point. Despite her diminished ability to

find the words she wants to use, she appears to know well who she is and what her work means.

I know what it is about, she said about a paint-ing more than once. It is mine.

Burning ForestBurning Forest: The Art of Maria Frank Abrams, by

Matthew Kangas, is available for sale at Island Books at 3014 78th Ave. S.E. on Mercer Island. The hard-bound book has more than 25 plates of her original work. It was published by the Museum of Northwest Art. It retails for $40.

Painting | FROM 12

Maria Frank Abrams/ContributedA work from 1973 is entitled Winter Haze.

Visit our Web site at www.mi-reporter.com

Kelly Grady/Special to the Reporter Dorothy Reeck, owner of the Roanoke Inn, stands with her giant 423-pound pumpkin, grown in the fertile soil of Roanoke property. She easily won her annual bet with fellow pumpkin grower, Jack Jones, on whose squash would be heavier. See our slideshow at www.mi-reporter.com.

Weighing the great pumpkin

By Mary L. [email protected]

It is happening in communi-ties throughout King County. Community pools built by King County with funding from 1960s-era Forward Thrust Bonds are coming to the end of their useful lives. Cities and school districts

already strapped with paying for public services and education are letting them go. The Northwest Center, which operates the Mary Wayte Pool, is ceasing operations at the Island pool as of Dec. 31. City officials are trying to find a new operator to run the pool in the short term. But educators and

city officials agree that the pool is outdated and inadequate. Neither wants to take on the responsibility of operating or even constructing a new pool.

But it wasnt always that way.

According to HistoryLink.org, the nearly $50 million raised by Forward Thrust Bonds, at the tail end of the 1960s, helped lever-age a massive amount of spending on parks and recreation facilities, including pools throughout King County in the 1970s.

The rise and fall of public pools

Reporter StaffGov. Chris Gregoire joined

legislators and local officials in a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday to celebrate the upcom-ing construction of the State Route 520 Eastside Transit and HOV Project. It is an important first step toward the rebuilding of the aging Evergreen Point Floating Bridge.

State transportation officials recently opened bids and the Eastside Corridor Constructors joint venture team emerged with the best value proposal. The teams bid price of $306.3 million is nearly $116 million less than the states $422 million estimate for

New SR-520 project underway

The Islanders volleyball team prepares for the post season with the KingCo tournament this weekend.

SR-520 | Page 9

A royal guest, pizza, football and more at All Island Band night It is once again time for All Island Band Night at the Friday night football game between the Islanders and the Lake Washington Kangs. Along with the performance of bands from all Island schools, the MIHS London-bound marching band will play. There will be the annu-al Pizza Pig Out before the game, and a special guest at the field. See page 4 for more details.

Halloween parties, haunted park trails, Moonlight Madness and moreSee inside for more details on trick or treating parties, food drives and more at Island busi-nesses and neighborhoods, including a special trick or treat party at Mercer Island Care and Rehab. Wear your costume to Island restaurants such as the Islander, and see what could happen. And if you dare, check out the haunted park trails with Youth Theatre Northwests Curfew event at Island Crest Park. For information on all these events, see page 18. Make sure to have a flashlight as you prowl for treats to be visible and safe on Island streets.

Election results onlineThe general election will be held next Tuesday, Nov. 2. Watch for updates on the races and initia-tives on our Web site at www.mi-reporter.com. For results in other cities, check out PNWlocalnews.com via a link on our site.

TO SUBSCRIBE call 253-872-6610

MI | THIS WEEK

www.mi-reporter.com Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947 Wednesday, OctOber 27, 2010 | 75

REPORTERREPORTERMercerIsland MercerIsland







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POOl | Page 2

Drivers urged to sign up early for electronic tolling

With $49.2 million from the bond, the county gov-ernment was able to lever-age millions more in grants and matching funds from other state and national programs. As a result, King Countys park system dou-bled in size, adding more than 4,000 acres, 53 miles of waterfront, and miles of trail rights of way. One of the most notable Forward Thrust park initiatives was the creation of the aquat-ics system of sixteen indoor pools and one outdoor pool.

