REPORTER
Mercer Island
Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947
Island dads aim to grant wishes
Holiday Greetings
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Mercer Island schools begin winter break Schools on Mercer Island will begin winter break this week. Mercer Island School District students will be on break from Thursday, Dec. 20, through Jan. 2, as will students at St. Monica. Northwest Yeshiva High School will be on break from Dec. 21 through Jan. 2.
By Mary L. Grady
editor@mi-reporter.com
The annual Argosy Christmas Ship will visit Mercer Island on Thursday, Dec. 20, from 8:40 to 9 p.m. at Luther Burbank Park. The Dickens Carolers will sing for the community from on board the ship. To learn more, visit www.argosycruises.com/themecruises.
Holiday closures Throughout the rest of the December, local offices will be closed in observance of the holidays. On Dec. 25, the city offices will be closed, as will the post office. The Mercer Island Library will be closed on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25. The Reporter office will also be closed on Monday, Dec. 24, through Dec. 25.
Where to eat on Christmas Eve & Day Hungry? No tree at your house? Done with cookies and pie? Head on down to Stopsky’s Deli, at 3015 S.E. 78th Street, next to Island Books. The deli will be open Christmas Eve and will serve brunch from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Christmas Day.
Contributed Art
Samantha Peiter, a first-grader at Island Park Elementary, did this drawing for the Reporter’s annual Holiday Greetings. The special section can be found inside this week’s paper.
Schools, police to review safety plans Police and school officials will look again at safety, emergency measures here By Mary L. Grady
editor@mi-reporter.com
Soon after the news broke on Friday about the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Mercer Island Police Chief Ed Holmes and Mercer Island School District Superintendent Gary Plano were on the phone, talking about safety and security at Island schools. Plano and Holmes spoke about what happened and what they need to do to further ensure student safety. They met on Monday morning.
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Gary Plano, reached by phone on Friday afternoon, reiterated that the schools within the Mercer Island School District already have specific measures in place to deal with a situation similar to what happened in Connecticut or any event that might occur inside or outside each school. In a press release sent Friday, the school district offered both condolences to the people of Newtown, Conn., and sought to offer reassurance to families of students here. Plano said that in concert with the police and emergency personnel, the schools often practice and drill for procedures for an incident like the one in Newtown. In the past few years, schools have gone into lockdown if a person with a gun is believed to be within the massage therapy mineral makeup skin care
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general vicinity of a school. According to Plano, the school safety drills are lockdown or modified lockdown procedures. Announcements made by text, email or school intercom set procedures in motion to protect students and staff whether a threat is perceived to be inside the building or not. Holmes said that lockdowns and modified lockdowns are implemented at any sign of a threat. “Those threats might include an abandoned or stolen car in the vicinity of a school or reports of shots fired,” he said. “Anytime we think that a situation has a propensity for violence, we act.” On Monday, after meeting with Plano, Chief Holmes said that the effort now and in the coming weeks will be to look at the mechanics of safety procedures here and look at ways to enhance them. The procedures include actions that are both straightforward and complex. Exterior doors at schools
Wish | Page 4
REPORTER
Christmas Ships come by Dec. 20
On a grey afternoon in the plush offices of a private bank in a sleek skyscraper above the waterfront in downtown Seattle, a group of welldressed business people gathered. They were there to discuss what you would perhaps expect; money and how to get more of it. But instead of profits, the group was looking for ways to ease the stress of a life-threatening illness on a child and their family . It was a meeting of the board of the Washington and Alaska chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Before the meeting began, the talk was of an 8-year-old boy from the Midwest who was in Seattle as part of Make-A-Wish. He had a
Mercer Island
2012
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