Nearly four decades later the situation is vastly dif-ferent. King County, fac-ing a fiscal crisis in 2002

and 2003, unloaded pools, including Mary Wayte Pool and several county parks including Luther Burbank Park to cities such as Mercer Island. The reasons were monetary, yet a closer look reveals that pools had begun to take a back seat in policy changes that set the county parks and recreation in a different direction.

Again, the Museum of History and Industrys Historylink.org tells the story.

In spring 2002, the County Metropolitan Parks Task Force was established to identify ways to keep the countys parks and recreation system open in 2003 and beyond and to restore stabil-ity to the parks system by

removing it from dependence on the general fund. The task force issued its recommenda-tions in June 2002 and called for the county to:

Refocus its parks and rec-reation mission to provide for regional trails, regional pas-sive parks, regional resource and ecological lands, region-al active recreation facilities and rural parks;

Transfer all local facili-ties within cities and work to transfer local facilities in potential annexation areas;

Implement a broad vari-ety of new entrepreneurial strategies to help raise rev-enues to support park opera-tions;

Facilitate the acquisition and development of active recreation facilities by con-vening potential partners and providing capital fund-ing when appropriate rath-er than assuming ongoing operation and maintenance obligations.

The word pool is notice-ably missing from the 2002 directives.

C i t i e s , school dis-tricts, non-profits and even the state stepped up across the county to take on the pools. Yet, the bot-tom line is that the pools are popular but expensive to maintain.

Recent figures from the city of Seattle indicate their system of 10 pools costs about $6.2 million a year to operate and brings in about $3.2 million in revenue for a net cost to the city of $3 million.

On the Eastside, at least

10 or more pools are right at the 40-year mark.

In addition to Mary Wayte Pool, three other Eastside Forward Thrust pools also operated by Northwest Center have closed down over the past two years. They are the Northshore (Ruiz-Costie) Pool, the Carole Ann Wald Memorial Pool at St. Edward State Park, and the City of Redmonds Hartman Pool. Among other uses, they are key to swimming programs at Eastside high schools.

According to Inglemoor High School Athletic direc-tor Frank Naish, those pools are not coming back.

The loss of the pools is painful to competitive swimmers. Instead of three pools to hold practices or meets, the teams meet at 5 a.m. for 90 minutes of practice at the Juanita Pool, he explained. And in a twist of fate, some meets for the Eastside school are now being held at Mary Wayte Pool.

The state of swimming is in a perilous condition, the educator said. It has taken a huge hit. And it is not just high school students. All kinds of peo-ple are affect-ed.

H o w e v e r, in the case of Mary Wayte

Pool, Mercer Island High School Athletic Director told the Reporter he is con-fident that the pool will still be operating in the near term.

The City of Bellevue is also struggling with aging pools. After the call came

for a new aquatics center, the city conducted extensive public outreach about area pool use. City staff met with nearby cities, school dis-tricts, Bellevue College and King County and others.

The findings included: All groups and organiza-

tions identified the need for additional aquatics facilities to serve the Eastside;

The local competitive swimming community is very active, with 4,277 families being members of private outdoor pools in Bellevue, and 3,640 swim-mers participating in 26 Eastside swim clubs;

Most area high schools, including all Bellevue schools, do not have their own pools, and rely on other aquatic facilities to serve their competitive swim pro-grams; and

Growth in many local aquatics organizations/pro-grams is constrained due to a lack of pool time and space.

The city of Mercer Island is hoping to find a contrac-tor to take on the pool for a period of between one and three years before Dec. 31.

For additional coverage of Mary Wayte Pool, go to www.mi-reporter.com.

Page 2 | Wednesday, October 27, 2010 MERCER ISLAND REPORTER | www.mi-reporter.com

Publisher Janet Taylor [email protected] Editor Mary L. Grady [email protected] News staff Megan Managan [email protected] Rebecca Mar [email protected] Advertising Jay Reyna [email protected] Production Melanie Morgan [email protected] Main desk (206) 232-1215 Fax (206) 232-1284 Display (206) 232-1215 Advertising Display ad deadline is 10 a.m. Friday Classified (800) 388-2527 Marketplace Classified ad deadline is 11 a.m. Monday

The Mercer Island Reporter (USPS 339620) is published every Wednesday by Sound Publishing, Inc. Second-class postage paid at Mercer Island, WA. Subscriptions: $39 per year. Postmaster: Send address changes to Mercer Island Reporter, PO Box 38, Mercer Island, WA 98040. For newspaper home delivery/billing, please call (253) 872-6610 or email [email protected].

Volume 53, No. 43 7845 S.E. 30th Street

Mercer Island, WA 98040


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The state of swimming (here) is in a perilous condition. It has taken a huge hit.

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Athletic Director

Pool | FROM 1

Chad Coleman/Staff PhotoIn this 2008 photo of the MIHS girls swim team at Mary Wayte Pool, Islander Emma Nelson competes in the back stroke leg of the 200-yard medley relay event.

Rose Gifford/Special to the ReporterMercer Island High School students and staff gathered last week outside the school to show their support for classmate Christina Scalzo, who was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this fall.


Drug-related fatalities are now at the top of the accidental-death list in a growing number of states, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

And in the case of one of those drugs, fentanyl, the growth of abuse and increase of deaths from the drug is alarming health officials and families. Fentanyl, an opiate, is much more potent than heroin and results in frequent overdoses that can lead to respi-ratory depression and death.

A 2008 Mercer Island High School grad-uate, Trevor Powell, died at an Island home after taking the drug in August. His death was ruled accidental by the King County Medical Examiners office late last month. The coroner found that Powell died from an acute combination of fentanyl and ethanol intoxication. Powell would have turned 21 on Sept. 20.

The National Institute for Occupational

Safety and Heath, which monitors health worker-related drug abuse, calls it like it is: Fentanyl depresses central nervous sys-tem and respiratory function. Exposure to fentanyl may be fatal. Fentanyl is estimated to be 80 times as potent as morphine and hundreds of times more potent than heroin. It is a drug of abuse.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate. When taken, its effects are quickly introduced to the body. It rapidly crosses the blood-brain barrier, causing immediate relief or, if improperly used, dangerously slowing or stopping the bodys respiratory system.

Opioid analgesics are drugs that are usu-ally prescribed to relieve pain and include methadone, which is used to treat opioid dependency as well as pain and other opi-oids, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone; and narcotics such as fentanyl and propoxy-phene.

The drug is prescribed for patients who

Deadly fentanyl makes its way to Mercer Island

The Mercer Island High School water polo team won its 11th straight title. See sports on page 16 for more.

www.mi-reporter.com Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947 Wednesday, november 10, 2010 | 75








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A blue wAve For ChristinA

Fentanyl | Page 2

[more-onlinewww.MI-Reporter.com

Review conducted by department

By Mary L. Grady

[email protected]

The Mercer Island City Council continued its deliberation of the upcom-ing 2001-2012 last Monday and Thursday evenings.

The Council worked its way through a dozen bud-get proposals of several departments, beginning with police. At the outset of the budget planning, directors were instruct-ed by the City Manager Rich Conrad to cut items that would not affect the level of services to citi-zens. Conrad noted that

$800,000 has already been pulled out of the initial budget. The next set of cuts, he said, will reduce (city) services.

Council questions in particular focused on justifying the need for employees and the tim-ing of replacement of city assets such as computers or vehicles.

For his department, Police Chief Ed Holmes, explained that one of the two hire ahead positions would be eliminated at a savings of $90,000. A hire ahead position allows the police department to hire an officer ahead of

City Council vets budget cuts

City | Page 2

| Wednesday, November 10, 2010 MERCER ISLAND REPORTER | www.mi-reporter.com

Publisher Janet Taylor [email protected] Editor Mary L. Grady [email protected] News staff Megan Managan [email protected] Rebecca Mar [email protected] Advertising Jay Reyna [email protected] Production Melanie Morgan [email protected] Main desk (206) 232-1215 Fax (206) 232-1284 Display (206) 232-1215 Advertising Display ad deadline is 10 a.m. Friday Classified (800) 388-2527 Marketplace Classified ad deadline is 11 a.m. Monday





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are in constant pain, or break-through pain for chronic conditions or the effects of chemotherapy. It comes in many forms: patches worn on the skin, lozenges or lollipops and injectable forms.

According to the CDC and other sources, fentanyl is abused by the removal of gel from the patches. It is often cooked in foil and inhaled or injected. Patches are sometimes frozen, cut into pieces and eaten or placed under the tongue or in the cheek for absorption. Even used patches are attractive to abusers as some of the drug remains even after use. There is are perhaps hundreds of online sites where addicts and abusers can trade tips and infor-mation about the ways to get the most out of the drug in whatever form it is in.

A review of statistics by health officials reveals that all opiate abuse began to take off over the last ten years. In 2009, The Center for Health Statistics, Washington State Department of Health reported that In 2007, 454 people died of prescription opiate-relat-ed overdoses. There were only 24 such deaths in 1995. Fentanyl abuse has not been counted sepa-rately until recently.

Dr. Caleb Banta-Green, an epidemiolo-gist with the University

of Washingtons Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute studies opiate abuse. The extreme potency of fenta-nyl makes the margin for

error in its use incredibly small, he said. He noted that he has worked with the King County Medical Examiners office to track the trend. Its growing use is very scary. And when there is a death, more than 80 percent of the time, alcohol is involved, he added.

Fentanyl was intro-duced into medical prac-tice as an intravenous anesthetic under the trade name of Sublimaze in the 1960s. Its use has been steadily increasing over the years. Fentanyl prescriptions more than doubled from about 2.59 million in 2000 to 7.64 million in 2008. The U.S. Department of Justice says the availability of fent is not only due to

the increase of legal pre-scriptions but its many forms. U.S. medics in Afghanistan pack fenta-nyl lollipops in their kits to administer to critically wounded soldiers in the field because of its rapid and sure effects. Yet other military applications have been deadly. In 2002, the Russian government rushed a theater where 50 armed Chechens were holding almost 800 people hostage in a protest. At least 119 people died from the fentanyl-based gas the army dispersed to defeat the terrorists.

A good deal of the drug is stolen from pharmacies, nursing homes and man-ufacturers. There is also illegal manufacturing of the drug and reports of the drug imported from Mexico.

There are other meth-ods. In January of 2009, Spokane police arrested a 19-year-old nursing home worker and her boyfriend for allegedly entering patient rooms and tak-ing the pain patches off of patients.

Fentanyl | FROM 1

need, and time and pay them as they train, in order to have them imme-diately available when the need arises. However, cut-ting the position means that the budget for officer overtime would need to be increased by $32,000 to make up the differ-ence if the department required another officer right away.

The proposed bud-get for the police also included cutting one of the record clerk positions, to half-time status. What that means for the public is that window hours at the station at city hall will be fewer and that requests for information maybe delayed, said Holmes. The police budget kept the school resource officer position for 2011 which is projected to reach $119,000 in 2011.

In response to exten-sive questioning of the police budget proposal, City finance director Chip Corder praised the police departments efforts to cut costs. Corder stated that: no other city department stepped up to the budget

challenge like the police. The police department came to the table with the most cuts, he said.

The three-person staff of the municipal court will make do with a half a position less in the com-ing year despite a grow-ing workload. The cut will bring savings of $46,000. Both Corder and Judge Wayne Stewart said that the defeat of the county tax increase will mean that courts such as Mercer Island might have to help with the case loads of other jurisdictions.

The City Managers office will make due with a part-time communica-tions coordinator or per-haps no coordinator at all. The Council was divided as to the need of the posi-tion at any level. Conrad had proposed cutting the position by 40 percent to save the city $50,000.

The City Maintenance department will also do with less people, letting go of at least two seasonal positions, a trail mainte-nance position and the reduction of one facili-ties maintenance position by half. The impact from these and other changes

to the department would mean that one person would not be available for snow plow duty in a big storm, explained direc-tor Glenn Boettcher. The snow and trail people do double duty, he said.

The city is proposing $544,000 from new rev-enue sources to offset the budget shortfall in the General Fund. Fees and a tax increase proposed include:

Increase property taxes by 1 percent or about $12 per year per household.

Implement a fee for ambulance transport of $500.

Increase building fees so that they more accu-rately reflect building costs and add new devel-opment fees related to Fire Marshal plan review and building permit.

Institute an access fee for the scheduled use of the Citys athletic fields.

Increase room rental rates at the Community Center at Mercer View.

More meetings are set for budget review. Information and details for all of these items can be found at www.mercer-gov.org.

City | FROM 1

new immunity law to save lives

In the 2010 session, the Washington State Legislature passed a new law that grants some immunity to those who call 911 to report a drug overdose. See the story on page 9.

Reporter staffIn an effort to reduce the

number of fraudulent driv-ers licenses in the state, the Washington Department of Licensing is now requiring drivers to produce addition-al identification. For anyone who doesnt give their social security number, residents will have to provide items, such as a utility bill, mail from the bank to prove where they live.

This is another in a series of steps weve taken to clamp down on license fraud and ensure that people are Washington residents if theyre getting a license, said DOL director Liz Luce in a press release.

A full list of possible docu-ments is on the Department of Licensing Web site at www.dol.wa.gov.

Proof of address or social security number now required for state driver license

The extreme potency of fentanyl makes the margin for error in its use incredibly small.

Dr. Caleb Banta-Green University of Washington

Dave Jones / Special to the Reporter Islander Boy Scout Troop 647 including from right, Wilson Atterbury, Ryan Jones and Wilem Debray were the last to see a hiker before she became lost and spent three nights alone in the Cascades.

At the right place

Island scouts were link to lost hiker

Old Safeway site to be developed

The Mercer Island High School boys basketball team kicks off its season in the first winter preview. See sports on page 6.

AviArA | Page 2

School closures for Thanksgiving break

Due to the Thanksgiving holi-day, Mercer Island public schools will be closed on Thursday and Friday, with early dismissal on Monday through Wednesday for elementary students and no school for IMS students on Wednesday.

More closuresHere are some of the closures

this week because of the holiday: The post offices will be closed

on Thanksgiving. There will be no mail delivery.

City offices and the com-munity center will be closed Thanksgiving Day and Friday.

The MI Community Center will be open on Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The library will also be closed on Thanksgiving.

Most King County offices will be closed, Thursday and Friday.

The Sheriffs Office, 911 and other public safety functions will remain operational. Trash pick-up remains on normal schedules.

Metro bus service will run on a Sunday schedule. Bus routes that dont run on Sunday will not be operational on Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving, bus service will run on a reduced weekday schedule with limited runs to the University of Wash-ington.

MiYFS looking for help during holidays

The MI Youth and Family Ser-vices is looking for sponsors for its annual holiday assistant pro-gram, which pairs sponsors with children and families in need.

Contact Cheryl Manriquez at (206) 275-7869 or e-mail her at [email protected] to learn more about the program.

Mi | THIS WEEK

www.mi-reporter.com Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947 Wednesday, nOvember 24, 2010 | 75


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Stewart Lumber & Hardware

By Linda [email protected]

After sitting vacant for years, the two acre tract of land at the North end of 76th Avenue S.E,, which at one time was a Safeway store, will be re-developed.

Tim Stewart, the director of developmental services group for the city of Mercer Island, said the project is moving forward.

We are quite close to issuing permits, Stewart said. If all goes well, we should have a permit complete in a couple of weeks.

The project, named Aviara will be a six-level mixed use build-ing with one floor of below-grade parking, a ground level accommo-dating different commercial uses and four floors of apartments.

The new building will have an estimated 166 residential units, and 312 parking spaces with 85 set aside for business customers. A total of 12,000 square feet will be for retail spaces, a restaurant or

Connection made from news reports saved a life


The members of Boy Scout Troop #647 of Mercer Island's Emmanuel Episcopal Church know all about being prepared. The middle schoolers have already spent many days and nights out-doors. They are confident that they know how to survive in any situation. Yet their role in a real-life survival story has brought the lesson of being prepared into sharp focus.

The story begins with a news report that is all too common in

Western Washington. A hiker was reported missing in the mountains with bad weather approaching. As experience tells us, these stories often end badly.

But for a woman from Tacoma, the story turned out differently due to a network of Islanders the members and families of Troop 647.

On Oct. 23, Natalya Manko, a community college math teacher headed to the Ingalls Lake area, 20 miles northeast of Easton on Oct. 23, for what was to have been a day hike. Manko, a fit and experienced hiker originally from Ukraine, was not dressed for anything but a somewhat mild fall afternoon. She was wearing light clothes, tennis shoes and was carrying little with

her besides a sandwich. But she took a wrong turn and as evening fell, she found herself in serious trouble.

Violating every rule of the mountains, she at least had luck on her side. Before she got lost, she met Troop #647 and their lead-ers. The encounter likely saved her life.

The scouts were setting up camp a half mile from Ingalls Lake at about 4 p.m. that same afternoon when Manko came by. Islander Dave Jones, a parent and leader of the group, spoke with her. She was looking for the lake, he said. He spoke with her briefly and pointed out the way and reminded her that it would be getting dark soon.

No one was expecting the snow and cold temperatures that hit the area within a few hours.

That evening the Troop 647 members settled into their tents. The boys in the tent with Jones'

ScOuTS | Page 3

MERCER ISLAND REPORTER | www.mi-reporter.com Wednesday, November 24, 2010 | Page 3

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com

Its all about the kids, but its also all about money and protecting basic edu-cation.

T h e M e r c e r I s l a n d S c h o o l Board had a busy week, first m e e t -ing with District 41 legislators at an early m o r n i n g breakfast m e e t i n g on Nov. 16, then hosting a workshop with the M e r c e r I s l a n d Education

ScoutS | FROM A1

son, Ryan Jones, 12, were watching a movie on an i-Phone, unaware that it had begun to snow. But at about 9:30 that night, their tent collapsed. They and the rest of the scouts spent much of the night clearing snow from tent roofs. "There was at least a foot of snow outside the tent in the morning," scout Wescott Sharples, 13, said. "We had to push and dig the snow out of the way to get out."

Jones, Sharples and scouts Michael Sedlacek and Brian Oppenheim, also 13, and students at Islander Middle School were impressed with how quickly the weather changed that Saturday night. But as they had been taught, they were prepared for anything. Oppenheim noted that they were not fazed by the weather. "We had already spent a year being well prepared," he said. Yet, as the scouts headed back down the

trail the next morning, they had trouble locating the trail because of the blanket of snow. At one point, they took a wrong turn. Quickly realizing their mistake, they care-fully backtracked, then continued down without further mishap.

Yet, the woman who had been in their camp the day before was truly lost. She had already spent her first night alone and without shelter at a point several hundred feet higher than the scouts. "Just a half a mile away from us, she was freezing," Ryan Jones said.

On Sunday, Manko's daughter contacted author-ities to report her mother was missing. A search was underway as the scouts went to school Monday morning and their leaders went to work. On Monday evening, on his way home from work, Islander Gerald Miller heard about a lost hiker on the radio. He told

his wife, Anita Miller, who turned on the television and knew immediately that the woman had been near the scouts. "I keyed in on the words 'Ingalls Lake,'" she said. Both she and her husband, whose son Isaac is also a member of troop, headed to the Monday night meeting at Emmanuel. There they spoke to Jones and other lead-ers about the woman. They immediate ly knew that it was Manko they had seen. "It was the Russian lady," they exclaimed.

As they were talking, they realized the enormi-ty of the situation for the hiker, Anita Miller said. "We looked at each other and said, 'You know this is her third night out there.'"

Jones and others began calling to see how they could help. Unable to con-tact anyone in the Kittitas County Sheriff 's Office right away, he finally con-

tacted Manko's daughter and was finally put in touch with rescuers.

Initially, the search area for Manko had been set at 100 square miles, Ryan Jones said. But with infor-mation from Islanders, the search was narrowed

to just a c o u p l e of square m i l e s . Rescuers in a helicop-ter spotted M a n k o s red poncho the next m o r n i n g . She was taken to a

local hospital, but was in amazingly good shape.

Her key to survival may have been going without sleep. She walked and talk-ed and even sang to herself as much as she could. The hiker said later that she was afraid she might not wake up in the frigid cold. She ate little and left her sandwich untouched.

But it was her attitude that helped most of all.

She came back to talk with the scouts at their weekly meeting at the church on Nov. 14. There she told the boys what she did to stay warm and described what she thought about during her ordeal.

"You could have heard a pin drop," said Dave Jones.

The boys remain aston-ished that she survived, unable to reconcile the fact that she was so unpre-pared. She just wore tennis shoes while they had wool boots and socks, they mar-veled. "She did not have a map or a compass," said Oppenheim, incredulous.

Thinking back to the brief sidetrack they took on their own journey back down the trail on Sunday, they know that what hap-pened to Manko could happen to anyone. The key, they agreed, is to try not

to "freak out." And they noted, Manko did not.

Sedlacek said what moved him was a very personal thought Manko shared with the group. The hiker told the boys and their parents how horri-fied she was to find her-self lost and how it would affect her family and friends. She told them that she wanted to write a note, but she had nothing to write with. She considered cutting herself and using the blood to write "sorry" on her shirt, but decided against it. "She said she was thinking about other people who cared for her," Sedlacek said.

At the end of the meet-ing at the church, she was asked to summarize her experience and what she had learned. "Life is beau-tiful," she told the boys.

Hiker safetyFor information on hikes and safety in the Cascades or any state trail, to to the Washington Trails Association at www.wta.org/

We looked at each other and said, You know this is her third night out there.

Anita Miller


Councilman Mike Grady is portrayed as an angry cyclist with a faulty memory, engaged in a road rage inci-dent, in a lengthy investiga-tion about a May 11, 2010, incident with a school bus driver.

A 22-page report by an attorney for the Mercer Island School District along with several additional pages of testimony, obtained by the Mercer Island Reporter, reveals details of the event previously not made public, including details about the Councilmans profanity and behavior. Grady said that a bad pass and sudden turn by the bus nearly caused him to have a serious or even fatal accident.

The report finds that the bus driver, John Lamont, could have taken more care in passing Grady and spells out the need for more atten-tion to cyclist safety along West Mercer Way. However, it was the aftermath of the incident along West Mercer Way that was primary cause

for the investigation.Written observations in

the report, from witnesses at the school, including teach-ers, describe Grady, a public official, in a stunning dis-play, enraged by the close call between the bus and his bicycle. Witnesses verify Gradys angry response, the use of profanity and perceived threats to the driver.

The report also asserts Grady repeatedly changed his version of the incident afterwards.

The reports conclusions state that if another incident involving the school district and Grady occurs, the dis-trict should consider issuing a notice of trespass to Grady, banning him from school grounds.

The report delves into the well-publicized incident at West Mercer Elementary School when Grady, rid-ing on a bicycle, felt he was endangered by a school bus that pulled in front of him and quickly made a left-hand turn into a school parking lot. The Councilman then

followed the bus onto school grounds and confronted the driver.

Grady later apologized to Lamont, the school district and West Mercer students.

However, Mercer Island School District Superintendent Gary Plano subsequently commissioned the report, conducted by the Seattle law firm of Dionne & Rorick. The report, paid for with public money, entitled Transportation Investigation, offers recom-mendations to the district and supporting documents.

Plano said he had two rea-sons to initiate the investiga-tion. Since it was a school district bus driver, I wanted to find out if and how my employee was at fault and take corrective action. I also want to protect my employ-ees from being mistreated, he said. A person can have an issue with a school employee but not one that is conducted with rage and profanity.

There were two prima-ry questions of fact to be addressed: Was the school bus driver acting in a reck-

less manner when he pulled in front of Grady, then sud-denly turned? Next, what did Grady say and do when he followed the bus onto school grounds and confronted the driver?

The investigator Lance Andree, worked with Grady, Lamont and others to reconstruct the bus-bicycle encounter along West Mercer Way.

The investigation found that the evidence did not support a finding of reck-less or negligent driving, but reinforces legitimate con-cerns about bus-bike inci-dents on West Mercer. It also concluded the school bus driver could have made the turn with greater leeway for the cyclist. The report also recommends to the district that drivers receive addition-al training in using the West Mercer Island route.

Plano said he would require mandatory driver training regarding passing cyclists on Island roadways. He also pledged to work with

Page 2 | Wednesday, December 15, 2010 MERCER ISLAND REPORTER | www.mi-reporter.com

Publisher Janet Taylor [email protected] Editor Mary L. Grady [email protected] News staff Linda Ball [email protected] Megan Managan [email protected] Rebecca Mar [email protected] Advertising Jay Reyna [email protected] Production Melanie Morgan [email protected] Main desk (206) 232-1215 Fax (206) 232-1284 Display (206) 232-1215 Advertising Display ad deadline is 10 a.m. Friday Classified (800) 388-2527 Marketplace Classified ad deadline is 11 a.m. Monday





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Wednesday

By Linda [email protected]

We have all seen the home at the corner of S.E. 24th Street and West Mercer Way on our way back from Seattle via the West Mercer Way exit. Its a newer home, built up high off the street. Its view is dead on with the I-90 bridge and the city lights across the lake. Yet after being lived in for barely a year or two, the home is no empty, the grass untouched. What happened?

The house is listed as a short sale, a term used when the seller owes more than a home is worth .

Statistics about resi-dential real estate used to center around prices and inventory. But distressed properties sold by banks do affect the real estate mar-ket.

An index of the 20 larg-est metropolitan areas in the U.S. revealed that the Seattle area experienced the largest year-over-year increase in foreclosures as

reported by the real estate Web site Redfin.

The overall rank for the rate of foreclosure is 63 out of the 206 metro areas ranked by RealtyTrac, a real estate Web Site that keeps track of area foreclosures.

Mercer Island is not

immune to foreclosure. RealtyTrac shows 13 fore-closed properties on the market on the Island at present, whereas RealQuest Express states that eight homes on the Island are bank-owned, representing 5 percent of the residen-

tial market, with another 30 headed for auction. The highest priced repo on Mercer Island is listed at $1,335,000 with the low end at $268,000 per RealQuest.

To read the entire story on the NWMLS November sta-

tistics on Island real estate listings, sales, prices and more, see our Web site.

MERCER ISLAND REPORTER | www.mi-reporter.com Wednesday, December 15, 2010 | Page 5

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InvestIgatIon | FROM 2

Read moreSee the original story

online at www.mi-re-porter.com and search Councilman apologizes to learn more. Gradys let-ter to the community can be found in the Opinion category.

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Real estate stats show impact of foreclosures

Photo courtesy of John L. ScottThis home, vacant for some time, is listed as a short sale.

[more-onlinewww.MI-Reporter.com

O Come All Ye Faithful

Island police to monitor school bus speeds.

Witnesses who heard the confrontation between the City Councilman and the bus driver on the West Mercer campus included a school custodian, another bus driver and a pair of teachers inside a school room with the door open to the outside. Also within earshot were 50 elementary students in that classroom practicing for a school play.

I stand by my comments in the file and those from the teachers at West Mercer Elementary. They are accu-rate. Grady said. Finally, there isnt a day that goes by that I wish I had that day over.

In the end, the district report uses strong language to describe Councilman Gradys version of events, including his claim of a near death experience. The report states:

Further, as set forth below, Gradys accounts of other aspects of this inci-dent were clearly exagger-ated in several respects, including his characteriza-tions of (the bus drivers) behavior after the (bus) pass, which continued to evolve. Again, this does not mean the pass should have been executed at that location or that Grady had no legitimate right to com-plain, but it does call into serious question whether Grady was truly as close to

his own demise as he now claims.

The cost to the school district for the investigation and report was $6,142.

Editors note: Mary L. Grady is not related to Councilman Grady.

Art of light, not of lossMIRN101013_A01MIRN101013_A12MIRN101013_A13

The rise and fall of public poolsMIRN101027_A01MIRN101027_A02

Deadly fentanyl makes its way to Mercer IslandMIRN101110_A01MIRN101110_A02

Island Scouts were link to lost hikerMIRN101124_A01MIRN101124_A03

Safety issues and Councilman's behaviorMIRN101215_A02MIRN101215_A05

BNC 2011 Category 333: News Writer of the Year

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Transcript of BNC 2011 Category 333: News Writer of the Year